Today I attended the funeral for the mother of a friend I have known since high school. After high school we connected intermittently, and in recent years have become closer. So close that she is the godmother to my daughter.
My friend does not have a profile of Facebook , but I do and through this profile I have connected with quite a few classmates. Today, with her permission, I sent a message through Facebook to these classmates with the funeral information. Now, think about it, I sent the message the day of the event - kind of short notice. What I figured is that a few people may be interested in signing the online guestbook, so I provided the information.
One of our classmates saw the message and made the trip from Manhattan, circumventing all the crazy construction. How amazing! We all haven't seen each other in 20 years, and this woman made it a point to show our friend how much she cared - and she wouldn't have known about the funeral without the network.
Facebook also exemplifies the concept of 6 degrees of separation. I recently went through an old phonebook and searched on Facebook for some of these long-lost friends. I found an old boyfriend, someone who I hadn't seen in about 13 years and we "connected". After the connection, we find out that we have a mutual friend - and we didn't know this back when we were dating.
I have been using LinkedIn to connect with the connections of connections who work within the recruiting industry, and it has been an interesting process. Most people have been very kind and forthcoming and willing to help me reach a desired contact - and primarily because of my relationship with a mutual "connection" ("colleague" is sometimes still too strong a word).
Social networks are re-defining human interaction. It allows us to interface and hide as desired, which can be good and bad - almost like Caller ID. At Verify-ED, we are constantly looking at ways to utilize social networks to support our business strategy and we are amazed at our many options.
1 year from now, if I ever review this post, I am curious as to the effect of social networks. Hmmm, sounds like I need to put a task in MS Outlook to check next year.
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LinkedIn. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Our Karate Kid, Becky-san!
Our faithful intern Becky just got her first full-time, post-grad, PAYING job. It was a strenuous process, but she was very patient and the company that hired her seems stable in this crazy economy.
Interestingly, though, during her interview process Becky experienced just the thing that we are trying to help job seekers manage. They asked her for her social security number pre-job offer. So many job seekers are anxious, so no one is going to rock the boat by responding to such a request with, "why do you need it?", but they should! After working with us, Becky knew that she did not have to provide her SSN at such an early stage - but she was not prepared to say "no" - and I totally understand that. Key to our success is giving the consumer the tools that will help them confidently say, "at this point in the process I would rather not provide my social security number, but I can easily provide proof of whatever you need my SSN to research."
It also seems that Becky's internship work is what helped her clinch the job! Her hands-on management of our data and the research that she had to do provided her with the skills that the company needed - and she exuded confidence! Her quote: "So, even the smallest tasks can make the biggest impressions with a prospective employer. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"
I try to tell our interns that their tasks may seem menial, but the process of managing data is extremely important. I cannot seem to successfully convey the point that consistency is critical, but I keep trying.
Sometimes I feel like Mr. Miyagi with Daniel-son when I harangue: wax on, wax off; post to LinkedIn, post to Facebook. But my hope is that just like Becky they will look back and realize that the skills they are getting now will help them win that tournament!!....I mean, help them establish great careers ;-)
Interestingly, though, during her interview process Becky experienced just the thing that we are trying to help job seekers manage. They asked her for her social security number pre-job offer. So many job seekers are anxious, so no one is going to rock the boat by responding to such a request with, "why do you need it?", but they should! After working with us, Becky knew that she did not have to provide her SSN at such an early stage - but she was not prepared to say "no" - and I totally understand that. Key to our success is giving the consumer the tools that will help them confidently say, "at this point in the process I would rather not provide my social security number, but I can easily provide proof of whatever you need my SSN to research."
It also seems that Becky's internship work is what helped her clinch the job! Her hands-on management of our data and the research that she had to do provided her with the skills that the company needed - and she exuded confidence! Her quote: "So, even the smallest tasks can make the biggest impressions with a prospective employer. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"
I try to tell our interns that their tasks may seem menial, but the process of managing data is extremely important. I cannot seem to successfully convey the point that consistency is critical, but I keep trying.
Sometimes I feel like Mr. Miyagi with Daniel-son when I harangue: wax on, wax off; post to LinkedIn, post to Facebook. But my hope is that just like Becky they will look back and realize that the skills they are getting now will help them win that tournament!!....I mean, help them establish great careers ;-)
Monday, February 2, 2009
Online Reputation
So, I have been thinking about the way in which information gets around. As we have built avenues for conveying information we have to now get people to read it. We have this blog, presences on LinkedIn and FaceBook, and we just started our Ning site to present the job seeking travels for some professionals who are using our Val-ID-ate tool. So, I have been thinking about starting a rumor. Something scandalous that will make people want to check just to see if it is true.
What starting me thinking about this? I was reading about Lisa Bonet (of The Cosby Show fame) because someone said that she was dating a guy who acts on one of my husband's favorite shows (Stargate Atlantis) and they have 2 children. Well, like most people I go off on a tangent and search IMDB, TV.com, Wikipedia, and all kinds of peripheral sources and I am amazed how many of the sources state that she has a son with another man. This information is apparently false, but it has managed to appear in many news sources so that the rumor persists. No matter what is done to address the rumor, it continues to live.
You see, that is the crazy part about the Internet: it is very hard to control the information that is conveyed - even if it is about you. It is a hard balance: you WANT people to look for you and the things you do, but you don't want to have to do damage control. They now have sites like Reputation Defender that will monitor your existence on the Internet and manage your reputation. I am curious, does anyone know someone who has utilized these services? And if so, what made them sign up for the service. Hmmmm, something new to research (like I don't already have enough on my plate).
What starting me thinking about this? I was reading about Lisa Bonet (of The Cosby Show fame) because someone said that she was dating a guy who acts on one of my husband's favorite shows (Stargate Atlantis) and they have 2 children. Well, like most people I go off on a tangent and search IMDB, TV.com, Wikipedia, and all kinds of peripheral sources and I am amazed how many of the sources state that she has a son with another man. This information is apparently false, but it has managed to appear in many news sources so that the rumor persists. No matter what is done to address the rumor, it continues to live.
You see, that is the crazy part about the Internet: it is very hard to control the information that is conveyed - even if it is about you. It is a hard balance: you WANT people to look for you and the things you do, but you don't want to have to do damage control. They now have sites like Reputation Defender that will monitor your existence on the Internet and manage your reputation. I am curious, does anyone know someone who has utilized these services? And if so, what made them sign up for the service. Hmmmm, something new to research (like I don't already have enough on my plate).
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Hmmm....The Newsletter Is Missing Something...
Today we published the January Newsletter. We forgot to add key pieces of information. Did you notice? In the Company Update I introduced that Hema and Michele (interns-extraordinaire) are assisting with getting our social networking plan off the ground BUT I didn't mention on WHICH social networks we are establishing a presence. These are the "heel-of-the-hand-to-forehead" moments that kill me!
The social network strategy won't work UNLESS we have people who are interested in interacting and providing feedback and it was a major oversight.
So, without further ado: we have groups on both Facebook and LinkedIn. We have posted starting discussions and we would really like to hear from everyone out there. We are trying to figure out what other social networks will give us opportunities to meet job seekers and hiring professionals. A good friend recommended www.meetup.com. If anyone has suggestions, post a comment and let me know!
The social network strategy won't work UNLESS we have people who are interested in interacting and providing feedback and it was a major oversight.
So, without further ado: we have groups on both Facebook and LinkedIn. We have posted starting discussions and we would really like to hear from everyone out there. We are trying to figure out what other social networks will give us opportunities to meet job seekers and hiring professionals. A good friend recommended www.meetup.com. If anyone has suggestions, post a comment and let me know!
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