The interview police: how are you treating those being interviewed?

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." ~Warren Buffet

There are so many great websites, blogs, articles, books out there that capture the interest of job hunters or career seekers. You are given advice on your resume, your attitude and how to behave at the interview.

Yet while there are so many of these sites that offer candidates advice, where are the interview police? Well, I guess between Google searches, Linked In and other sources, one can easily find out a lot about a prospective employer. Distaste can be quick and immediate if one has a poor interview experience. That being that the interview was unprofessional, disrespectful and disengaged.

"If you take care of your employees they will take care of your customers and your business will take care of itself." ~ J. W. Marriott

How many companies assess what they are doing within their hiring practices and how they may be treating prospective employees. That is likely a major oversight that will only be rectified when the job market switches positions: from a buyers market perspective of employee recruiting to a sellers market from those seeking employment.

What are organizations doing to ensure that they are living values when presenting themselves to the outside world in favorable light? Of course, we get that advertising is a customization geared by marketing that can be skewed to give the impression that they have their act together.

However, what if the person representing your company is interviewing a prospective employee to join your company .... do you have metrics to track their record: hiring success as in placing people within the organization that become key producers and are promoted quickly? How many are let go within 3 months or quit within the first year or two: a drain on resources and finances.

I worked for an organization where the Code of Conduct was weak. There was a key manager who began an affair with a sales guy who had just had a baby, while his then-wife was suffering from postpartum depression which I can only imagine grew immensely upon discovering her husband cheating on her with a manager. 

No, they weren't direct reports. Yet one was a manager while the other was not, receiving direct benefit from the relationships by increased and highly leveraged sales opportunities. You sense a conflict of interest? 

There is the saying my grandmother often used: "cut off your nose to spite your face"..... that same manager had some other issues, the turnover under that area was constant. Bleeding the company dry as far as resources by constantly back filling positions, placing enormous pressure on the hard workers who remained. Taxing them so much that they end up leaving and then the organization was stuck with mediocre personnel or really disgruntled employees. 

The manager was a long serving member of the organization's management team. Attractive, with a witty sense of humor when the boss was around. A knife handy and ever-ready to stab others in the back when not. Surprised at the turn over?

The question was never asked: why is it that one manager can hire people who become key contributors while another has constant turnover? 

Another easy way would be to sit in on an interview with that manager. How are they communicating the key values of the organization? Are they sitting across from the applicant with a stapled questionnaire, mechanical and impersonal? Easily forgetting that the interviewer is representing the company. What impression are they giving?

I heard about a week or so ago that the joblessness is going to start improving in 2017. Interesting. I'm not sure if it will be as robust as it was around our town 10 years ago: where referral bonuses were common and finding any employee was a challenge, never mind a great one. 

"Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don't want to." ~Richard Branson

Employees are the biggest advertisers of a company's brand: what do yours say about your company? Take it a step further, how do you treat your employees? Internal feedback doesn't seem to get much reaction because co-managers have each other's backs. Is a disruptive employee a trouble maker or a change maker? That can be defined by the strength of the leadership in the channel of command. 

Clean up seems to always be in the employee area.  Numbers save money. How can turnover not? It also seems counterproductive if you have someone who is interviewing, hiring people that are just recycled and spit out.  If companies think it is easy to search a candidate's background on ethical and behavioral attitudes, it should be obvious these days that so it is to search a company. It is increasingly readily available for employees to check out employers. There are sites that allow employees to grade their company, its executives, its management, reflect on how they treat their personnel, how well do they communicate or do they offer opportunities for advancement? There is always an area for comments. 

Comments and feedback are not solely isolated to past employees. It is open and public facing. Candidates are able to communicate on how they were made to feel during the interview process. How professional was it? How welcome were they made to feel? 

Some interviews are like inquisitions. Where the interviewee feels that they are being trapped or pushed to trip up. 

Ah the power of the interviewer .... can you take being made to feel minor, unimportant? IF you can, then you may just be able to fit in this company.

Other interviewers deem it their job to give feedback on the candidates resume, how it is laid out, ease to read. Like a foreshadowing that as an employee, you will have to have a strong armor and self-confidence against all the "constructive" feedback that could be demeaning or demotivating.

Yet GREAT interviewers do find valuable hires. Those new stars also make the hiring person look good. How do companies reward that? I haven't heard much of those types of metrics. Why not?

On smartphones: those tools of efficiency can be swords of disrespect

You may have someone in an important position facing the public.  Is the interviewer friendly, professional, using manners? Or do they give the impression that it is an unnecessary evil because they've already made up their minds to hire buddy from around the corner or something like that? How many people who have gone for interviews where the interviewer is rudely, unapologetically late or jumping up in the middle to take a call or respond to an email or text message? On smartphones: those tools of efficiency can be swords of disrespect::... that may depend on your culture.

Don't let your company fall into the deep trap of the pit of disreputable hiring practices. Ensure that whomever is in a position of hiring is also promoting your company. How professional, or lack of professionalism, can negatively impact your brand.

When the jobless market improves and career seekers fall back into the driver's seat, are you making it easier for your company or harder? 

That's where my grandmother's saying comes in: are your team members cutting off their nose to spite their face? Are they ruining the opportunity for your organization to attract valuable candidates?

Try not to wait until the job market does reverse itself. Try not to be one of those organizations who have to pay for referrals because your behavior, or the behavior of those interviewing others is sub par. 

"It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do." ~Steve Jobbs

Don't get caught up in not making good on promises or not recognizing those that are making you look good. 

Case in point: a 27 year old young man who works for a major corporations, been with them for 9 years, adored by clients and is still only paid $12.25 per hour.  Is that organization delusional by thinking that it won't catch up with them eventually? 

How you treat prospective employees in your hiring practice may be an indication on how they will be treated as an employee. That can discourage the top performers and high achievers from even considering your company, withdraw from applying.

Instead of employee feedback, performance review forms and hiring questionnaires, why not have an anonymous interview feedback to candidates within only a few hours of an interview, that is unrelated to being hired or job offer a check box to take into account?

An interviewer's behavior should be identical whether they are having a one-on-one meeting with the CEO of your company or interviewing a prospective employee. It should be interchangeable and seamless, indistinguishable from one to the other. Its importance significant and treated the same.

Respect and manners at minimum should reflect appreciation for the candidates' time, nerves and preparedness. It would communicate the same values with which they would be treated as an employee. Seriously and important.

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." ~Henry Ford

Your company's reputation can fluctuate by shareholders value or perceived value. How it treats its employees or candidates should be important enough to consider.

tenacity TRUST follow up

I'm pretty pleased with myself because I am here once again, in my commitment to give insights to what characteristics identify a potentially top performer in sales.  

Just so we're clear, however, I want to emphasize that the three qualities identified:  tenacity + TRUST + follow-up are inter-twined.

I recognize that I may have made recruiters' jobs a tad more challenging by stating that these three characteristics go hand in hand with the ideal candidate for sales superstardom.

• Tenacity:  those that are committed to a career in sales have one common trait, that is uncommon. They don't give up easily.  If you happen to be in their horizon or sphere of targeted prospect, be ready for a ride.  They might write, call, email or post to get your attention that you should be talking to them.  They have a value proposition that will solve a business need that they just know will make your business' life easier.  Why? Likely because they have an uncanny ability to instinctively identify the ideal prospect and set out to understand everything that makes you tick.  That is before they even hit a keyboard or pick up the phone.  They more than likely know who your customers are, who your competitors are and play to that.  They may sense that their offering will be a winner for you, even if you haven't figured that out yet.

• TRUST:  they give off the air that they are not solely intelligent, charismatic enough to be on your team.  They portray an aura of trust.  You instinctively sense that they have your best interests at heart while simultaneously achieving their own goals.  They call or follow up when they say they will.  They start at the top, because really only the important top executives will recognize that this smart, pro has communicated in a fashion that mirrors your values, image and goals.  In other words, they will make you look fantastic in others' eyes for trusting this new avenue or approach ... and it pays off.

• Follow up:  Forget the over-promise and under deliver -- these keeners will do what they say they will.  And, if you think you're savvy, you've got nothing on them:  they have a diary, calendar, Outlook system that would make the most gifted project manager blush.  They may have their own system for following up, or they may utilize the tools available to make them a stellar professional:  a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool.  When they are following up, they have all the details on what they perceived resonated with you, or you told them.  They know the who, what, why and where your problem lies, or what they have to solve them.  

Pretty simple?  You'd think so.  Yet, only the very BEST have these combined attributes.  Your talent recruitment system may have some identity metrics, but not as captivating as this.   Think about it, your recruitment process is to try to fit a

square peg into a round hole.  Yes, you have search power to make it easier to cast out a web of candidates, but you haven't identified these important qualities have you?  Trust me, they're important.  

Get out of your own self-absorbed importance and open your eyes to what qualities make the best in your camp:  tenacity, TRUST and follow up!

Onboarding IS important

"What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye."                                                                 ~Horace

Next to recruitment, the hiring process and managing foreward, onboarding is an organization's playbook that communicates how important its employees are. After going through this process numerous times, often one can correlate how their onboarding experience predicts how the remaining career may go. Turnover or churn costs money, drains profits, and can be avoided. I recommend organizations evaluate its "first impressions" and escalate the importance to be in line with recruiting the best talent.

Fortunately, I have had the distinction of being hired by some heavy weights. Unfortunately, the size or reputation of the organization does not guarantee a strong onboarding experience. Often the vision statements and first day experience don't match up. Size or reputation don't necessarily align with onboarding excellence. Circumstances don't dictate whether it will be positive either -- whether you were hired by the President or an HR professional tasked with recruiting.

It shouldn't matter who is being hired: an executive, a middle manager or frontline employee. An onboarding strategy communicates to new employees how important they are in the scheme of things and can foreshadows events. Minimizing first day enthusiasm is detrimental to your organization.

Those on Linked In or elsewhere spend a lot of time helping others get hired, then skip right into organizational issues -- leadership, best/worse bosses, communications, etc. etc. Yet onboarding, tends to be flat or ignored altogether: a foray of forms, introductions, etc.

Thankfully, there a few organizations that are fluid in all its dealing with new employees, from its recruiting to hiring to onboarding. They haven't skipped over to organizational charts, assigning responsibilities, setting performance metrics. Simply said: a "produce or perish" mentality doesn't bode well for the most optimistic or talented individual. An avoidable poor tone can override any excitement and compound nerves that can carry forward for days or years to come. After all the tests on intelligence, cultural fit, experience and reference checks, why isn't onboarding as important as all of that? Seems like a no brainer to me, yet it is often overlooked. I can identify with poor onboarding experiences. I've seen colleagues start on their first day, not know who will greet them, no ID badge, no computer, no computer log on, business cards, parking pass, etc.

According to WIKIPEDIA "onboarding" means (adapted from Bauer & Erdogan, 2011):

Onboarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.[1] Tactics used in this process include formal meetings, lectures, videos, printed materials, or computer-based orientations to introduce newcomers to their new jobs and organizations. Research has demonstrated that these socialization techniques lead to positive outcomes for new employees such as higher job satisfaction, better job performance, greater organizational commitment, and reduction in occupational stress and intent to quit.[2][3][4] These outcomes are particularly important to an organization looking to retain a competitive advantage in an increasingly mobile and globalized workforce. In the United States, for example, up to 25% of workers are organizational newcomers engaged in an onboarding process.[5]

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Image source: Google Search Result: HR Council

There you have it: organizational socialization. Any organization that demonstrates a caring for that new employee usually has planned this important "first impression" that lasts, disguised as onboarding that communicates:

• We're happy to have you
• You made a great decision to join us
• We will prepare you for your job
• We will ensure you know who, what, where you will start
• We will support your success in every step of the way
• We will onboard you: orientation, training, and an Agenda
• We will ensure that someone will be there to greet you
• We will assign a mentor who shows the right behaviors
• We will ensure that you have all the tools from Day 1

At minimum, a new hire checklist with assigned responsible party should be mapped out and assigned:

• A computer with log on credentials - IT

• An ID badge - Security

• Someone to greet you: your manager or a mentor

• Where you will go: a training room, an orientation classroom, a desk - HR

• An agenda: what you can expect in the upcoming days until you start assignment

• Paperwork: forms, more forms to fill out, Policies, Code of Ethics, etc.

• Training or orientation: a classroom or boardroom where you are given an overview, history, expectations, paperwork, benefits

• Anything that communicates the company is happy to have the new recruit

• omething that communicates that the company is happy to have the new recruit

• Lunch with your new Manager, Mentor or team

• Executive welcome on your first day in orientation or training room

• An orientation or training environment where you meet others on similar first day

• A video or something that intimately introduces your company (marketing, testimonial videos from happy customers, happy employees)

You can sweeten the experience and establish first day traditions:

• Anything that communicates the company is happy to have the new recruit
• Lunch with the new Manager, Mentor or team
• Executive welcome on the first day 
• An orientation or training environment to meet others who share the first day
• A video or something that intimately introduces your company (marketing, testimonial videos from happy customers, happy employees)

Granted, logistics, schedules and a whole whack of other interfering factors can hamper that first day experience. Simply said, don't assume the manager can ensure all the particulars are taken care of while multitasking: taking care of business, supervising other employees, meeting with customers, etc.. You can't assume either that HR has it all covered. They may be assume it is the recruiting or benefits, payroll forms. IT may have a serious matter to take of that distracted them from their responsibilities.

By having an ONBOARDING Agenda with responsibilities assigned (and those assigned have backup designated) is as important as any and all recruiting process. Even better, if it is mapped out visually like your organizational chart. Just don't assume that it is taken care of.

"Never assume everyone knows something:  that only guarantees nothing will get done"                                                                 ~Jeannette Marshall

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on Linked In

"You wouldn't worry about what others think of you if only you realized they seldom do."

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Now that I await my next career pinnacle to begin with an innovative, forward thinking telecommunication company with a solid balance sheet and clear executive management direction (criteria I used when evaluating who I wanted to work for), I am better equipped to step back and think about Linked In clearly and objectively on its benefits as a professional.

THE GOOD:

• OLD Connections: with former colleagues, clients and managers that I otherwise may have lost touch with had I not signed up for Linked In.
• NEW Connections: with thought innovators, active Linked In participants who offer expertise, share knowledge for free WITHOUT trying to sell anything (an application, a trial, a software, a service, information);
• RECOMMENDATIONS: I've been reminded about some of the good I've done in my career when past associates provide Recommendations. The most honorable being the ones who did it without any encouragement, or some of the ones who we faced and collaborated to overcome obstacles together. Reminding me that issues are often not self-induced, often requiring hard work, dividing and conquering, and a positive attitude. People remember how you handled it and fixed matters far longer than what the issues may have been to begin with.
• INFORMATION: Knowledge, learning and sharpening your skills are important in this fast changing world. What mattered yesterday is not what matters today.
• FOLLOW: Linked In makes it easy for you to "FOLLOW" companies or organizations that you are interested or involved in -- be it as a shareholder, investor, vendor, contributor. You can also "FOLLOW" those that inspire you or whom you would like to learn from -- Bill Gates, Richard Branson, to mention a couple that are obvious.
• ENTREPRENEURS: If you are a business owner you should be on top of what is impacting business today. Even if you are ready to cross it off as irrelevant to your own business (i.e. cloud, data or social media), you may want to be informed to avoid pitfalls you may unwillingly be falling into.
• SALES PROFESSIONALS: Linked In, to many sales professionals, is a contact grab and that is about it. Don't just use a name as a contact, title for your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to keep managers at bay or to accumulate names. You can benefit by "Follow"ing your customers/company for insight on what they are saying or sharing -- so that you can expand your insights and identify opportunities for what you are selling.
• WEB-I-NOMICS: Linked In is a cash cow of information that allows others to gain knowledge. You can curate valuable information for your website that inform and create conversations with your customers, vendors and prospects.
• EXPERTISE: Linked In features are continuously expanding and bringing value to its users. You can collaborate, curate, post, share information that eventually can signify your expertise on subject matters. You can write blog posts to expose your knowledge to draw advocates, followers, colleagues, managers, customers and vendors. Even sharing quotes, articles from third parties, can attract comments or shares that endorse the worthiness of what you are sharing.
• GROUPS: One of the first features I started using was joining a couple of groups that related to my career. They allowed me to participate in discussions, answer questions ... which tested my expertise, collaborated with others, .... or pose questions from others to provide input from the same industry or professional designation (i.e. Project Manager, Business Development, etc). I have made significant contacts that have brought tremendous growth, learning, mentoring and value.
• PRIVACY: You are in control of what others see about you because you personally create your profile. You can set your profile privacy to make it difficult for recruiters, spammers or serial sales people from pitching you (which can be annoying to some if not all). You can also see who has looked at your profile (as long as they don't set themselves as anonymous).
• JOBS: If you are looking for work, Linked In is a superb repository of information on a variety of recruitment firms, looking up the person you may be interviewing with, connecting with those who may bridge an opportunity (i.e. referrals) look up a company, or link to website, etc.
• COMMUNICATE: You can make Linked In what you want it to be. You can reach out, touch base with your contacts. I like Linked In feature of letting me know who has a new job to congratulate them on, celebrating a work anniversary, or even acknowledging a birthday. You can control how you communicate and not disclose your personal email by restricting and staying within Linked In MESSAGES. It does allow you to check off if you don't mind sharing your personal email or as the next step in communications.
• PERSONALIZE: This profile is all about you! How rigid you are filling in the blanks may demonstrate just that. Give insight to your personality, whether it is gregarious or academic, think of your audience and what perception you want them to have. Use the summary if you're bursting with creativity. AND ... for heaven's sake, post a photo. I won't get into the selfies, because we all know if you are on this planet you have a phone with a camera. You may as well use it. Suffice to say, you may be a water skiing enthusiast or were the party favor at the last event, but this is not the place you want to showcase that. Photo finishing has diminished so those businesses offer photo taking services and will even have a scanned image that you can upload at a nominal fee -- think Passport photo with a smile -- smiling is never a bad idea if you want to appear friendly and approachable.
  

THE BAD:

• SELF-PROCLAIMED EXPERTS: There are so many "Experts" on Linked In my head spins at times. In fact, if someone states "EXPERT" on the profile, my first reaction is to think "NOT!". Ultimately, expertise is a label that others give you. It is often demonstrated by a lot of credible Recommendations from subject matter professionals.
• SELF-PROMOTION: If all you post is me, myself, I ... that is about all who is going to be reading what you post. Your connections will appreciate posts and shares that are interesting and relevant to a professional audience.
• ANONYMITY: Privacy protection and security are front and center in many people and company's minds. Therefore, they will set their privacy by default to remain anonymous. On the flip side, I'm not sure others feel the same way, lurking a profile under cover can be annoying to the recipient. In my opinion, being open also relays credibility. I am certain there are a variety of reasons why persons want to remain hidden, I'm just not a fan of this practice.
• COSTS: Nothing is ever free 100%. Linked In is accountable for its financials and creates nuggets to entice you to subscribe to additional features and benefits. At least it isn't hidden and you can see your options and determine what is best for you. Heck, you can probably write it off as a professional subscription or networking expense.
• ENDORSEMENTS: With the added feature of "Endorsements" comes questioning (to me anyhow) how important or how much weight others play on this feature. For example, if you have a lot of connections, you may not do business with them personally -- how can they truly attest to the skill being endorsed? The user selects the skills on their profile, which is flagged in front of their connections to endorse them. However, it is cool when an associate endorses you that you do know -- it can be a signal that they recognize that ability. The user can distinguish this, while the audience cannot. Alternatively, if someone endorses you, do you feel obliged to endorse them for something that you may not have professionally experienced?
• AWARENESS: Linked In helps entrepreneurs, executives, employees and companies have presence on its pages. I'm amazed when I suggest to someone to get a profile up and they hesitate or avoid it altogether, citing the reason as privacy. In today's world, that is hardly an excuse but certainly it is everyone's prerogative. I also suggest that if you have a company or organization, create your Company Page. Don't assume either that since it is there that it should remain dormant. Like your website, keep it updated and relevant to the audience or customers you want to attract. If you are recruiting, use the job boards, search out potential candidates profiles, their links, comments, posts to get a feel for the person. The chances are they will be doing the same of you.
• BRANDING: Be on top of your brand, whether it is "ME, INC." or a major named corporation. Monitor what people may be saying about your CEO, HR, executive, management or culture. It may start out as a minor squeak but could erupt into a public relations nightmare. Identify and acknowledge who is responsible for this. You'd be surprised how many people stray off topic in groups to give examples of poor treatment by a professional or company. Encourage your employees to be on Linked In, leverage it for the knowledge it presents, and champion subject matter expertise by participation.

THE UGLY:

• INVITATIONS: This is an area I've spoken to colleagues and associates about. It seems many are annoyed by invitations to connect from people "out of the blue" that they don't know. Again, this is something you can control. You can choose to ignore any invitations from parties unknown. I do suggest if you are compelled with the urge to connect with someone - send the invitation with an explanation as to why you would benefit (or better yet how they may) by connecting and exchanging information via posts. Personally, I professionally had my vision and goal to work for a specific company and searched who I perceived the hiring managers would be and sent an invitation. Lo and behold, this is the same company I will start working for at the end of August! I hardly think a company representative is going to blow you off. Everyone in every company is a customer service representative, whether they have it on their title or not!
• MESSAGES: Theoretically, the only inbound messages you should get are from those that are a connection. However, Linked In offers a paid feature as part of subscription packages called IN-MAIL. The package you subscribe to determines the number of IN-MAIL messages you are allowed -- which are basically unsolicited messages from others. If you are a recruiter, in marketing or a social media advocate, you may have more connections than average. That can also lend itself to a larger number of virtual strangers messaging you.
• DATING: Linked In is not a dating site. Unfortunately, some boneheads do try to use it as a soft way of introducing themselves and approaching you if you inadvertently accepted the invitation under the umbrella of business networking. I hear ya ... but they can't seem to read the "Married" part of your profile.
• SOLICITATION: Even if you actively monitor who your contacts are or are selective, you will often find yourself a recipient of a message that solicits (or recommends) a service, software, product or site. Message to senders: This is not a wise way of prospecting, never mind cold calling a complete stranger. Use it as a tool to gather information, not send information.
• PRIVACY: You go through all that trouble of keeping your information private, being selective on who you network with then BAM! Some nerd (to be polite) sends out a group message and you find your name muddled in with a bunch of other people. Yes, pretty much everyone is shaking their head before X-ing you out of their connections after you disclosed their name. People can look up your connections but be respectful of that information. I advise you stay clear of group messaging. That's not networking anyhow, that is broadcasting. There is an appropriate feature that Linked In offers by telling you that you have a connection within a certain company that you can reach out to and request a referral.
• GRAMMAR: Some may wonder why I include this ... it should never get too old to continually remind people to check their spelling on their profiles -- you are promotingYOU and who you represent/work for and you owe everyone attention to detail. Even if it is just a comment, ensure that you use proper grammar and check for spelling ... heck, double check the spelling of the person's name if you are going to use it. (I have distinct spelling for my name and it is often misspelled). Run your summary or post through a Word software program and spell check it before uploading is a good idea.
• CLUTTER: As with any website that has experienced growth, you may have noticed Linked In has a lot going on your page when you visit. It uses intuitive software to predict who, what you should know, what you are interested in reading based on past clicks. There are far more article suggestions now that populate Linked In as they opened up the ability for anyone to post. The choices you make, the clicks you enter, and the time you spend on Linked In is your own individual preference.
• COMPETITION: There isn't much competition to Linked In on professional social networking, however, they are still competing for your attention while you are online. They will continue to navigate and update thus change is a given. They will continue to tempt you with subscription benefits in order to continue generating a revenue stream. I predict that what you see for free will eventually be eroded or what you want expanded upon charged for.  
• AUTHORITY: As endorsements continually grow along with the number of people who are writing posts, it may be getting more confusing as to whom really has the authority on a topic. Linked In chooses a number of Followers you have on your Posts, so it is basically a numbers game. (I'm not sure how they do it, but I gather that it is a combination of your network number and how likely people are to read or share your posts and what that additional viewership entails). A higher profile is typically dependent on who you are (i.e. Bill Gates), how many followers you attract, or have the number of comments on your posts will indicate expertise based on those numbers. If you have a post that gains a lot of attention, it could be recommended by Linked In under its PULSE highlights.
• NEGATIVITY: You can see for yourself in groups or on posts. Sometimes, heated debates erupt or I think some people say silly things to get attention, albeit often negative. You are what you post, comment, write and it is your personal brand that you are impacting. Treat it genuinely and respectfully.
• MANNERS: Thank you are the two most powerful words in business, social media, Linked In, or anywhere. Be known for your manners. Be honest, be authentic. If someone compliments a post or shares it, thank them. Social media in all its glory boils down to "if you scratch my back, I will scratch your's". There are a number of examples, but one that maybe is not a right or realistic expectation .... if you notice you have a fan who continuously comments, compliments or shares your posts, recognize them by name and say "Thank you". If you can, even read some of their posts and comment or hit like if that is how you feel.

There you have it: the good, the bad and the ugly of Linked In. I'm sure there are a lot a great experiences along with a few nightmares. The bottom line is, it is a great repository of YOUR career information. Think of it as a tool. How well it works for you is how attuned you are.

"I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends."

~Abraham Lincoln