LaSalle University’s Bucks County Center hosted a very well-attended discussion this morning.   I was honored to be among the panel members who responded to questions regarding the personal and business applications of social networking/personal marketing.   Those in attendance included faculty, staff, and adult students; their questions and comments revealed a deep engagement in the topic.   Some comments that may not have been clearly communicated:

• Social networking and personal marketing allow us to gain autonomy and independence in the workplace.   Social networking tools allow us to become more responsible for the long-term management of our careers – the “apron strings” to corporate employers are not secure.
• Online networking complements warm networking.  Those who successfully develop and nurture their network demonstrate key qualities: team work, cultural awareness, and service orientation.
• Social networking has launched an era of “giving;” a prerequisite for and a simultaneous part of the “receiving” that most people associate with the new verb, “to network.”
• Career management requires a long-term commitment to social networking.   While numbers vary,  80 – 95% of all jobs are filled through networking.  With that in-mind, tools such as LinkedIn.com allow career managers to conduct a proactive “people search” rather than a reactive “job search.”
• Age is not a predictor of success in the realm of social networking.  While members of Gen X and  Gen Y may have an advantage in the use of hardware and software, the Boomers and Traditionalists seem to have an advantage in the “social” aspects of networking.   Bette J. Walters, Esq., a fellow panel-member, referred to the need for a publication recommending social networking manners; in the meantime, click here for a relevant discussion of such issues.

It is possible to make lemonade…A familiar ingredient in the refreshing alternative to economic woe:  the Business section of your local newspaper…

• Today it is the Philadelphia Inquirer that offers a glimpse into what's happening in the regional job market.  The article that attracted my attention refers to the Information Technology (IT) efficiencies that are funded in the 2009 Economic Stimulus Package.  Read the full article in the Philadelphia Inquirer to learn more about the $2 billion in loans and grants, plus $17 billion in Medicare reimbursement for health-related IT spending. 

• So what, you may ask…WIIFY (What's in it for you?) -  Good question… These funds are targeted to go to doctors, medical practices, and hospitals – those who need to adopt the IT efficiencies called for to improve our health care system. These are small businesses who are likely to hire outside consultants to implement these changes to their business models.

•  A local employer poised to benefit from this legislation is NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a medical-records-system provider owned by California-based Quality Systems Inc. that employs 500 at its Horsham headquarters.

•  Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D., Phila) wrote the new legislation that steered the funds toward practitioners rather than insurance companies. Financial incentives to doctors and hospitals will be available as early as October 2010, so these small businesses will be looking for guidance ASAP.

Another ingredient in the lemonade is networking:  conduct online and off-line networking to find partners, perform competitive analysis, and identify links to decision-makers…

• Lots of information available is available on this topic – see the archives of Career Acceleration Notes, as well as recommended websites and blogs
  
• If you missed-it, read or listen to the NPR Marketplace report on Social Networks and Layoffs
  
• A few key points from the NPR program:  * Hyper-networking combines online and off line networking  *Jobs are not being posted  *Decision-makers are using Google in-place of gossip to vet prospects

Posted by Karen P. Katz

…at a column written by Stefan Stern, a columnist for the Financial Times.  While readers of this blog expect career and job search wisdom, I feel compelled to "out" this columnist.  I hope to feed his "hot air" to my readers who are proponents of sustainable enterprise* and corporate social responsibility*.

Stern's flippant muse was caught by a LinkedIn Net Impact Group member, Joseph Hollak.  Joseph quoted Stern's opening comment, "Thank goodness, now the recession’s here we can forget all that
nonsense about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and get back to
trying to make some money."  When last I checked, the question had not taken on much of a life, so I raise it here to raise a ruckus…

My two-cents is simple: CSR is not a conspiracy to pick the pocket of shareholders in the name of "good deeds."  CSR is an approach to profitability that promotes free enterprise while at the same time, promoting respect for the planet and dignity for consumers.  Profitability and higher principles can certainly work hand in glove.  Surely Mr. Stern has witnessed what happens to those who blindly seek profits at the expense of their community.  When he emerges from his rock, I hope he'll settle in a pleasant green pasture.

*A note to students of sustainability and CSR – the Wikipedia definitions need your input.

Many readers of Career Acceleration Notes are based in the Philadelphia region, meaning southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and southeastern Pennsylvania. 

The new blog, PhillyCAN-Jobs,  features news and links that are geared toward those searching for jobs, and specifically, those whose job search is confined to the Philadelphia area.  Please click, read, and subscribe – it will be like getting the paper delivered to your in-box.

Your subscription to the feeds for both of these CAN blogs is of great importance to me – it helps make the Career Acceleration Network more visible.  In return for your readership and comments, I pledge to offer current content, valuable links, and fresh thinking.  I am also renewing the offer to current and former clients who may wish to supplement their online identity by sharing a post: "guest bloggers" are solicited and valued. Light-up your online identify and fire-up your job search by sharing your experience and expertise.

Warm wishes to all of you during this season of family, food, and fun times…


Karen P. Katz, President & Principal Consultant
Career Acceleration Network (CAN), llc
<http://www.CareerAcceleration.net>

Now I know what a fly feels like when it hovers over people who are working fast and furiously.  Instead of being the one on the hot seat to guide new users through the elements of LinkedIn, I was like a "fly on the wall" during Jason Alba's 90-minute teleseminar, held 12-17-08. The program was sponsored by Experts Connection™
and hosted by Kathy Simmons, President and CEO of NETSHARE. 

The program was structured well, with accompanying slides that were clear and not distracting. Jason moved through the content quickly, but paused frequently to check for understanding and questions.  Targeted toward executives who may not have fully embraced social networking tools, Jason offered a few key learning points:

• Social networking is key to marketing your brand.  Clarification of your brand is essential to career management.  Not sure about this?  Not convinced?  Think about Barack Obama, the most successful job seeker in the land and winner of Ad Agency's Marketer of the Year
• Online networking tools can make it easier for those who are not natural "schmoozers."  The Internet can make it easier to reach-out to new people, reacquaint yourself with former colleagues, and step outside your comfort zone to build new connections.  The big "but" here is that online networking should make it easier to conduct the warm networking that is still key to your success, e.g. association meetings, breakfast with colleagues, lunch with people in related fields, etc.
• Of the tools available, all have value, however, LinkedIn.com is not optional for anyone who is serious about career management. Jason is also a huge fan of Yahoo & Google Groups (find those whose interests are similar to yours and join); Twitter (the fast-growing micro-blog), and blogging in general (my suggestion – individuals might try the new application, Google sites)
• LinkedIn.com's value proposition is to facilitate connections with those you know (and may have forgotten) and those you want to know.  An effective profile is key to increasing your odds of being found by colleagues and recruiters; it may be wise to hire a professional to help create the profile and learn the ropes of social marketing.  

This Experts Connection program included Jason's thoughts about Facebook, no longer a tool reserved for college students or Friday night plans.  Some key points: 

• There are no 2nd or 3rd degree connections through Facebook
• It is more casual, personal, and intimate
• While job seekers and recruiters have made inroads into Facebook, it is still more social than its business sibling, LinkedIn.

To offer the greatest value to participants, Jason focused on LinkedIn and talked about many of the features and new applications available to members. To learn more, contact a career professional or look for
the 2nd edition of Jason's book, I'm on LinkedIn, Now What.

Those who have worked with me and/or readers of my blog and website will recognize Jason Alba – he is the self-made social marketing guru and author of books and blogs: I'm on LinkedIn, Now What and I'm on Facebook, Now What.  A software engineer by training and experience, he founded JibberJobber.com in response to his own frustration with a job search.  JibberJobber.com has evolved into the "go-to" career management tool for those conducting a passive or active job search.  In the name of full-disclosure, I am honored to be one of Jason's partners in JibberJobber.com

I'm very impressed with at least one of the new applications that are in BETA form on LinkedIn.  This one allows users to scroll over the company name listed by your connections or prospective connections – if the company is part of the LinkedIn/Business Week/S&P database, vast amounts of information will be revealed! 

These Company Profiles offer a veritable feast of data that career changers and job seekers need to know and use to prepare their "mini business plan," for example:

• Company headquarters mailing address and contact information
• Link to website
• Common job titles
• Top schools from which employees are recruited
• Median age of employees
• Gender breakdown
• Recent jobs posted on LinkedIn
• NYSE information

From the social media folks at LinkedIn, you'll find a list of employees, new hires, and those recently promoted who are LinkedIn. Useful data that is consolidated and easy to access can be surprisingly hard to find in this Internet-Age.  See this example from Shopzilla

As a career professional and a political aficionado, I've been carrying this post around in my head for quite awhile; time to put these thoughts out-there for your consideration…  I'm intrigued by the lessons we can learn from this election – the "national interview" that the voters and media are conducting with John McCain and Barack Obama. 

If related experience and traditional credentials could win the job, John McCain should be in a better position two weeks prior to Election Day.  Instead it is Obama, with training as a lawyer, and limited and varied experience as a community organizer, teacher, and legislator who is most likely to be offered the job.  How has that
happened?   Why has
someone who lacks compelling experience in the 3 major areas of traditional work
(business/industry, military, government) been able to win the confidence of millions of potential voters?  Why has experience not
sealed the deal?

I think the answer lies outside the box – in the transferable skills and personal qualities that are the elephant in the interview. 

• Too many candidates conduct their job search campaigns in the McCain model: they respond to the explicit requirements of the job, e.g. 25 years in Senate; military service; and a conservative centrist philosophy in-keeping with that of most Americans.  As if faced with a case study or behavioral question, McCain's suspension of his campaign appears to have weakened his presentation in the opinion of the interviewers.  He acted unilaterally, and was unable to gain the support of colleagues during the discussion of the $700 billion bailout plan. While McCain has the credentials and experience most sought-after, he did not demonstrate the requisite transferable skills and personal qualities to handle this economic crisis.
• Obama's success in the polls suggests that candidates may be more successful by intuiting the personal qualities needed to meet the job requirements. Obama's presentation reflects his analysis of what the interviewers are looking for – beyond the requirements.  Obama has presented himself as calm and thoughtful in response to the $700 billion bail-out plan; he has left himself some wiggle-room in the event he actually inherits is crisis.  He appeals to an unstated desire to lower the heat on our discourse and become more unified and accepting in our interpersonal (and global) relations.  While Obama's political philosophy may be somewhat to the left of most Americans, he is winning voters over with transferable skills that demonstrate an ability to listen and collaborate before responding to challenges.

Let's relate this thesis to the situation faced by a recent business school graduate. Here's a posted job requirement: 3-5 years brand management experience in a consumer products environment.  Suppose you are a candidate with 2-3 years experience as a blogger for a professional association?  What are the transferable skills that you gained as a result of this paid or unpaid experience?  What are the personal qualities that you can claim as a result of your successful contribution to the exponential growth of the association-its growth in membership, recognition in its space, increased revenue, etc? 

• A blogger must design communication that specifically supports a brand, in this case, the niche carved-out by a professional association.
• Your experience required a great deal of collaboration between staff, current members, and the public, including potential members.  You've come to understand the perspective of these disparate groups and understand what they need from the association, the brand called…
• You have an impressive portfolio of Web 2.0 and traditional marketing pieces that have been targeted to a niche market.  You have conducted competitive analysis in the association's space.  Again, this directly transferable to brand management.
• You cultivated relationships with association members who work for consumer products companies; they know you, respect you, and will advocate for you.

So, do you get the interview?  If so, can you win the job?  Invoke the lessons of the national interview.  For more on this topic, listen to Blogtalkradio.com on October 30, 2008 – Noon – <http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jibberjobber>  The podcast will be available for download later…

The Philadelphia Business Journal reported today that Comcast Interactive Media intends to buy Plaxo, the operator of an online address book and social network called Pulse.

What does this mean for those who value the social Web as a tool to:

• share ideas freely;
• build and nurture connections; and,
• experiment with innovative ideas, products, and services?

According to Ben Golub, CEO of Plaxo, here’s what Comcast has in-mind:  "Comcast has an exciting vision to bring the social media experience to mainstream consumers…To help users connect with all the people they care about, across all of the devices they use, with all the media they love to consume, create, and share…"

Comcast  Comcast Interactive Media is the Internet business unit of Comcast Corporation  (NASDAQ:CMSCA,CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services.  Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of
broadband cable networks and in the delivery of programming content. Some statistics about the company:

• 24.7 million cable customers
• 14.1 million high-speed Internet customers
• 5.2 million voice customers

Have you looked at your Cable-TV bill lately?  The cost of your Internet Service?  The cost of your land line or cell phone contract?  If yours is like mine, the cost has grown exponentially while the value of the service has remained fairly constant.

Now think about what you pay for social networking tools like Pulse, Facebook, LinkedIn.com, MySpace, etc?  To paraphrase George Orwell’s famous line in Animal Farm, it is good and necessary for communications tools to change, but not all communications changes are good or necessary.

What do you think this acquisition will mean for users of the social Web? 

The daily dose of "political gotcha" reveals the soft underbelly of the paradigm shift that is occurring in the political sphere and in society.  Those born between 1965 – 1990 are known as Gen X and Gen Y, or Generation X and Millennials: most will be eligible to vote in November 2008.  If they continue to show interest in the election, it is indeed possible that young voters will pick the next president (Jean M. Twenge).  Based on an analysis of the generations in the workforce, what can the candidates learn to evaluate their appeal to the "GenMe’ers?"

Together with my colleague, Billie Sucher, I’ve been preparing a
presentation for the Career Management Alliance later this week. If the
three candidates for President of the USA were in our audience, I’d ask
them to consider the following points:
Values: 

• Millennials are likely to care about green policies, volunteerism, and social entrepreneurship, an interesting juxtaposition to their need for approval and self-centeredness.  Their Gen X older brothers/sisters are more cynical about institutions and leaders; they want to be at the cutting edge, and are willing to break some rules to achieve their goals – they have been at the vanguard of the "free agent" workforce.
• It may surprise you to learn that McCain and Ron Paul – with their individualistic and libertarian messages, have been well received by younger voters, along with Barack Obama.  Hillary Clinton’s promise to return to the "peace and prosperity" of the 90′s, is suspect and less appealing to this  demographic.

Clashpoints:

• Traditionalists, those born before 1945, believe that things get done right through Chain of Command. Boomers agitate for Change of Command – a chance to become the leaders; Generation X prefer Self-Command – free agency, while Millennials expect NO Command – they want to collaborate. 
• Clearly John McCain represents the best of the chain of command philosophy, but respect doesn’t necessarily mean support.  While Boomers may believe their efforts to change the world in the 1960′s and 1970′s qualifies them for acceptance by their children, the fact is, most Boomers didn’t tune-in and drop-out – they tuned-out and gave-up.  Collaboration is a new style that is promoted by the Brand called Obama – whether it can withstand the politics of "gotcha" remains to be seen…

Paradigm Shift:

• The Golden Rule, that most of us accepted while growing up, calls for us to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  It assumes that we are homogeneous; it is a product of the "Melting Pot." 
• The Titanium Rule, which many GenMe’ers subscribe to, calls for us to "Do unto others, keeping their preferences in-mind."  This assumes that we are diverse; it is a product of the uni-cultural or trans-cultural point of view, a perspective that is supported by the demographic changes occurring in the USA.

Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama – hope to meet you in Minneapolis so we can help you "Mind the Gap."

All things Considered, NPR’s afternoon news show, featured this story today, April 7, 2008:

"Police in East Lansing, Mich., used tear gas
to disperse thousands of out-of-hand partygoers near the Michigan State
University campus at an event promoted as Cedar Fest on Facebook.
Police are trying to determine whether the Facebook party organizers
can be held accountable."

How does this news jive with the advice of business bloggers like Bob Gourley, who recently suggested that Executives should use LinkedIn and Facebook?

What will this mean for the cohort of professionals who are streaming over to the interactive Facebook from more static networking forums, like LinkedIn.com? 

Are the Facebook "natives" happy about the migration of more professional "immigrants" to the site that has been a place to plan parties, "poke" friends, and check-out fun connections? 

Should Facebook friends feel compelled to clean-up their profiles so recruiters and other professionals can use this tool as yet another way to vet candidates?   Should professionals be like rain, and go away….?

Will law enforcement authorities be able to hold Facebook members liable for the collateral damage and consequences of postings initiated through the social networking site?  Will Facebook’s digital fingerprint and YouTube’s video record of the event put the kibosh on the partying?  Will Facebook be able to "grow-up" without going to jail?