Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Newest updates from LinkedIn

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I was delighted to be invited to attend LinkedIn’s latest press conference (via live stream from their headquarters). No question LinkedIn is working hard to compete with other, growing social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.

An interesting point made in the early part of the conference: LinkedIn wants to emphasize itself as a network helpful for job seekers, but not JUST for people looking for jobs. They strive to be a place for people to share insights, build relationships  and update profiles to illustrate expertise and offer information all of the time. I’ve been promoting this concept for years, and it was not surprising to know that being a go-to network for every professional is one of LinkedIn’s goals.

The three objectives they outlined:

  1. Be the professional profile of record to help people find and be found, ultimately eliminating the need for the “cold call.”
  2. Be a source of professional insights with a focus on making content relevant to readers.
  3. “Work where our members work,” in other words, create applications to use via smartphones and on the go in addition to on the Web.

Some of their latest – and newly announced features:

LinkedIn’s InMaps – allow you to visualize your LinkedIn social graph (the people you are connected to and how they connect to each other). You can learn where there are pockets in your networks and consider where you may want to expand your connections, and it’s all via a visual tool. (The picture above is a piece of an InMap. Try it out: http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com/.

LinkedIn’s Signal – This has been in beta in September 2010, and today is available for everyone. Find this on your LinkedIn home page or via http://www.linkedin.com/signal. (See picture below — the link is in the bottom, right corner – Search Updates.)


See updates from your immediate or expanded network, or information shared by company or industry, location, time, University, or any combination of those search parameters. This gives you access to updates from people who are not in your network.

This search is sort of similar to searching a hashtag on Twitter, which shows you updates from everyone – not just your network – using that search term. LinkedIn aims to share “professional” updates with you via this tool, but this all depends on how your network or the network you are searching uses LinkedIn. Let’s face it, there are plenty of updates that are not exactly “professional.” I found many by searching only by city. However, in theory, this type of search should clue me in to what professionals in a given city are thinking and sharing. (Searches by industry are more focused and will likely produce useful results.)

LinkedIn Today Beta. Find this at http://www.linkedin.com/today. LinkedIn calls it, “A new product that surfaces the top headlines and stories being shared the most across multiple industries by LinkedIn’s trusted network of more than 90 million professionals.”

They explain, “LinkedIn Today gives members a customized and tailored way to consume the top trending news relevant to a particular industry and by what is being shared the most frequently by those industry’s professionals. It lets members access their professional news through three different lenses – by their connections, industry, and the broader global professional network.”

LinkedIn Today integrates with Twitter and StumbleUpon and other news sources, including Bloomberg.com, Wall Street Journal Digital Network, CNNMoney, and many more. They also integrated this into their iPhone app (version 3.6), which has special features allowing users to quickly access the news they need.

Learn more about this new feature by taking the “tour” offered right below the site’s headline. It’s easy to personalize the experience and save stories so you can track the information you want.

Be sure to take advantage of these useful tools, whether you are looking for a job, have a business, or just know you need to keep up-to-date to stay ahead of the game professionally!

Want to learn all about how you can use social networking to propel your career? My new book, Social Networking for Career Success, is available for pre–order (at a great price). I want to invite you to order now!

Why you should use Twitter

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Anyone who knows me or reads my blog regularly already recognizes I’m a big fan of Twitter. It provides unprecedented access to and information from people you want to contact — and the people you want to know you!

A story illustrating the point:

I receive many, many emails from people (often PR firms) about career related books, products and applications. When I started receiving these, I responded personally to each, no matter how strong or weak the pitch. It seemed the polite thing to do. However, when I started getting several a day, I stopped even reading a lot of them. Like a typical employer might handle a resume, I only read it all the way through if it really caught my eye. (That’s another blog post altogether.)

What does this have to do with Twitter? Since I actively use and engage with people on Twitter, if someone there asks me a question, retweets my links, or generally touches base with me there, I respond. So, when a Twitter follower with a company he is promoting to career coaches touched base via Twitter, I DM’d (direct messaged) a private note asking him to email me, and I read the note and agreed to speak to him.

When we talked (maybe not a coincidence that I was really glad to learn about his product), I mentioned I don’t usually respond to inquiries, but remembered he came to me first from Twitter. He explained he knew the follow up email asking for our agenda was important, and he made sure it was targeted and intriguing enough to solicit my continued follow through.

The perfect 1 – 2 punch – a Twitter introduction/touch base and a targeted follow through via email. I’ll probably be writing more about this company going forward (it’s not the right time), but there’s no doubt this is a great lesson for job seekers about how to reach out to people who aren’t so inclined to talk to you.

Think about how Twitter can open doors leading to your success!

Stay tuned for another story of a successful pitch…Useful for entrepreneurs and job seekers!

photo by Paul Snelling

Why you need your own website – and how to get one!

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Do you believe you need an online presence to help you land a job — or to help you manage your career? I spent 45 minutes last week trying to convince a career-changing friend she needed HerName.com. She is finishing an advanced degree and will be looking for opportunities in a teaching specialty. She can’t understand why it is important to have an online presence, and she made some good points:

  • I’m going to get a job because my professor recommends me to a colleague; it doesn’t have anything to do with having a website.
  • I’m not comfortable having information about me online that just anyone can find.

I tried my go-to reasons to explain why her own site was a good idea:

  • Even if your professor recommends you for the job, it’s likely the hiring manager will also Google you. What will she find?
  • A personal site is a way to control how your name appears online.
  • Statistics show your online presence matters, and that employers are looking for personal and professional data about you.
  • In fact, while you may think you have “privacy” online, NOT putting up your own site only gives people an incentive to look deeper in the web for information about you. Take a look at these sites to learn what the “deep web” knows about you: pipl.com, Polymeta.com.
  • Managing a site is important for career insurance and professional development. Showcasing your expertise online (even if it is in a new field) helps demonstrate what you have to offer, even when you aren’t looking for a job. An online presence can grow and change along with your career and help attract people to learn more about you. This could result in opportunities to speak at conferences or events, or even invitations to apply for jobs down the road.

None of this persuaded her. Finally, I came up with one last point…Something I’ve written about, but hadn’t thought to bring up during our conversation:

  • Having a website suggests you have some technical savvy and understand how to use online tools to communicate. That, in and of itself, is an important skill many employers value. It’s known as “social proof.” You may say you know about technology on your resume, but actually using it to showcase your own information goes a long way to prove you have what employers want.

Finally! She replied…”I can see how that would be important.” Noting technology in the classroom is key, and knowing how to use it could be useful, she acknowledged the “social proof” argument was more persuasive than anything else I said.

Especially if you are transitioning to a new job or an experienced job seeker who needs to overcome age discrimination, having an up-to-date online presence and maybe even a viable blog helps show prospective employers you’re willing to learn and are perfectly capable of keeping up with technology.

Maybe you, like my friend, are skeptical. You can’t envision how and why having an online presence will help you get a job, manage your career or become known as an expert in your field. Since I spend so much of my time keeping up with job search strategies and researching tools job seekers and careerists need to use, it’s so clear to me that having YourName.com is crucial to your professional identity and to managing your career.

That’s why I created a product/service to help people (even the skeptical ones) secure and manage their own websites. I’m giving it away for a steal (a colleague told me I should be charging $1000+). Think about how your investment can help you move in the right direction for your career and visit my new site to learn how to get a social resume: http://www.getasocialresume.com/.

photo by nyuudo

You need a social resume. Get one here!

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You’re a job seeker or a small business owner. You know you need an optimized online presence, but it’s too important to go it alone. Today, I am launching a new product – a social resume or “YourName.com.”

When we are finished, you will have a website with a custom URL and an online “home” to let employers or customers know what you offer. Having a website helps you control what Google knows about you.

Microsoft found, “79 percent of United States hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants. Additionally, 70 percent of United States hiring managers in the study said they have rejected candidates based on what they found.” When you have your own site, you seize some control over what people find when they google your name.

Let me help put YOU in the driver’s seat to steer your reputation from a position of strength!

YOUR SITE WILL:

  • Link you to a community of colleagues, experts and potential mentors.
  • Provide opportunities to expand your network, instigate two-way communication and meet new people from around the world.
  • Help you further define your message and potentially become known as a subject matter expert.
  • Serve as a 3-D portfolio of your work.
  • Influence how Google and other search engines index your name, and therefore what people find when they search for you.

Learn more about how to get your social resume.

steering wheel photo by NateBW

How to use LinkedIn’s tools to get a promotion

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One great feature of LinkedIn is that you can follow companies and keep on top of when people update their profiles indicating they changed jobs.

Just follow the Companies tab from LinkedIn’s top toolbar (see below):

Then, select a company of interest (you may choose a location a certain distance away from where you live or want to live):

Search companies or browse industries, and LinkedIn will show if you have anyone in your network working in those organizations. When you follow companies, you’ll receive regular updates when someone working for that company updates his or her profile indicating a change in position — maybe suggesting an opening to pursue via your network!

In fact, LinkedIn just released information suggesting the best months (statistically, per their network) to get a promotion. Their press release noted a Buck Consultants survey, “Compensation Planning for 2011,”saying workers in the U.S. can expect only modest pay raises this year, although salary increases for 2011 will average 2.8 percent, an increase from the two previous years.

According to LinkedIn’s data, the top three months for professionals in the U.S. to get promoted within their company are:

  1. January
  2. June
  3. July

Interestingly, their data show professionals in accounting, defense & space, education management, higher education, military, non-profit organization management and research tend to see a spike in promotions over the summer months more than other industries.

The data indicate a generational link to the timing of promotions. Their study notes that Millennials (born in the 1980s) “are the most likely to be promoted throughout the year (rather than just in January which is the case for most professionals).”

Job seekers (and anyone driving their own “career bus” should take advantage of LinkedIn’s tools. The amount of data they access regarding professional trends and the services they provide are extremely useful beyond simply sharing a profile. DJ Patil, LinkedIn’s chief scientist explains,

“LinkedIn was launched in 2003, but our data allow us to identify professional trends that span decades…By shedding light on professional patterns, we hope to help our members achieve their career goals by using LinkedIn in the most effective and productive way possible.”

“One of the best ways to get promoted is by promoting yourself,” said Lindsey Pollak, a career and workplace expert. “LinkedIn is the perfect place for professionals to get clients, vendors and other third parties to post recommendations on their profile. By encouraging other professionals to champion the work you do in your current role, you’ll be more likely to advance to the next level.”

Take a look at how LinkedIn suggests you leverage their social network to land a promotion:

Shine the Spotlight on New Skills

Impress your manager by learning new skills that go above and beyond your current role. Make sure your LinkedIn Profile is complete and includes all the skills you’ve acquired. Expanding your horizons while working full time is a commendable endeavor that’s worth calling attention to. If your company offers an education reimbursement program, take advantage of it. If you have industry certifications or went back to school for a higher degree, mention them in your profile and during your review.

Get Connections in High Places

LinkedIn Advanced People Search lets you search by title so you can find professionals that have the position you want to be promoted to. Reaching out to mentors and peers is one way to prep for that 2011 promotion. After the promotion, a strong relationship with a peer will give you a friendly ear you can rely on for advice if things get tough.

Toot Your Horn

Remind your manager of your accomplishments. Even if they were monumental, he or she may have forgotten about them. Document milestones in your career by requesting quality recommendations on LinkedIn. If a customer sends you an email thanking you for the amazing event you put together for them in record time, gently suggest that they provide you with a recommendation (if they feel comfortable doing so) and also forward the email to your manager so they’re aware of the praise you’re receiving.

photo by nan palmero