Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

6 Tips for New Twitter Users

I have to confess, I still haven’t gotten into Twitter.  My Facebook addiction is bad enough.  I fear that if I add Twitter to my arsenal of time-wasting technology tools, I will never finish a book chapter or blog post again.  Nevertheless, Twitter is white hot.  Its chief advantage is being able to meet up with colleagues or friends in the real world after Twitter has informed you that they’re presently nearby.  Everybody’s doing it, and if you’re new, you might find these suggestions from Shel Israel helpful:

• Show yourself.  Scroll through some pages and see what catches your eye. Use a real photo, and if you have a blog or website, link to it. Under bio, say something about what you are really about. Saying your location is on iPhone is overused and unhelpful to someone deciding to follow you or not.
• Read first.  Start by reading what others have to say. Get a sense of the rhythm of Twitterville conversations before you join in. Wait until you have something useful or interesting to add to the conversation.
• Celebrities don't count. You can always start by getting followed by a few celebrity Tweeters like Scoble, Calacanis and Loic. But they give you no credibility at all because they simply follow everyone. Their purpose is to be a new media star and it works well for them.
• Post before you follow strangers. Take a few days and post a few thoughts on subjects you want to discuss on Twitter. It can be work, play, news, sports, or music. People will learn what you are about and can decide to follow you because they share something in common with you.
• Avoid spammer stats.  The worst thing you can do is have stats that show you follow 149 people and 4 people follow you. Spammer stats mean that you chose to follow a bunch of people but revealed so little of yourself, that no one wanted to follow you back. Fix this by going slower and posting tweets that let others know about you.
• Have favorites.  Notice the little star icon to the right of each tweet, and use it to make that post a "favorite." Favorites show your sense of humor and your passion points.
• Take your time.  Twitterville works like any other neighborhood.  People start by chatting about the weather or lunch. Sometimes the conversation goes nowhere, tapering off into cyberspace. Other times, the conversation deepens and evolves into a real friendship or a business opportunity. If you push too aggressively, people may respond to you in the same way they do the loudmouth at the party. They walk away and talk in circles that do not include you.

TV for Job Hunters

Over at Cheezhead, Vanessa Dennis writes about the new Chicago-based Job Search Television Network (JSTN).  The multimedia job search network is looking to expand its daily two-hour broadcast powered by Comcast into a 24-hour job ops channel.  Currently JSTN offers companies the opportunity to create a video that features a company profile and a three-minute segment on an actual employee of the company talking about things like how they got hired, what gets dished up in the cafeteria, and any other company perks worth mentioning.

 

A group of six anchors rotate the segments each week to provide job seekers with a fresh face to go with their daily dose of jobs.  At the end of the video, a code is displayed that the job seeker can plug into a text message, which will then automatically generate a link to the posting. JSTN is offering a multimedia recruitment platform that taps TV, mobile, and Internet users all at once. The videos air Monday through Friday from 6 to 8 AM CST and weekends from 7 to 9 AM, and current clients include McDonald’s, Allstate, US Cellular, and DeVry University. While JSTN is only offered in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, expect to see this company branching out into several different geographies soon.

It seems that posting creative job ads on YouTube is old news.  You have JSTN, and there’s also CareerTV, the only global television programmer and interactive website designed to help college students and young professionals develop their careers.   Claiming to be the world’s most visited career video website, CareerTV reaches its audience on two platforms - online at CareerTV.com and on television with a nationally syndicated half-hour program also titled CareerTV. It provides job seekers with free, personalized career profiles, career coaching, career-related videos, salary reports, and career news.

Have you job hunters used these resources?  I’m curious as to whether TV and video are still fads in this space, or if they are actually helping hiring companies more quickly connect with talented candidates.

Recruitment Spotlight: Don’t Hire Anyone without Doing This First

Continuing our summer focus on recruitment and HR issues, how many times has your group tried to hire someone, only to end up arguing over candidates because you don’t all agree about what the new person is there to do?

Hiring smart means doing some work on the front end to make sure you have a good understanding of your open position before you bring people in to attempt to fill it.  The first step is to determine your business requirements.  What are the core products, services, initiatives, and financial circumstances that will impact this new hire?  What are the business problems the new hire will need to solve in the first 90 days or the first year, and what are the major projects he or she will need to complete to this end? 

Next, you’ll want to do some in-house interviewing.  Your mission?  To uncover a profile of the top performer in the open position.  Talk with and observe in action those who are already doing excellent work in the same or similar jobs, and/or get input from the person you’re replacing on the traits, skills, behaviors, attitudes and experience that make them successful. 

It will also help you to understand the role that your corporate culture plays in finding the right candidate.  However, insiders rarely have an objective view of their culture or business, so consider recruiting someone external (a consultant or partner) to ask the tough questions, interview key employees, and create an accurate, objective assessment of your company’s work environment, values, and style.  They would also be in a better position to speak to past employees who have been unsuccessful in the position and learn about the reasons behind their failures.  You never know – they might give you an earful that helps to explain why you’re experiencing turnover in that particular job.

New Episode: 30/20 Vision Radio Show and Podcast

Just a heads up that a new episode of 30/20 Vision will air this Monday, August 25th at 5PM EST. This month, along with my co-hosts Christine Hassler (20 Something Manifesto) and Lindsey Pollak (Getting From College to Career), I will discuss the issues facing 20-somethings in the business world today, and how young professionals can overcome stereotypes and be more effective at work.  Join us live or listen to the replay!

A Lesson in Good Sportsmanship

Well, the gymnastics competitions that are my favorite part of the Olympic Games are over.   As usual, the events were dogged with controversy.  This year, it had mainly to do with the ages and scores of the Chinese gymnasts.

In 1997, to counter the increasing trend towards younger and younger gymnasts, the International Gymnastics Federation introduced a rule that competitors must be 16 in the year that the event is held.  But gold medal winners He Kexin and Yang Yilin looked far younger.  And sure enough, says The Guardian, online documents called into question whether either of the gymnasts would reach their 16th birthday this year.  The documents relating to He include a page from the Chengdu Sports Bureau website from 2006, which gave her year of birth as 1994, a report in last November's Cities Games at Wuhan which gave her age then as 13, and a story in the China Daily newspaper in May this year, which gave her age as 14.  Yang's age was given in online files from the General Administration of Sport in China. Records from 2004, 2005 and 2006 give her date of birth as August 26th 1993. That would make Yang only 15 this year, and 14 when she competed in last year's world championships.  Clear-cut as the evidence looks, the IOC allowed these girls to compete because the Chinese government produced “official” passports documenting their ages as 16.

Then, there were the scores.  I watched most of the events, and I couldn’t count the number of times ultra-experienced commentators Tim Daggett and Elfie Schlegel remarked that a Chinese gymnast was scored too high on a routine.  When these guys say that something gets a deduction, I believe them, and yet the international panel of judges seemed obviously swayed by the cheers of the home court crowd, who of course wanted the Chinese girls to come out on top. 

Given circumstances, it would have been easy for the other competitors to become discouraged.  After all, in a lot of people’s opinions, some of the women winning gold instead of them were ineligible, and often not even as good.  But every gymnast handled defeat and unfairness with grace and dignity.  We never saw them look outraged, or heard them complain publicly to the media.  The way these young women handled themselves sets an example for all of us in the workplace.  Things aren’t always going to work out the way we think they should, and sometimes this will make us angry and want to quit.  We have to remember that the way we react in an unjust situation often says more about us than any other kind.

Is Luck a Reality That Should Be Acknowledged?

On his blog, Seth Godin responded to a reader who believes luck and randomness is just as critical to success as hard work and effort.

Seth says: “Without a doubt, luck is involved. I don't think anyone would tell you otherwise. The choice one needs to make, though is this: either you believe that luck is dominant, in which case, why bother with effort? Or you believe that luck is random, in which case it can be eliminated from your thinking and you can focus on all the stuff you can control.

I don't think luck alone gets you into Harvard Law School or a clerkship at the Supreme Court. I don't think luck gets someone to buy your car (the best in its class and a great value) instead of the lame alternative.  I've been astonishingly lucky with many elements of my career. Mostly because solid singles turned into doubles or the occasional homer. I figure most of the failures are my fault and many of the successes were really good breaks. But I can't imagine how lonely and depressing it would be to view myself as nothing but a pinball, batted around by forces over which I have no influence."

I understand where Seth is going with this, and I think he’s correct in that it’s useless to wait around for the fickle finger of fate to point its finger at you.  However, I don’t know that one has to make a choice between believing luck is dominant and believing it’s random.  And I think you do yourself a disservice if you dismiss it altogether.  For example, when I’ve tried my hardest at something and have had every reason in the world to succeed – but someone else still comes out on top at my expense – occasionally it makes me feel a bit better to chalk it up to luck.

There are a lot of talented people in this world with outstanding work ethics.  Persistence is the #1 factor in getting what you want out of life, I don’t dispute that.  But luck is certainly in the mix too, and occasionally it's both dominant and random. 

How to Apply for a Federal Job

You’ve heard me mention Steven Rothberg and his incredibly useful employment information website at CollegeRecruiter.com before, and this week Heather Eager wrote a terrific post on a topic I never considered – how to get a federal job.

I never realized this, but the process of applying to work for the government is totally different than what you go through to work in the private sector.  For one thing, federal guidelines require that you provide very specific information in an OF-612 form or “federal resume.” 

A federal resume typically includes job details (announcement number, title and grade), personal details (full name, address, phone, social security number, and country of citizenship), education (chronological listing of high school and colleges with degree types, major subjects, GPAs and total credits earned), and extensive work experience (with previous salaries included).  When detailing your work experience, you should keep the specific position in mind. The government is strict about ensuring that applicants' skills exactly match the listed qualifications. Also, remember to list any software, training courses, certificates, professional memberships, or awards that might tip the scale in your favor.

The KSA is also known as Knowledge, Skills and Abilities and is a series of statements written in a narrative format that you must include with your federal resume.  Jobs that require a KSA will usually list between three and five statements in the posting that you need to provide answers for. Sell yourself for the position with each answer by using concrete, thorough examples and an original style that differs from your resume.

Customizing your application materials is desirable for any job, but it’s mandatory in the federal sector. As government jobs are becoming more plentiful and sought-after, this guidance is critical.  Thanks to Steven and Heather for providing it.

Recruitment Spotlight: How to Check References

Most people have to check references in some shape or form, whether it’s for a candidate or a babysitter.  I don’t know about you, but until I wrote Success for Hire I never really knew how to do it. Here's what I learned:

While you can e-mail a reference initially, connect either in person or by phone with at least one reference for each person you’re thinking of hiring.  While reference letters or e-mails can be helpful, speaking with a person allows for a better interpretation of tone, and for the ability to ask questions on the fly. 

Some experts say that the primary goal of a reference call is to verify the basics of what the candidate told you in the interview, but I believe you need to do much more than that.  After all, would a person really provide you with a reference who couldn’t back him up on obvious things like how long he worked at a company, and what he did there?  What you should be looking for is the reference’s perspective on the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses as an employee.  In this respect, you should ask open-ended questions about job accomplishments, intellectual ability, personality and character, interpersonal and technical skills, business judgment, level of commitment, management style, and areas for development.  As in the interview, don’t broadcast to the reference exactly what you’re looking for.

The problem with most references is that they tend to be very vague in their comments.  They don’t know you from Adam, and so they don’t want to say anything that might get them into trouble.  If you’re getting a pleasant but generic image of the candidate, re-phrase your questions so that you’re presenting the topic of a candidate’s weaknesses in a non-aggressive manner.  For instance: “We are really excited about the possibility of bringing John on board.  If he is selected for the position, what are some areas in which you think he could use some development?’”

If you’re speaking to a reference and she mentions someone else you might want to talk to, take her up on it and get the person’s contact information.  Calling a candidate’s references is not just an item to check off your list before making an offer.  It’s in your best interest to do everything you can to make sure to get to know the candidate as intimately as possible, and the more people you ask, the more complete your picture is likely to be.

Increase Your Productivity With Custom Search Engines

I knew something like this was coming, and leave it to Google to be the pioneers.  It’s Custom Search – the ability to create a personalized search engine tailored to your needs.  Using Google, you can now create a tool that will allow you to search a specific group of websites, blogs, or topics. 

My friend Cody McKibben, a blogger for Thrilling Heroics and Brazen Careerist, uses Custom Search to increase his efficiency and decrease the time it takes to find answers and write up blog posts.

If you want to check out a successful example of Custom Search in action, visit Cody’s tool.  His search engine crawls dozens of the most trusted blogs on the internet for authoritative posts on topics such as personal development, productivity, and social media. 

Like me, you may be nervous about conducting Internet research using Wikipedia and other unvetted sites.  Custom search solves this problem.  Developers like Cody have done their homework, so you can believe what you read.

You can add individual custom search tools to your own website or as a widget on your Google homepage.  Do a search on Cody’s tool for anything career or workplace related, and you may just come across our very own Water Cooler Wisdom!

Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Juggle and Be Merry

Juggling multiple jobs is becoming more and more common, as people seek work that will provide an additional paycheck or personal satisfaction that is lacking in Job #1.  Over at Stepcase Lifehack, Thursday Bram, a writer who has done this herself, has these insights to share:

Keep firm dividers between your different jobs. Even if you are the boss on your second job — you’re working for yourself — you have an obligation to keep that work separate from your day job.  Focus on what’s in front of you. When you’re on the clock for Company A, you know exactly which projects you should be working on. If Company A is paying for this time, you should be theirs, heart and soul, at least until you clock out.

There will come a day when an emergency comes up at Job A when you’re supposed to be taking care of something for Job B. It’s a fact of life. Unless you have very understanding supervisors or clients, you’re going to have to choose between your jobs. In the moment, it’s very hard to make that decision. I’ve decided between jobs based on which I enjoyed more, which paid better and which was more likely to fire me.

In terms of what you tell the boss:  some companies don’t want you to work anywhere else. They want you to put in your eight hours, go home, sleep well and come back rested. Others consider employees who go looking for other projects as assets — such employees have a jump start on networking and have a wider variety of experiences.

Unfortunately, most supervisors do not come with a label describing which variety they are. Because it can be very hard to figure out your boss’ stance, the general rule seems to be that you keep quiet on your extracurricular activities. I wouldn’t talk about Job A at Job B, although, if my boss was to bring up the matter, I’d be entirely truthful.

There are only certain circumstances in which your employer has any legal right to ask you to stop working at your second job. If you have a non-compete agreement and your side job — whether you’re freelancing, working for the competition or providing consulting services — your employer can say something. If you’re on call for both jobs at once, your employer can say something. But in most other cases, your employer has no grounds to object.

I’ve been in this situation too, and Thursday’s tips are golden.  Keep them in mind so that you are able to go about all of your endeavors without making waves.