Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Social Media Is Contributing To The Job Market

February 26th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News - (0 Comments)

Businesses are learning that to fully benefit from the social media marketing, a new approach with more of a time commitment is needed. This often results in a new position of “social media manager” who takes on the role of setting up profiles, maintaining them, and communicating with others. In Gwinnett Business Journal’s recent article, “Social media: Turn to the pros,” they recognize that a commitment to building relationships with customers is required to fully reach the potential social media can provide. This is a far cry from just maintaining a corporate web site. Some companies have even begun to outsource the responsibility to ensure enough attention is given to the task. They offer advice for those organizations considering creating a position or outsourcing for social media management and it starts like all good communication or business plans – define your goals.

Melody K. Smith, February 26, 2010

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Use LinkedIn Connections to Fine Tune Job Hunt

February 25th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | LinkedIn | News | prospecting - (0 Comments)

The “connections” feature in LinkedIn is one of the reasons the site stands apart from other social networking sites, and using it effectively will help job-seekers stand out in the sea of resumes that employers may wade through. “How to Use Linkedin Networking while applying for a Job” covers a step-by-step process in refining your resume before submitting it directly to the hiring manager. By locating an “insider” in the company with a professional connection, be it alumni status, a professional association, or even mutual friends, one can request an “informational interview” to determine 1) if the job is still available, 2) the name of the hiring manager, and 3) desirable characteristics of the potential employee. Once you know this, you can customize your resume and have the insider deliver it directly to the hiring manager. This personal touch should give you higher response rates than blindly applying for jobs.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 25, 2010

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Is Employee Screening By Social Info Discrimination?

February 21st, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in guidelines | jobs | News - (0 Comments)

It seems common-sense enough: using someone’s online profile as a screen for potential employment. After all, if the information is public, what’s the harm? But a recent Star Tribune article, “HR and Facebook: It’s complicated,” discusses employers coming dangerous close to violating anti-discrimination laws if they use what they find to deny employment to someone. While discrimination by race, gender, or religion is clearly illegal, other legal activities like drinking or union organizing should not enter into the decision-making process, even though they may be “undesirable.” Some companies use a third party to obtain information legally about the candidates. Still, social savvy job seekers: be careful what you leave visible online. Consider a personal and professional Facebook page, or use LinkedIn exclusively for professional contacts. In the age of social media, companies need to tactfully sift through the information legally, while employees should keep the personal online profiles private.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 21, 2010

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New E-mail Feature May Help Job Hunter

February 21st, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News - (0 Comments)

A recent article by hotelmarketing.com, “Email campaigns bloom with social media,” dissected the virtues of a new combination of e-mail and social networking. While intended to help create viral campaigns, it may be a job seeker’s best friend too. The story discusses a Social Sharing option that has become a popular addition to e-mail marketing campaigns. This allows information within an e-mail to easily be posted on social networking sites and shared with all the recipient’s friends. While this has clear advantages for a company trying to sell its products, it may also help spread the word about your job hunt. Many people already know that the word of mouth generated by telling friends and family you are seeking new employment is often the best way to land a job. By utilizing this Social Sharing technology you can not only make their job easier, but also spread your net even wider.

Patrick Roland, Feb. 21, 2010

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Employees Saying Kiss My Tweet?

February 18th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News | Twitter - (0 Comments)

How’s this for a new use of Twitter? According to The Bottom line; Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz gave his resignation via a tweet. It may not be the most professional way to exit a position, but it sure is original. Cyber Journalist.net states that older adults are using Twitter even more than teens today. Throughout the article “How Americans use social media” young adults 18-29 years old are gaining momentum with this new outlet. Does this mean that we will see more and more hiring, firing, and resignations via Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace? Maybe not, but it does show that when you want to get your message across you go to where the people are positioned to hear it loud and clear.

Belinda Sissom, Feb. 18, 2010

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You, Too, Could Meet Your Next Employer on Twitter

February 12th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News | Twitter - (0 Comments)

Birds of a feather really do flock together. This Marketing Profs Daily Fix Guest Post drives this message home. Kevin Smith, a software developer for Gnoso, Inc. in Greenville, SC, found comfort in a flock of Ruby programming language birds on Twitter. After getting more involved in the Ruby community, he sent his resume to Gnoso, a company where a fellow Twitter follower Alan was employed. After weeks of not hearing anything Kevin reached out to Alan to find that his resume had not gone through. Alan quickly became Kevin’s biggest cheerleader considering they had similar interests and had grown to be close friends on Twitter. Alan encouraged Kevin to resend his resume, and within months Kevin was hired by Gnoso. This is what the hiring manager had to say, “While [Twitter] doesn’t remove the need for interviews, it makes the interview process more like hiring a friend than hiring a stranger.”

Tip: As Kevin learned “Twitter is a great place to meet people that share your interests,” so the next time you’re on Twitter, look at the employers of your followers. You could be staring at your future employer.

Keisha Mabry, Feb. 12, 2010

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Google’s Social Search Can Personalize Your Job Search

February 11th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in Buzz | Features | jobs | networking - (0 Comments)

Almost a year after releasing the Beta version of Social Search, the folks at Google are working hard at adding new features to this unique application. In this recent blog post, they highlight some of the features. See post at

One of those new features is “social” being added to the Google Images search. To me, the benefit of this is having the search parameters look at my friends and contacts sites, including Flickr and Picasa, for images that meet my request. I might have seen a great photo of a Chinese Tea House but not remember whose site I was on at the time. This way it looks at my friends and contacts sites and presents the results marked appropriately. Very useful and convenient yes, but how does it help on a professional/career level?

If you are in the process of job hunting, it could be very beneficial to use Social Search to scout around for some opportunities. If your search parameters return some hits on your social circle, the ease of getting your foot in the door of a potential employer has just improved dramatically. It might be that you have a “virtual” blogger friend who either works for or has connections with a small company looking for someone with your expertise. With this application, networking has not only grown beyond the golf course but has positioned itself at your fingertips.

What if you are searching for sales leads? This social feature has the potential to increase your customer base and provide new connections. If in doing a Social Search, you discover a friend you attend church with has mentioned on his blog how his job has been changed to include purchasing responsibilities for their production processes. This includes products you carry in your sales line. The first and hardest step of any sales transaction is already done – you have a relationship.

Using the application is as simple as establishing your Google Profile. There you can link to all your social media sites, list prior employments and experiences that built your skill set, and provide the level of personal information you are comfortable with, no more no less. It is important to note that the more information provided, the more powerful and productive the search. Once your profile has been established, your social circle will begin to fill out and continue to evolve as connections are made.

Currently, they are leaving the beta label on the product as they feel the potential for additional features is very high. They plan to continually enhance the product with all kinds of bells and whistles. However, the recent additions to the features are rolling out as we speak. Once your profile is complete, access to the features is automatic. So, go forth and search!

Melody K. Smith, Feb. 11, 2010

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Application Helps Job Seekers ID Opportunities in Twitter

February 8th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News | Twitter - (0 Comments)

Attributing their interest in the tech-savvy audience and free services, company recruiters find Twitter very appealing. ClickZ.com’s recent article at http://www.clickz.com/3636255 is about the latest search engine application for job seekers highlight how a few simple steps can help connect recruiters with potential candidates — quickly. The search engine works like most – the more detail you provide, the narrower the search. Once downloaded, you enter the type of job you want and if you aren’t open to relocating, the geographical area, i.e. city, state, etc. The advanced search option allows you to search for any or all words, specific titles, and even ignore jobs with particular words, i.e. sales. The application scours Twitter and by marking tweets that are jobs and filtering out the rest, it gives job seekers a leg up in their looking.

Melody K. Smith, Feb. 8, 2010

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SharePoint Developer Jobs Now on Twitter

February 3rd, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News | Twitter - (0 Comments)

For developers who specialize in Microsoft SharePoint, job loss and the struggling economy can be tough due to the niche market SharePoint holds. The SharePoint Developer Network lists jobs nationwide on their site http://jobs.sharepointdeveloper.org/a/jbb/find-jobs, and you can filter results. All jobs posted on the site can be sent directly to your Twitter client by following @SPDEVNET on Twitter. The service started in December and plans to make the currently basic tweets into a more “customizable subscription service” with personal filters based on category or geographic location http://johnholliday.net/post/2009/12/20/SharePoint-Job-Tweets-Now-Available-SPDEVNET.aspx. SPDEVNET’s job board is “always up to date,” meaning the latest tweets from @SPDEVNET will likely be hot leads. Since using social media has become a daily routine for most of us, utilizing it for the job hunt is like a great idea.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 3, 2010

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Is ‘Social Media Basics’ Too Basic?

January 29th, 2010 | Posted by admin in jobs | News | prospecting - (0 Comments)

Punch Communications’ soon-to-be-released article series about social media in public relations aims to “provoke conversation.” This company is one of many jumping on the social media bandwagon. The angle is to use “free” information to generate customer leads. The idea is a good one, but like other consulting firms, the marketers are combining education with old-fashioned sales. Punch does suggest that it is on the lookout for talented professionals and currently has opportunities available, so networkers and job seekers may find it worth their while to read the article series, if only to have good talking points at their initial job interview. However, our view is that the white paper is designed to sell, not recruit.

Melody K. Smith, Feb. 1, 2010

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