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

Great experience today – my first as a guest on BlogTalk Radio!  I was honored to join a few other JibberJobber Partners who have talked with Jason about issues of importance in the Web 2.0 world of career transition and job search.

We talked about McCain and why he appears to be losing the job to Obama, despite his "hard copy" credentials and experience.  The conclusion appears to be that McCain has not responded well to the behavioral question of the day – the economic crisis. 

• Obama has been able to convince the interviewers, a.k.a. voters, that he "feels their pain" and has practiced the time-honored strategy of listening with 2 ears and talking with 1 mouth. He has learned from the interviewing process and has offered need-based plans that appeal to voters whose issues are health care, education, foreign policy and war, and of course, the economy.
• McCain and Palin talk a lot about themselves – a commentator on NPR suggested that McCain is asking the voters to reward him for his military and government service – he is not offering success stories via examples or testimonials that speak directly to the concerns of voters.  Indeed, one commentator observed that he appears to be a veteran of WWII, rather than a Vietnam War-era veteran; perhaps his POW experience shielded him from the cultural shift that affected his chronological peers.  His problem is not his chronological age, but the perception that he
  lives in the past and is not equipped to lead in the future.

The lesson for job seekers and career changers is to identify the needs of prospective employers; identify and emphasize transferable skills and personal qualities that are prized by this organization; and offer your brand and mini-business plan in a WIIFTm (What's In It For Them) context. 

The Recruiting Animal joined the conversation and added value by sharing his perspective as a Recruiter and a Canadian.  We discussed the impact of age, race, personality, and blogging in the interviewing space.  Listen to the recording and offer comments to keep this topical discussion alive:  <http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jibberjobber>

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? 

In my head, I’ve been re-playing our Mind the Gap:Connecting the Generations presentation in Minneapolis; let’s continue the conversation about the 4 generations in the workforce. I’d like to propose a new approach to career transition, one that promotes strategies to understand and transcend generation, and accepts challenges toward achievement of career success in this multi-generational workplace. 

The first strategy:  A-b-C:  Accept but Challenge

• Accept differences – We cannot adopt homogeneous personal qualities or value propositions. It is important to identify and fine-tune the presentation of our brand or unique selling point in conversation, via resume, online, etc.  Accepting differences was one of the contributions of Generation X, e.g. those who now fall roughly between the ages of 30-45. Remember the rock musical, Hair, the first Broadway show that celebrated different thinking about politics, sexuality, and race?
• but – As interpersonally aware people, we prefer to use the connecting word, "and." I submit that the word "but" allows all those involved in career transition to engage in a process that may include discomfort and chaos, hopefully leading to equilibrium.  (More on this adaptation of Chaos Theory in another post…)
• Challenge – This is our raison d’etre: the challenge to "be all that we can be" is what makes life exciting.  To achieve our work/life goals and succeed in a work environment in which 4+ generations work side-by-side, we must challenge ourselves to transcend the limitations of our own generational box.  Ellen Sautter, whom I met at the Career Management Alliance Conference, suggested that she is the embodiment of the trans-generation: she is a Traditionalist by birth, who recently co-authored a book that is likely to appeal to all generations, Seven Days to Online Networking.

We can Accept differences and search for commonalities, but we must poke ourselves, our clients, and our colleagues to accept the Challenge of a trans-generational workforce – one that takes a "so what" approach to the issue of age. 

So with AbC in mind, here’s a challenge for you to chew on; your comments are encouraged:

 

How should we distinguish between personal and professional
networking? Is online networking similar to meeting associates and
friends at the 9th Hole? Are these online networking tools superficial
and self-promotional?

• Is LinkedIn an electronic Roladex? Can it promote real relationships?
  
• Is posting to Facebook
  superficial or does it promote connectedness? Should "friends" be
  expected to cleanse their page for evaluation by employers?

Please respond to this blog, or directly to my e-mail address:  Karen@CareerAcceleration.net

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?   

The Collaborative of the Suburban Chamber of Commerce has scheduled an additional session to concentrate on the power of LinkedIn.com. The initial session was well-attended and well-received. Thanks to feedback of participants and the effort of Management Consultant, Sandi Philips, the nonprofit "group’s hug" will result in a follow-up session to be held on Wednesday, April 2 from 8-10am.

The agenda for the initial session included Online Identity and Social Networking for Nonprofits.  The most effective social networking tool for businesses and nonprofits, LinkedIn.com, was too large a topic to start last week; LinkedIn will dominate the discussion when we meet again at the Upper Moreland Library, Willow Grove, PA.

The first session allowed participants to share their existing knowledge and request more information re:

• Risks of Social Networking – personal and professional
• Choosing the proper tool
• Sharing information
• Preserving authenticity

These issues, and additional resources targeted to meet the strategic planning needs of nonprofits, will be covered in the next session.  Those who participated in and/or registered for the first meeting will receive new handouts via e-mail. Those who cannot attend are encourage to refer to the LinkedIn Blog  or blog with author Jason Alba (see my sidebar). Visitors may click on this link to purchase useful books on Relationship Marketing, including Jason’s Facebook and LinkedIn books, directly from the publisher.

Participants who wish to share comments or ask specific questions are encouraged to do so on this blog. Those interested in attending Wednesday’s program should pre-register by phoning: 215.947.4427 or via e-mail to: Karen@CareerAcceleration.net or KevinWinters@comcast.net (mention The Collaborative.) There are six seats left; please reserve early for this FREE program.

Join us for a FREE interactive program to learn about the benefits of social networking for nonprofit organizations and staff.  This program is sponsored by The Collaborative, an affiliate of the Suburban Chamber of Commerce, located in Eastern Montgomery County, PA.    

The mission of The Collaborative is to develop and nurture partnerships between businesses and non-profit organizations. The program will be held at the Upper Moreland Free Library so that participants may
bring their laptop computers and participate in the session via wireless
Internet access. Everyone who attends and wants to join a social network will receive an invitation from the speakers. 

Our presenters are:
Karen Katz, M.Ed., CCM, of Career Acceleration
Network, (CAN) LLC; and
Kevin Winters, MBA, Founder/Principal Consultant, All Seasons Web
Solutions

The agenda will
include: · What is "Social Networking?"
· Who engages in this type of networking?
· What are the principal forums for "Social Networking?"
· Who benefits from this type of networking?
· Why has this form of networking become popular?
· For whom is this networking effective?

After the presentation,
a demonstration will follow to take participants through the LinkedIn.com
site, and
· Show sample profiles
· Explain settings, preferences
· Discuss online and offline behavior, etiquette, and consequences

This event will be held
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 from 8 to 10 AM at the The Upper Moreland Free
Library,109 Park Avenue, Willow Grove, PA

Collaborative
Roundtables are free and open to interested parties. To RSVP (requested, not
required) call the Suburban Chamber at 215-657-2227. 

My two favorite indoor "sports" are careers and politics; a recent book written by Chris Matthews makes some interesting observations about the intersection of these endeavors.

Life’s A Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success is the latest book written by this journalist and TV pundit;  it is already 2 days overdue at the library, so I need to share some thoughts with you now…

Matthews, (who later pledges to work on his listening skills!), suggests that:

    "The whole trick of life is therefore to (a) find people who like you on first meeting, (b) put effort into winning over those people you can, and (c) recognize those whom, to use Donald Trump’s phrase, you need to ‘work around.’  This is what politicians call campaigning.  It’s something you’ll find you have to do in life even if you never run in a single election."

What about it – do successful candidates employ similar strategies when seeking career change or transition?  Are we correct to refer to the job search process as a campaign? 

• Clearly, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are candidates for the same job?  Have you ever competed with a "friendly foe" for the same job?  What happened to the relationship after the position was filled?  While it is not likely that the outcome of such a contest will result in a "win-win," must the outcome produce a winner and a loser?
• How are the voters and/or the press doing in fulfilling the role of "hiring managers?"
• What role will the Super Delegates play?  Are they the Senior Management team or CEO?

What can career changers and job seekers learn from the experience of these political candidates?

I have so many ideas and articles saved …so little time to organize them into a post.  So today will be the first Monday that I will look through the weekly Business Calendar published by the Philadelphia Inquirer and share upcoming events that may be of interest to local readers.  Those in other cities should be able to find comparable listings in print and online editions of their local newspapers:

Business Calendar – Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association will hold its next monthly lunch at Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant, 205 Mall Blvd., King of Prussia; 610-642-2616 or www.the-pdma.org. Cost is $45 for PDMA members, $60 for nonmembers. 11:30 a.m-2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb 27

How to Start and Operate a Small Business presented by the Small
Business Assistance Center and Kutztown University’s Small Business
Development Center co-sponsored by the Chester County Chapter of SCORE
(Service Corps of Retired Executives). Chester County Library, next to
Exton Mall, Rt. 100 and Business Rt. 30, at 450 Exton Square Pkwy.,
Exton; reservations call the SBAC 610-444-1721, www.kutztownsbdc.org or www.sbacnetwork.org. $15 fee. Seating is limited. 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 4

FREE*  Orientation and Business Assessment Workshop presented by The Women’s Business Development Center, 1315 Walnut St., Suite 1124; 215-790-9232 or www.womensbdc.org. Preregistration is required. 6-7:30 p.m.  Monday, March 10

How to Use Success Stories to Win More Business by Gerry Lantz,
Stories That Work Inc., presented by Sales and Marketing Executives of
Philadelphia. Plymouth Country Club, 846 Sandy St., Plymouth Meeting;
215-396-3310 or www.smeiphiladelphia.org. $25 first-time attendees. 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Mar. 11

This public networking doesn’t take the place of "warm" networking, but it can help to give a stalled career path new energy and connections.  Click here to assess your "Networking Quotient," a quiz developed by one of the emerging personal marketing/social networking guru’s, Thom Singer. 

How can professionals and executives network authentically, without giving in to the "brand bandwagon" that it sometimes promoted in a manner that is "over the top."  Your comments and links to articles, books, etc. will be appreciated by this author and community of readers!

Go forth and network… Karen@CAN, LLC