Recruiters Dont Expect a Return on Investment from LinkedIn! (Part 2)

Recruiters Don’t Expect a Return on Investment from LinkedIn! (Part 2) They’ve restricted your searches and freed up access to 3rd level contacts â€" everyone’s scared and delighted! Last year I blogged about recruiters not expecting a return on investment from LinkedIn. I predicted (and so did my cat!) that the era for the free use of social media is coming to an end.   I suggested that recruitment leaders needed to get a handle on the value of, for example, LinkedIn to their workforce, their business process, and ultimately their bottom line.   Some people did this, most recruiters did not… what a situation! Recruiter catastrophe! Last week LinkedIn made what some recruiters see as a drastic change to their free system.  Or rather they made several interesting changes: They started to “ration” the amount of searches that users of their free system can do and some of my clients found themselves not being able to search 3 days into the month LinkedIn opened up your 3rd level connections Both changes were “announced” via an update to the help desk content. The screen that some of  my clients were lucky enough to get within a nano-second of coming back from Xmas suggest that they upgrade. We’re doomed! Recruiters were going a little mad, holes were opening up to the Earth’s crust, long dead giant predators were marauding the community and aliens were landing….  Or rather a very small, but incredibly active, section of the LinkedIn community were going totally nuts.   Some of them mailed me their screen shots in a panic. I dug about a bit, contacted LinkedIn and was sent this link describing the change note the fact that you will have no idea what your limit is until you get to 30% left and then the Doomsday clock  starts to get really loud! Note too, though, that you  can now see 3rd level connections.  This is awesome   but was met with derision by some of my contacts who already who invest in licences  to see this data, or who are clever monkeys and can get around the system. How very dare you ask me to pay for LinkedIn? I blogged about this concept last year â€" that I feel that if you are to get value from LinkedIn you will eventually (perhaps today?) pay for access to it.  Why is such a problem I wonder? I don’t go into Tesco grab an apple, eat it and walk out.  So, do I think that recruiters need to pay for Linkedin?  Absolutely â€" if they make money from it â€" and here lies the rub. Are  recruiters actually making money from LinkedIn? I think it’s safe to state that most recruiters would have a hissing fit if LinkedIn was no longer an option for them. But do they really have a handle on what fees they generate, candidates they source, clients they keep warm, brands they improve, vacancy opportunities they source, from LinkedIn?  What the average recruiter can get from LinkedIn is huge!  This is reflected in their responses to when it goes down (rarely) and when it updates  (often). When it comes to proof of return,  though, I don’t see enough recruiters with stats and smiles. I am a massive advocate of respecting LinkedIn. This is not born out of some weird altar I have in my house or any relationships I have with the business. Rather I respect tech which makes things possible and quick, even whilst sat on the toilet! (I’ve done a poll and lots of you recruiters do business on the loo!) Get a grip on ROI, recruiters! Why is it that so many recruitment leaders seem to be ok with the fact that their staff spend so long using kit, software, systems, without being able to prove ROI? I assume they are ok with it as they often don’t have a handle on it. A recruiter’s day starts when they wake up and check their phones.   I bet that LinkedIn gets a good seeing to before the teeth are brushed.  Who’s investing any real time fixing the “how much is LinkedIn worth to my business” conundrum?  How do you feel about having your searches rationed?   Where do you think that the fee-paying model will stop with LinkedIn?  Surely now is the time  to add a value to LinkedIn so you can ascertain when  it is ok for it to cost?

Re-branding Phase 3 Personal Branding Magazine 2.0 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Re-branding Phase 3 Personal Branding Magazine 2.0 - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career If you havent noticed or read my previous posts, Ive been re-branding my entire collection of personal branding websites and graphics. The purpose of these posts is not only to show you how important evolving your brand is, but that consistency between sites is critical to messaging. Here are my accomplishments thus far: Phase 2: Personal Branding TV Phase 1: New Logo As the next issue of Personal Branding Magazine will be delivered on November 1st, I thought it was be the perfect time to revitalize the website and mend it to the new look. The magazine has evolved ten fold, from the first issue on August 1st of this year. From 11 authors to 37 authors, from 22 pages to 39 pages and now with an exclusive interview between me and Philip Rosedale (Founder of Second Life). The new site allows visitors to contribute to future issues, purchase back issues, view advertising options and admire the magazine staff. Starting issue 3, there will be 12 regular columnists, 2 editors, a sponsorship manager, a reporter and many contributors. All current subscribers will receive their issue, along with all sponsors and members of the Personal Branding Network. For everyone else, please subscribe today! Thank you for the support. Subscribe to the blog

Brave, Not Perfect

Brave, Not Perfect When was your last epic fail? Chances are I can make a good guess about it by knowing whether you’re a man or a woman. If you’re a woman, I bet you can’t remember an epic fail. And that’s a shame. Reshma Saujani, author of Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder, says that we’ve conditioned girls to fit our mold of the perfect girl. “From the time they are babies, girls absorb hundreds of micromessages each day telling them that they should be nice, polite, and polished… They are praised mightily for being A students and for being helpful, polite, and accommodating and are chided (however lovingly) for being messy, assertive, or loud.” We’re training girls to be afraid to take chances, to try things they might fail at. Failure is messy, scary, and will almost certainly disappoint all those people who count on her: her parents, her coaches, her teachers, her friends. Social networks have ratcheted up the pressure and the stakes exponentially. Girls (and women) see everyone else’s carefully curated and edited photos of their perfect lives, creating anxiety even despair at the idea of someone finding out how imperfect our own lives are. When we tell girls they can do anything, Saujani says, they hear that they have to do everything â€" and make it look effortless. “Now they need to be nice, but also fierce; polite but also bold; cooperative but trailblazing; strong but also pretty. All this plus, in a culture that lauds effortless perfection, making it look like they’re not tryingâ€"not even a bit.” Saujani says the conditioning starts very early â€" almost from birth. She describes a scene at a local park near her home. [Her 16-month old son] “Shaan’s shirt was smeared with strawberry ice cream and his nose was filled with boogers, but he didn’t careâ€"and neither did I. Still new to the whole vertical coordination thing, Shaan toppled over a couple of times as he waddled from one end of the playground to another; each time, rather than run to his rescue, Nihal calmly waited for him to get up and keep going. At one point, I looked over and saw him coaxing Shaan, who was a little scared, down the big slide. “You can do this…you’re a big boy…you’re not afraid!” Nearby, a few older boys were play-fighting using sticks as swords and chasing one another. Lots of happy hollering and a sea of dirty, scabby knees and elbows: a classic case of grade-school boys at play. Meanwhile, over at the sandbox, five girls who looked to be around three years old were playing quietly. No ice-cream-smeared shirts or booger-encrusted noses there. Wearing cute coordinated outfits, they took turns scooping piles of sand to make a pretend cake, while their moms watched intently from a few feet away. In a ten-minute span, three of the five moms jumped up from their perches and climbed into the sandboxâ€"one to straighten her daughter’s headband and another to reprimand her daughter for being “rude” by taking the shovel from another girl. The third mom rushed to her daughter’s aid after her sand “cake” fell over and hurriedly helped her daughter rebuild it while making soothing noises and wiping the tears from the girl’s face. When the cake was fixed, the little girl smiled and her mom beamed with pride, “There’s my happy girl!” You can’t make this stuff up, Saujani writes. We’re sending wildly different messages to our boys and our girls. We tell boys to figure it out. We let them push and shove and test their limits and each other’s. We let them fall down and get back up again. Meanwhile, we reward girls for being quiet, cooperative and pretty. The messages girls absorb become so deeply ingrained that they are changed forever. Its time we changed that.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese 5 Tips for Becoming Valuable in a New Job

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese 5 Tips for Becoming Valuable in a New Job The job-hunting experience can be a stressful one: sending out resumes, interviewing, sending out more resumes and interviewing again. It can take weeks, even months, to nail the job you want. Finally, you get the position you desire. And while youre a bit nervous in the beginning, the new job begins to feel more comfortable after a while, and you settle in to the routine. But before you begin to feel too comfortable in your little cubicle, are you sure youre doing everything you can to hang on to that job? Are you positive that youre not setting yourself up for future disappointment? Or, are you so consumed with just keeping up with the everyday demands that youve failed to plan ahead? When you begin a new position, you want to be realistic about your career path with that employer. Remember, those with the least amount of time with an employer are often the first ones who are laid off. Thats why its key that you prove your worth as quickly as possible, so that you have a better chance of not only hanging on to that job, but of moving up the career ladder. From the first day you walk into a new job, one of the most important things you can do is to express your willingness to learn. That means that you listen carefully to instructions from how to operate the copy machine to filing reports with the boss and take notes. Dont be shy about asking questions, since its much better to get things right in the beginning rather than just trying to learn from mistakes as time goes by. For example, does the boss prefer face-to-face communication or phone calls and e-mail? Who can you ask about computer issues or how staff meetings are conducted? How should customer questions be answered? Its also a good idea to: Be observant. To learn how a workplace really functions, you need to not only listen, but look. The boss may have the title, but it might be there are others in the office wielding autho rity. Be aware of who seems to garner the most attention in the office and in meetings; youll begin to get a good idea of the power structure. Walk around. Take the time to briefly stop by and introduce yourself to anyone you havent met. Learn the persons name (make a note if you have a bad memory for names). Then, in the following days and weeks, greet the person by name and begin to ask them about their jobs, the challenges they face and how your job affects what they do. As you get to know more people in the office, make sure you keep all interactions positive. Dont badmouth your old job, people you worked with or make other critical comments. You want to be seen as friendly, professional and open to other peoples ideas. Pitch in. Showing that youre a team player is important in todays competitive marketplace. Those workers who are willing to pitch in and help out are seen as a benefit the company and other employees. Dont be afraid to step outside of your job description to show that youre there to get the job done, and are willing to be flexible. Reach out. Now that youve landed the job, you need to make sure others are aware of it. Send out notes to your network, and make sure that professional publications post your new achievement. Become active in your field so that your new boss sees you as someone who is well-informed about the marketplace and your profession. Grow your skills. Take advantage of any training your new employer might offer, and continue to invest in your abilities outside the workplace. Attend seminars that provide you with new skills, or consider taking a class to further hone your talents. An employee with an up-to-date, valuable skill set will be much harder to let go, no matter the time on the job.What are some other key career steps someone should take in a new job?Social Bookmarking