Your Resume Destroyed by a Negative Social Media Image

As I said in my last post "Many HR writers and articles are now asserting that your social media profile is your new resume."

Last time I wrote about the 'positives'.

So what can kill your chances of a job interview and even perhaps destroy your current career.

The one that leaps out is photos, photos, photos… you must not ever allow unflattering photos of yourself to appear anywhere… ever.

Fred videoed in his company shirt
swearing, drinking and raving on.

Being Overly Opinionated can also be risky so keep your views on politics, race, religion, pet hates and people you detest out of your social media activities… always.

Trouble at work is a no comment zone. If you are having problems at work keep it work and take it up directly with your employer. Even if you leave your next potential employer will see that you are willing to publicly denigrate those that pay your salary and will not therefore consider you as a suitable applicant.

Take care with  the colourful language. Now amongst mates or your circle of girlfriend it may be the norm however in written or recorded public messages it just a no no!


Comment about drugs and drinking cannot be discussed… A casual 'hey we all got whacked and pissed last night' can be a definite job killer.

Can I also suggest you remove yourself from unprofessional or 'whacky' groups.

Again and I've said ti many times use a decent email address "sexyric"@html.blah  just wont cut it. Particularly as it is not true.

It's bad to let things slide! If someone does tag you in a photo you don't like or makes derogatory remarks you fight like hell to get it fixed, just leaving it out there is not an option.

Here is a resume example if you need one and your social media profile is clean.

Social Media as Your Resume and Testimony

Many HR writers and articles are now asserting that your social media profile is your new resume.

It can also be a major boost in your career progression and greatly contribute to how you are commercially and/or professionally perceived.

So what are the positives?

You can demonstrate your technical and commercial competence, skills and knowledge.

You can become a recognised and respected expert in your field for both your social group and the wider community.

What must you have or do?

You must have a squeaky clean Facebook account

Keep a clean Facebook profile, by removing the not so savoury activities you may have been involved in. Also make sure the settings are appropriate and remove the mad moments that may have been photographed.

Set up a LinkedIn profile and keep it updated

This is purely a career or business networking website. Most LinkedIn users are there to connect with other professionals and/or re-connect with former colleagues.

Take advantage of Twitter

Twitter is the best way to promote yourself to a large audience and your tweets should point to your other social media accounts. Follow professionals in your field.

Create a personal website or blog

Use a perusal website as a resume and a blog if you are willing to write an occasional article on your area of expertise. Use Blogger as you are best sticking with Google

Have a 'Professional' avatar or Picture 

Keep away from the silly hats, pictures with your kids or pets and don't use a cartoon. While I'm at it open a gmail account using your own name or a close as you can get to it. "spunkyjohn@htomail just won't cut it.. unless you're a porn star.

Join Google Plus

Google, because of its circles can give you a constant stream of industry or professional updates. It is the serious social media business platform.

Link it all together

All social media sites need to be cross linked.

And this is just a beginning.

Vote for rictownsend on the SMS Best Social Media Blogs

Management: Don't Forget The Real Work

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DON'T FORGET THE "REAL WORK"

A short however critical lesson!

"Real Work" is term coined by Abraham Zaleznik (Professor Harvard Business School) to describe management activities related to producing products and services, offering them to a market and making sure we satisfy our customers. 

He contends that many managers spend too much time focusing on organisational processes and politics (the "rituals of psycho-politics" - roughly defined as "the art and science of asserting and maintaining dominion over the thoughts and loyalties of individuals...") or the pursuit of social expectations in the workplace.

As Zaleznik suggests managers need to exert considerable effort doing the "real work of thinking about and acting on ideas relating to products, markets, and customers". 

Functional and technical competence needs to be developed. This important issue and you should do considerable research on competence modelling as part of your early time in management and this issue will be covered more fully later when I upload "COMPETENCE". The real work of the manger according to Zaleznik should always include 'the thinking that informs and directs action'. 

The next article on management is:

FAMOUS GURUS THOUGHTS ON MANAGEMENT

Main website is at: orglearn

references are at : career_advice/management-lesson-references.html

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Good Management Versus Successful Management

'GOOD' MANAGEMENT IS OK, SUCCESSFUL IS BETTER?!

Many issues are central to our success as managers. To discuss management success at this point is also desirable. 

Most managers I have asked to define success will give an answer that can be generally defined as doing a 'good' job. 

The interpretation of a 'good' job is different for each individual and is so open to personal interpretation that it would inappropriate and impractical to go into it here. Each person, even if acting on their on version of 'good' will be limited in their perspective on management success by only one view, that of their own truth or that which they have been indoctrinated with over time.

To at least give a singular perspective on how we may view success and what we should do to gain success perhaps the view offered by Fred Luthans in the book "Real Managers" is helpful. Luthans looks at speed of promotion as a measuring stick, has analysed how much time managers spend in four areas of management activity and then provides a comparison between average, successful and effective (good job) managers.

The areas Luthans, describes as activities undertaken by managers give us more insights into the nature of managerial work. The areas are; "traditional management", decision making, planning and controlling; "communication", routine information exchange and processing formal communications; "human resource management", inspiring, disciplining, conflict resolution, allocating/hiring competent staff and staff development; "networking", socialising, politicking, and interacting with outside stakeholders (customers, suppliers, government etc).

An interesting point Luthans brings out is that successful managers spend almost half of their time networking and another third of their time communicating whereas effective (or good) managers spend almost half their time communicating and a quarter of their time in human resource management.

Whether you seek success or effectiveness networking and communicating are both competencies you will need to develop.

The next article on management is the all important... DON'T FORGET THE "REAL WORK"

More management at http://www.orglearn.org/

How Does Senior Management Usually Define 'Good' Managers

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WHAT DOES SENIOR MANAGEMENT SAY ABOUT BEING 'GOOD' MANAGERS AND 'GOOD' MANAGEMENT?

How would you know Ric, you don't work here? Its a fair question that you may rightfully ask. Well, in truth I can only make a general observation...OK assumption... however do you know the answer for your company? I have met plenty of managers that didn't!

There is only one way you will find out quickly what is important to the senior management in your company, no not the job description (although it can be somewhat helpful), it is by asking. Asking is hard for some so requesting a discussion of the annual appraisal criteria or performance review form is a great way to get started. The first thing you should do on being appointed as a manager or to a new position is to obtain a copy of the document and discuss with your immediate superior his or her views on the form and its application. Talking to your 'boss's boss' about the appraisal, if to do so is acceptable in your corporate culture, is also extremely helpful.

In all companies you will be set targets and have key responsibility areas (KRA's) and you must pay particular attention to these areas of your role. Yes its easy and I am stating the obvious, however in many companies I have worked in and consulted for this basic fact is not well understood by younger managers. Most new managers particularly can continue on being the technical expert however many straggle with the so called "soft skills" of their role. Yes and some senior managers have the same problem.

Point: When was the last time you read a book on Management written by a senior manager say Jack Welsh for instance... reading important management and leadereship books needs to become a constant activity, forget the novels.

The next management article will be on:

'GOOD' MANAGEMENT IS OK, SUCCESSFUL IS BETTER? YES SO WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?
references are at: career_advice/management-lesson-references.html

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MORE ON MANAGEMENT >  More management articles and tips! < MORE ON MANAGEMENT

Need a resume? Check this resume helper out!

Personal Branding: Is Your Avatar Hurting Your Image?

I recently read that resumes are becoming less necessary as employers are becoming more interested in reviewing you as employee potential based on your online reputation. 

As we all know we tend to make a decision on people within the first few seconds of meeting them. We then look for signals to reinforce our initial opinion. 

I also recently wrote that your email address was important as "spunky1949" on hotmail dot com was just not going to help you get a job interview. 

Bearing in mind what I have said above, if you look at the avatars chosen at random from players of Empire Avenue what emotional responses do they evoke?

I 'know' most of the people represented below and they all seem pretty good people. The point of the exercise is to decide based on the pictures below which one's appeal to you and which one's leave you less than impressed or even stone cold!

The exercise is about technique, cartoons versus real pictures, generic images versus personal portraits, logos versus pets, half naked long shots versus head and shoulders in suit and tie etc.

So if you could comment on one or two using such adjectives as "friendly", "trustworthy", "secretive", "arrogant", "nice", "obscure" or even "a bit dumb looking" it would help my research greatly.

Now this is an important topic for you and I as it effects how we present ourselves online. A company recently used Empire Avenue to research an avatar/logo for a product launch to see which of their proposals had the best impact. From my point of view they were smart to do that. As we are our own best product shouldn't we also think about and take seriously the issue's mentioned as they relate to our reputation and the impression we make online?