How is your VISUAL inventory?

"Appearance is something absolute, but reality is not that way -- everything is interdependent, not absolute."                                                                             ~Dalai Lama

Linked In is a magnificent portal for enlightening business articles, self-improvement, business etiquette, leadership that allows one to attract and connect with a vast number of thought provocateurs, inspirational professionals. Many would argue that it is largely used by recruiters, job seekers and sales professionals. That may be, however, I like to think it fuels perceptions and first impressions for anyone brave enough to put up a profile and get involved by reading, commenting or sharing valuable content.

Whether you are a job seeker, sales professional or executive promoting your organization or "YOU, Inc." it is wise to manage the perception, especially when it transcends into an interview for a job or meeting with an important client or potential customer.

Do you take stock or inventory of your image? There are loads of articles on Linked In and elsewhere that offer wise advice on professional appearance, attire and conduct. Still, I recommend you examine how that all stacks up. I suggest that you match your professional inventory with your visual inventory:

• Is your photo recent? Similar to dating, when people meet you, they don't want to be alarmed that your photo is decades old and the real person is much older. That can be considered misleading.
• Are you smiling in your photo at least? It is wise to present warmth and an inviting personality
• Do you take care in your appearance in person? A professional photo is wonderful on Linked In, however, if you don't take the same care and attention to that first visual, the other party may be disappointed if you don't match up. Dirty fingernails or super long funky nails may be a turn off.
• Are your shoes shined? I've read years ago that gentlemen should have shined shoes because that is where people gravitate towards looking at. It is not limited to fellows only. Take a minute and go into the washroom and wash your hands and use the damp towlette to wipe your shoes done at least.
• A firm handshake exudes confidence while I would say that a nice smile displays confidence underscored by a warm personality. Check those teeth in the mirror to ensure no leftovers are stuck in between.
• Pleasant body odor. Girls don't plaster on the perfume to cover unpleasant smells and guys unload the cologne. If you have to smoke to squash the nerves, that can turn off a lot of people. Personal hygiene is critical in first impressions and should never be overlooked.
• Are you a surprise? Your tone in communications, your resume, your qualifications may be impressive. However, if the greeter has somehow anticipated a bubbly blonde enthusiast and you show up dark and foreboding, that meeting or interview may be really short.
• Do you fit the look or culture of your audience? Abundant reminders are out there to do your homework .... check out the photos of those influential on their web site and try to mirror their image in a way that is not over the top or too obvious.
• Did you connect with the person you are meeting with? It never is a waste to at least look up the person you're scheduled to meet on Linked In. If you extend an invitation, it should at least encourage the recipient to check your profile out as well as demonstrate that you are going beyond investigating the company, it shows you are interested to learn more about the person you are meeting.
• Ladies: cleavage or shirt skirts don't belong in the board room, interview or reception. Guys: casual or business casual is a fine line you may lose balance on. Don't under estimate the importance of the service, the customer, the position's meaning to your audience. If you show respect for the importance of your audience by how your dress, your message will be absorbed effectively.

There is an ugly side to first impressions. Chewing gum in any business environment is a pet peeve of mine because most don't chew discretely. Unfortunately, race, color, gender, age can knock you out before you even get to say hello, use that firm handshake, exude that confidence, personality plus. If your audience is going to be that tacky or miserably unwelcoming, at least if you have a profile up on Linked In with you smiling proudly and looking professional. Remember that invite so they will at least have the option to check you out? If they have any bias, you can be relieved if you aren't invited in for an interview or do business with them.

You can avoid any unpleasantness by following a few of these basic tips. I'm certain their are oodles more out there. Take the time to do your own visual inventory. Everything else is gravy because you did get a foot in the door already. Give your visual inventory the same care and attention that you did for that resume, white paper, sales pitch, whatever.

"I think that being happy makes the biggest impact on your physical appearance."

~Drew Barrymore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jeannette Marshall's background includes the launch of a national magazine in Canada, leading regional sales and marketing for telecommunications startup, business development and operations in digital printing, project management in IT infrastructure while pioneering many web enabled sales tools, print ordering, document and project management processes.

Sales expertise has been accumulated from over 20 years. Claim to fame: CONSISTENT top performance including multiple Presidents' Clubs, regional and national awards in North America. She has worked for Fortune 11 and 500 companies to afford her the experience on business, customer service, leadership and sales.

Since creating her pseudonym Brand @optioneerJM in 2010, Jeannette has refined her skills on social media by writing, intellectual and visual curation on social media. She is trusted as demonstrated by Top 1% KRED and 77 Klout Score influence distinctions.

Jeannette looks forward to your comments and sharing, thanking you in advance -- it provides encouragement and motivation to continue writing to help others succeed by going beyond average to remarkable!  

Feel free to ask Jeannette a question or request her advice ....  You never know, she may just write an entire blog on the topic!  

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

Birds of a Feather Flock Together ... in Business and in Social Media

“A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.”

― Marcus Aurelius

One of my goals has been to blog on a more consistent, regular basis - wise advice that most Blog Advice articles recommend.  It is certainly harder than it sounds practical.

I am always bursting with ideas which seem to bubble enthusiastically to surface at 2 or 3 a.m.  when I'm willing myself to fall asleep.  Reminder to self:  "leave iPAD out of bedroom before settling in for my "long winter's nap" because I'm too tempted to check out Pinterest and can't resist clicking on an article that catches my attention." 

Which reminds me on something else:  Reading on my iPAD is cool and sustainable but tests my resistance when an alert crosses the top - turn off alerts Jeannette!

To help this, I started a habit of creating a Blog Title to serve as a reminder of an idea I would like to write about.  Unfortunately, the ideas seem to brew and find a home long before I seem to catch up on writing.   At least by acknowledging my problem or bad habit, I am attempting to reconcile and change it ... "Hello, my name is Jeannette and I am a knowledge junkie."

To get to the point (which I often detour by providing detailed background that makes others wish to yell at me) ... I received notification from Twopcharts last week that it was my 4th Anniversary on Twitter.  WOW, four years and going strong - time has flown quickly. 

I have a number of people who have helped me along my Social Media journey and continue to inspire me whom I would like to acknowledge.  (Finally the point to:  "Birds of a Feather Flock Together").

I know who I almost started with, then realized that it was someone else who introduced me by networking.  Therefore, I need to thank Elizabeth Tommes whom I met at a women's networking group for IT professionals and was a Calgary:  "Top 40 Under 40" Entrepreneur and creative genius in web design and on the forefront of SEO, although her company didn't name it as such.  They didn't even peg it as such.  She has often credited me and humbled me by saying I have mentored her!

Liz recommended I connect with Donna deMan, a career coach and lady who specializes in placing students in practicum positions upon graduation from Calgary's SAIT Polytechnical Institute IT programs.  Donna and I met for coffee and her first impression:  she brought me a bouquet of flowers ... as part of her introduction.  What a lasting and inspiring first impression!

I had just finished launching a National magazine in Canada and was looking for a new career opportunity and Donna jumped into the role of mentor to me.  Her advice:  "Get on Linked In!"  It was brilliant for many different reasons, but initially a wonderful way to reach out to past colleagues and clients.  I certainly didn't expect the "Recommendations" initially but it is an outstanding feature.  Today, it is the first social media site I log onto because Business, Contacts and Networking is something that interests me.  Donna recommended Twitter, but I was reluctant to be honest.  My perception was I didn't want to be professionally associated with something that was what I perceived as a "time waster" and "narcissistic" platform.

Thankfully, I was blessed by jumping in, as is my style when something resonates with me, on Group Discussions on Linked In.  Sales being my game, digital printing associated with my name, and career advice the same .. for why I joined.  I met two people right off that were gems that I am forever thankful for connecting with, continue to do so and would be blessed to MIRL (hah! acronym hell:  "Meet in Real Life") ... Sandy Hubbard (@SandyHubbard) and Mike Lehr @MikeLehrOZA .  Sandy showed interest in my approach on sales, and was instrumental to encouraging me to get on Twitter.  She went further by introducing me to a group of outstanding influencers in Social Media and Twitter called #USGUYS.  Mike inspired me by endorsing a comment I made on Linked In.

These two wonderful nuggets launched me Social Media journey.  The expertise on #USGUYS demonstrated that Social Media was not for flakes but truly some talented people in their own careers of marketing, sales, entrepreneurship flourishing under the comradery (n. Comradery is the spirit of friendship and community in a group, like the comradery of soldiers at war who keep each other upbeat despite the difficulty of their  crucible of combat together....)  When I like something, I get on the bandwagon and become an evangelist  (—n:  an occasional preacher, sometimes itinerant and often preaching at meetings in the open air) with enthusiasm.  Lucky for Twitter and social media, Mike Lehr, an intuition expert and author decided to join me! 

If you ever want to test your theories or philosophies and share your principles ... social media is a platform that compliments your learning journey.  Mike is an inspiration who has gone on from an occasional tip from me to excelling and surpassing me by leaps with a nice, solid, loyal following who wants to hear his message.

Sandy's introduction amongst guru's enabled me to meet "The Grandfather of Social Media"  Josepf Haslam  @Josepf whom I even went on to interview for a Blog (NOTE:   you know someone's a pro and leading edge on Twitter when their handle is their first name after the @).

I apologize, I took a detour again.  Seriously, it comes to my main point:  Birds of a Feather Flock Together ... in Business and in Social Media.  That underscores what I have been telling my children for years:  "You are the company you keep"

Lucky for me.  I am so honored to connected with magnificent talent, expertise and inspirations through Social Media.  On my 4th Anniversary I posted on Facebook that if I had a Fairy Godmother she would grant me the opportunity to meet my connections described as Friends for coffee IRL (acronym hell:  "In Real Life").

In the past week, some of the folks whom I followed right off the bat are REALLY being recognized for their contribution on social media, or their area of expertise, here are a few:

Have a question about your social media strategy? Ask our expert!

www.linkedin.com

Ric Dragon is CEO of DragonSearch and author of Social Marketology, an award-win...ning book on best practices for creating the most ideal social media strategy for your particular needs. Need advice about your social media strategy, or have a general question about social media ...See More

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OptioneerJM shared Ann Tran's photo.

April 1

Humbly happy to have first article published by Entrepreneur.com Yay!

Want To Gain Influence on Social Media? Get To Work http://entm.ag/1hX1XDj

 

 

Which I went and took my own advice and commented:

 

"I'm always thankful that Ann Tran was one of the first social media personalities I followed on my social media journey.  She is very gracious and inspiring to many as her following showcases.

There are lots of great reminders and tips on how to create/increase your following and establish credibility as an Influencer and Ann hits on the key points.


One thing I've discovered intuitively is trying to understand the messages that people identify you with and stay on point.  I have a few passions:  imagery, photography and art that I promote, follow, share on Pinterest, Google Plus, Facebook because they stimulate my interest and visual appetite."

**********

This Blog would become endless if I would name everyone who has helped me trigger this fascinating learning journey.  Most, if not all, know who they are because we interact regularly and exchange inspiration often.

There are a couple of other cool observations I've made about Social Media and specifically on messaging:

1. Be careful what you say because once it is out there, it is connected to you, your personality, your professional wisdom (or mistakes)
2. It is a great way to reinforce your philosophy and remind yourself of what you attribute to make yourself a more positive person.
3. Which underlines 2 - try to keep your messages positive and avoid the trap of bashing anyone or anything publicly.
4. You don't need a large number of re-shares, likes, followers to be identified with quality or influence.
5. When the time is right, you will receive acknowledgement that you are creating a message that people want to pay attention (a year ago on my Birthday, the CEO of KRED sent me an email to tell me I attained the Top 1% Influencer status)
6. You can try to work the system but the system will work you .... in other words:  you don't have to try hard if you are consistent, on message (after you figure out what messages people seem to like from you).  You don't have to spend the number of hours it appears that some are online.  They are scientifically understanding the optimum times their audience will be receptive to their message - making it look easy!
7. You ARE the company you keep!  If you promote quality, you will attract quality. 
8. Birds of a Feather Flock Together ... in Business and Social Media as in life.
9. If you don't ask, you won't get ... aka don't follow someone and expect them to follow you back if you haven't engaged or asked them.  I try my best to follow someone back who directly asks me.  Nor should you expect someone to follow you just because you shared a message. 
10. Develop your online profile:  what is the message you want associated with you? 

•  I cross-section all my platforms with "Helping others strive beyond average to remarkable" to be who I want to be identified for.
• Have a photo for pete's sake ... and from this decade preferably!
• Connect your platforms, loop them together:  there are great sites that help you do so:

                           ABOUT ME http://about.me/jeannettemarshall
                           XMEE  https://xeeme.com/optioneerJM
                           GOOGLE PLUS https://plus.google.com/u/0/105222907836628340919/about
                           TRUST CLOUD https://trustcloud.com/!/Jeannette%20Marshall

                           FACEBOOK PAGE     https://www.facebook.com/pages/OptioneerJM/185055671514600

11.  There are sites that measure your online influence, if it matters to you, your occupation (i.e. if you are in Marketing you should be on the bleeding edge of social media to increase  personal worth to your organization) :

• KRED:  http://kred.com/?pkid=1388890
• KLOUT:  https://klout.com/#/OptioneerJM

12.  There are sites that you can test your expertise based on reactions to your answers:

• LINKED IN:  Join Groups that are affiliated with your area of expertise
• QUORA:  Answer Questions by topic, etc.  Once you get traction, you could be asked to answer specific questions.  For example, I am frequently invited to answer on sales  http://www.quora.com/Jeannette-Marshall

13.  My lucky number :o)  (The day my husband was born and our Wedding Anniversary)  Regardless of your pre-conception of what Social Media is all about:  don't knock it til you join it. 

Thank you for reading my Blog.  I count you as one of the fantastic people I am associated with ... just by the fact that you are on a knowledge journey and  continue self-improvement like me!  We certainly are "Birds of a Feather" together!

"I flock around with some amazing people"

~Jeannette Marshall (@optioneerJM)

Mind your manners or we'll mind you!

“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

~Theodore Roosevelt

One of the oddest occurrence in recruiting happened to me this week.  So odd, in fact, that I wanted to share it.   It isn't unusual, whether you are actively seeking a new career opportunity or not, for a recruiter to reach out to you to ask if you may be looking for a change, or ask whether you know someone that would make a strong candidate. 

The following email as received in my personal email out of the blue from someone I had never heard of or interacted with before or connected with on Linked In.  I edited out particulars for privacy purposes):

 

On Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 2:28 PM,

Hi Jeannette,
I am reaching out to you today for your help.

A client of mine is a large retail chain with over 250 superstores in Western Canada. Their headquarters are located in Saskatoon.

 

My client is offering xxxxxxxxxx max base(Based on seniority)+10% Bonus+15K moving bonus for a Solid Senior Business Analyst with Petrolium Systems OR Propane Systems Wholesale and maketing experience.

Here is a detailed Job Description:

 

This is a massive organization that employs over 3000 people with over 120 in IT that they hope to grow to 250 within a year.

If you are interested in moving to Saskatoon or know of anyone who would be interested in moving to Saskatoon please contact me directly with details below.

1) Attach Resume

2) Availability to interview and start

3) Your salary expectations

4) Confirm that location is ok

If this email has reached you while your area of expertise may be different then I would still like to hear from you; perhaps we will have the opportunity to do business in the future.

At the least I would like to have you on my network of Top Technology talent on LinkedIn; you may invite me at:

Thank you in advance for your support and looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Regards,

Sam
Business Development Manager, xxxxxxxx
Toronto, Ontario

The typos should have been my first clue.  Upon closer examination, it seemed apparent that it was generated via a well known job board, which I imagine meant that it was an email blast sent to many.  Typically, I am used to being contacted by recruiters from Linked In, rarely is an opening simply from an email and more often occurs after a telephone call.  Nonetheless, I have like to keep doors open with recruiters and treat them with respect as one would with a potential client or employer.  Therefore,  I did reply generically with my CV attached.  What floored me was this response today:

 

Hi Jeannette,

Please help me understand what you have done is relevant to what I am looking for.  Am I missing something from the resume I am looking at?
Many thanks, - Sam xxxx

 

A feather could have knocked me over.  My reaction initially was huh?  Secondly, how rude.  Thirdly,  fascinated that the latter email was a response to his own original email.  So much for being one of the "Top Technology Talent" on Linked.  Made me wonder why HE hadn't reached out there? 

 

A few other thoughts surface, but I'll keep those less kinder ones to myself.  Brushing up on "Business Etiquette" seemed obvious, another key that
stood out was that it was data driven.  Perhaps the Job Board offered various selection and then it spit out data of potential candidates which in turn generated the email.  It definitely points to the danger of relying on data and not intimately reviewing before starting any e-mail campaign.

 
 

I'm not a recruiter by profession yet I have done a fair amount of recruiting in my time.  What I do compare this to, sadly, is that generic sales letters are going out daily that quickly end up in the "trash".  What a waste of effort and reputation!

 Several pitfalls on this email stood out:

• It is obviously generic
• No tracking kept on who it was sent to
• Poor memory that an email had been sent out
• Names weren't pre-qualified by being looked up on Linked In
• Lack of understanding on parameters selected to generate recipients.

It also speaks of laziness and I'd be embarrassed if I were Sam.  More so, if I were his employer.  He apparently was seeking top tier professionals, but wasn't acting in the same fashion.  Perhaps more likely generating activity than attracting the top tier talent to meet the goal of hiring a suitable candidate.

Do you think I looked him up on Linked in ... not yet.  I may be curious to look him up ... that's just me.  How likely do you think I will be willing to connect with him ... not likely.

It is a competitive world out there.  Be careful to mind your manners or people will pay attention and many DO mind if you forget your manners!

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

Bill Gates

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