Social Networking Sites Are "In" with Those "In the Money"

A recent ExecuNet newsletter cites results from a Luxury Institute Wealth Survey revealing that "60 percent of wealthy Americans with an average income of $287,000/year and net worth of $2.1 million participate in online social networks, compared to just 27 percent a year ago." It was found that on average they had joined about 2.8 networks. Affluent individuals with $300,000 or more in annual income were even more avid participants, belonging to 3.4 social sites. If successful people are this enamored with online networking, it bears our attention.

There are 100 or more social networking sites, some purely for recreation and personal socializing, and others dedicated to professional or business interaction. (For a list of notable sites, visit Wikipedia.)

Computer World did an analysis recently comparing the features and advantages of the two most prominent sites, LinkedIn and Facebook. They formulated 6 business scenarios to solve, and assigned writers to compare results on Facebook and LinkedIn. As might be expected, each site excelled in different areas, and neither was the clear overall winner. Scenarios tested include Looking for a Job Without Your Boss Knowing, Finding Information about a Job You're Interviewing For (LinkedIn was the winner in both of these), Solicit Ideas and Discussion from Team Members (Facebook won this one hands-down), and Keeping Track of Former Associates (yielded a tie).

So which site is best, and should you join more than one? There are so many, but for professional and business purposes, LinkedIn seems to be winning the war for members right now. I encourage my executive clients to maintain a LinkedIn profile as part of their ongoing professional networking as well as for building a digital signature. A web presence is becoming increasingly important in job search, as candidates are commonly googled--often before a recruiter or hiring manager initiates the first contact.

In executive circles, it seems to be almost an assumption now that you maintain a profile on LinkedIn. Adding to its utility for career management and job search is its recent integration into the Simply Hired job search engine, as pointed out by Louise Fletcher in a recent Career Hub blog post. What could possibly be more convenient? You search for a job, and then click on a button to find out who in your LinkedIn network may have an "in" at that company. Although Facebook has recently moved from being strictly a social tool to a business tool as well, it seems to be the preferred platform for social interation with family and friends. Its wider range of services and third party applications concern employers as a likely distraction for their workers.

While online networking is an increasingly important part of an overall career management strategy, one thing to watch for is devoting too much time to joining every "hot" new site with a flashy interface, maintaining your profiles, building your contact lists, and interacting with your networks. As with most things in life, there is a danger of "too much of a good thing." The ExecuNet article highlighted a Global Secure Systems estimate that employers in the UK lose 3 weeks per year of work time on employees' social networking activities during business hours.

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Monster.com Site Hacked: Be Alert for Phishing Scam!

Hackers successfully breached security at Monster.com this week in one of the largest such online incidents in recent history, stealing personal information on more than 100,000 job candidates who had posted their resumes on the site. This breach was followed by phishing attacks via e-mail designed to compromise users' online financial institution security and/or infect their PC's with a disabling virus.

For more information, see my article "ALERT: More than 100,000 Monster.com Users' Personal Information Plundered" on the CareerHub career experts blog.

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Clean Up Your Digital Dirt!

To all my executive resume writing clients: The problem of digital dirt (unfavorable information about you on the Internet) is not something to be ignored if you want to ensure the long-term health of your career.

You may want to check out this site where you can verify your online reputation and also clean it up: www.reputationdefender.com. The site points out that according to a study conducted by Purdue University counselors, one third of employers screen job candidates using Google, MSN, and Yahoo, and 11.5% search social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga. It was recently mentioned favorably on Good Morning America as a provider that helps people to clean up their digital dirt to help ensure no negative effects are exerted on their "hireability."

Since the majority of companies and recruiters do "Google" prospective candidates' names, proactive action to ensure what they find is not damaging is only prudent. If you do not wish to use a paid service such as the one mentioned here, I strongly encourage you to search on your own and remove any items you have placed on the Web yourself that you would not want a potential employer to read (entries on a personal blog, for example). You'll also want to contact sites that may have inaccurate or unflattering information about you and request that it be removed or modified.

Online Networking - Are You Missing the Boat?

Savvy executives in job search mode use the Internet extensively as they submit their resumes to executive-level boards, upload them to recruiting firms' sites, and research companies to learn more about potential employers. It is amazing what you can find out about a company on a variety of websites, newsletters, recruiting sites, and on blogs - some of it simply basic information and some of it very revealing - positive and negative.

A new wave that is increasingly gathering momentum is the use of networking sites, both purely professional and social, in recruiting. Recruiters and employers actively use them to identify potential candidates, as well as to learn more about executive candidates that are under consideration. A recent Herman Trend Alert notes that referrals do still rank as the most valuable recruiting resource. However, it also notes that social networking sites have surpassed employment websites, ranking now as the #2 recruiting resource. This is based on hard numbers: The number of new hires recruited as well as the budget allocations of employers (results from a Direct Employers/Booz Allen Hamilton study).

Some of the major players in terms of third party search tools are:

Zoominfo - aggregates data found on the web to create a "picture" of people and companies, and claims to have profiles of over 33 million individuals and 2.6 million companies.

Ziggs - exclusively features profiles of professionals.

Blue Chip Expert - focuses on top echelon talent, invitation-only site.

Spock - this start-up site targets 100 million profiles as of its go-live date 4th quarter 2006.

Linked In - social networking site that allows you to create a profile, collect endorsements, and build your network online. In a recent study, LinkedIn was shown to be one of the fastest-growing Web 2.0 sites. ("Web 2.0" simply refers to a new breed of websites that allow users to create their own content.)

The Trend Alert article also echoes a caveat I have put forth previously: Watch what you say on the Web and realize that your words could come back to haunt you. Recruiters are known to consider candidates' own statements about themselves and controversial topics in weeding out their candidate pool. "According to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, one in four employers uses social networking web sites such as Facebook.com or MySpace.com to screen out applicants based on the information they post there. A CareerBuilder.com survey found that about 63 percent of employers decided against hiring someone after seeing content the person had posted online."

Posting your executive resume on reputable and discreet executive level sites and maintaining your own blog and/or executive portfolio on the web are good first steps in creating an online presence. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that to stay ahead in the executive employment search and career management game, it behooves executives to actively maintain profiles on social and professional networking sites, and to leverage the networking and visibility building capabilities of those sites.

Dangers of Posting on Big Job Boards

The World Privacy Forum acknowledges that while it is important to circulate your executive resume when looking for work, in the information economy, "your resume has 'street value.'" They recommend taking measures to protect your privacy while using online resources in your employment search.

A key recommendation is posting your resume anonymously or privately, an action which conventional wisdom and job seekers' experiences seem to indicate does somewhat degrade the response rate, as employers have to take an extra step to make that first contact. Yet they are unequivocal in their opinion: "Unfortunately, few job seekers take advantage of this option. Most job seekers are concerned that they are hurting their chances with legitimate employers by making them take an extra step. But at this point, it is simply not a good idea to post your resume openly -- there are known risks at this point. If you are going to post a resume online, private posting should be the only way you post it." If you still want to post openly, they suggest that you at least use a P.O. Box instead of your street address and a disposable email address.

Other traps to be aware of are that often jobs offered are just scams. It is also true that while most sites do restrict access and try to limit it to legitimate recruiters, they cannot possibly police this adequately. And once your resume has been downloaded, all control of that resume is lost.

Is Big Brother Watching YOU?

Today we are all familiar with the innumerable threats to our privacy and the safety of our personal identities from theft or other misuse. Enter a potential solution: RFID's or Radio Frequency Identification Devices. These are tiny devices the size of a grain of rice that can be inserted under the skin and store a variety of types of information. Many of us are already using them as a way of identifying our pets in case of loss or theft. Companies such as plumbing and electrical service providers already use them to track their technicians using GPS.

Well, now some employers have begun using the devices in the workplace as a means for employees to access restricted or secure areas. While the devices are currently used only like keycards for access, the potential is there for use to track employee movements, and as the technology advances for others such as the government to track citizens' movements. Keep your eyes open as RFID devices and biometric ID's become increasingly the norm. George Orwell may have had his timing a bit off, but it seems to be becoming more true daily that "Big Brother is Watching You."

On a related note, try doing a Google search on your street address or phone number. Then click on Google Maps to pinpoint your address. Then click on satellite in the upper right to view a satellite picture of your location. For some locations you can zoom in REALLY close and see if your child left his or her bicycle in the driveway.

Beware of Digital Dirt

With recruiters, hiring executives, and selection committees using the Internet to research candidates in ever increasing numbers, executives are beginning to see the impact - and the results can sometimes be distressing. ExecuNet recently revealed a disturbing statistic in their Insider Newsletter. In that newsletter, they stated that a recent survey of recruiters revealed that 75% of respondents use search engines to uncover information about candidates. The disturbing part is that 26% indicated that information on the Internet has caused them to eliminate a candidate from consideration!

Reasons cited by recruiters for dropping candidates were diverse. They include inaccurate academic qualifications on their executive resume, omission of facts regarding publicly available information on an ethics investigation, strange personal habits, misrepresentation of job titles or company information, suspended driver's or professional licenses, and litigation against former employers.

So while you want to work to ensure that there is plenty of positive information about you out there in cyberspace, it is also important to monitor what is out there and its possible negative effect on your candidacy for a position, as well as your overall reputation in the employment marketplace.

I highly recommend that my executive clients do a little detective work and Google themselves to see what is being said about them. If you do find something potentially negative, do what you can to counteract it by commenting on blogs that contain the information, covering it honestly but as favorably as possible in your own blog and/or web portfolio, and taking care to disclose to the recruiter anything that you ascertain can and will easily be revealed about you in an Internet search. It goes without saying that you will also want to correct any inaccurate information on your executive resume.

Blogs as Key Component of Executive Employment Search Strategy

Blogs are rapidly emerging as a key strategy for executives to increase visibility on the radar screens of executive search professionals including executive recruiters, venture capital firms, and internal corporate recruiters. They are a relatively easy way to build your personal online brand, increase your industry standing, and position yourself as an expert resource in your fields of expertise.

Blogging is a proactive activity. I strongly recommend that you establish and maintain your own blog. You will also want to visit blog sites and respond to the posts you find there, and use them to develop topics for your own blog entries. You can partially automate the review process by subscribing to an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication) that will automatically download recent blog posts to your computer for review without the necessity to individually visit each of your favorite blogs every day. Some resources for RSS feeds include:

http://www.bloglines.com
http://www.feedreader.com
http://www.feedburner.com
http://www.feeddemon.com

Your executive blog can be a simple venue for your thoughts on relevant subjects, or it can be a full-fledged executive portfolio and platform for your online identity including your executive resume, your executive bio, white papers, etc. It is important to regularly post on your blog, and respond to comments and questions. Your posts need not be long, and it is far more important to regularly post than that those posts be highly polished, definitive statements on the subject!

There are various free and low-cost sites where you can create your blog, with no need to know about complex coding. Free sites include:

http://www.blogger.com
http://www.spaces.msn.com

Sites that incur a small fee but do tend to have more flexibility in format, etc., include:

http://www.typepad.com
http://www.blogharbor.com

Once you have established your blog, be sure to submit it for inclusion on the major blog search engines, and include a list of these engines on your blog:

http://www.blogarama.com
http://www.blogtree.com
http://www.blogsearchengine.com
http://www.bloguniverse.com
http://www.daypop.com

Blogs are also a potent secret weapon in the competitive career intelligence area. Major companies often host blogs authored by key employees that can provide invaluable insights into the corporate culture and challenges the company is currently facing. If leveraged well, they can even serve as an access point to the inside track on internal opportunities.

Industry giants like Microsoft, Oracle, HP, and Lockheed host multiple blogs. Resources to find blogs of a company you are targeting and/or its CEO include:

http://www.technorati.com
http://www.blogarama.com
http://blogtree.com

With the majority of executive recruiters "Googling" prospective candidates before making a selection, and many doing so before they will even contact you, it behooves you to use blogs to reassure them of your industry reputation and thought leadership in your field.

How to Tell The Good from The Bad and The Ugly in Job Postings

Weddles.com: Tips For Success - Job Seekers

"According to an 8+ year survey we at WEDDLE’s have been conducting, the one thing most Internet job seekers do when they go online is look at job postings.

These announcements, however, are very different from traditional employment ads. They don’t appear in the format of a print classified and aren’t restricted to the tight space constraints imposed by newspapers and journals. As a result, you’ll need a new set of rules for reading and evaluating job postings if you’re to avoid wasting time on mediocre employers and focus your attention and efforts where they can best advance your career."

Laurie's Comments:

With the incredible volume of job postings available at any given time on the Internet within many job categories, reviewing them efficiently can present a tremendous challenge. Firstly, of course, you will need to weed out those that are obviously bogus, shams, or get-rich-quick scheme come-ons. Then you will want to evaluate postings for level and quality of detail regarding specific requirements for the position and what the company offers you, the "candidate friendliness" of the application procedure, and clear indication of how your privacy will be protected should you apply.

Considering all of these elements will help you to make an informed decision whether to apply and provide strong clues as to the corporate culture of your prospective employer and the likelihood that this could be a good match.

Boost Your Career with a Blog

Web Sites, Blogs Can Boost Your Career - Yahoo! News

"NEW YORK - When the staff at a Scholastic Corp. unit heard that Cindy Eng was being hired as their editorial head earlier this year, they did an online search of her name. Fortunately for Eng, their searches led them right to her Web portfolio, a personal Web site that trumpeted her professional accomplishments... "


Laurie's Comments:

The general press is starting to trumpet what career professionals have been advising their clients for years: that an online presence is becoming a key component in career advancement.

Your online presence can and should consist of many elements -- white papers or bios on corporate sites, articles and interviews in online journals, mentions and interviews in online trade and industry publications, online resumes and portfolios, and, of course, blogs.

Blogging is perhaps the easiest way to gain an online presence, but as the above article stresses, "Just be sure that your Web site looks professional and your blog, or Web log, is smart, otherwise you will have defeated the whole purpose."

A web portfolio brings a staple of the advertising and creative fields into broader use. These are specialized web sites that are designed to show off your talents and accomplishments, and are much more than just an online resume. You'll want to use much greater detail than would be advisable on a resume, and include such things as links to articles you have written, charts and graphs illustrating results you have delivered, white papers on topics relevant to your industry and profession -- the possible list is endless.

Your blog should be professional yet conversational, and zero in on topics of interest to others in your field. The objective here is to position yourself as an expert, while demonstrating your thought processes, insights, and communication skills.

Tim Bray, Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, recently reflected on his blog regarding why blogging is good for one’s career:

"Ten Reasons Why Blogging is Good For Your Career

1) You have to get noticed to get promoted.
2) You have to get noticed to get hired.
3) It really impresses people when you say “Oh, I’ve written about that, just google for XXX and I’m on the top page” or “Oh, just google my name.”
4) No matter how great you are, your career depends on communicating.
The way to get better at anything, including communication, is by practicing. Blogging is good practice.
5) Bloggers are better-informed than non-bloggers. Knowing more is a career advantage.
6) Knowing more also means you’re more likely to hear about interesting jobs coming open.
7) Networking is good for your career. Blogging is a good way to meet people.
8) If you’re an engineer, blogging puts you in intimate contact with a worse-is-better 80/20 success story. Understanding this mode of technology adoption can only help you.
9) If you’re in marketing, you’ll need to understand how its rules are changing as a result of the current whirlwind, which nobody does, but bloggers are at least somewhat less baffled.
10) It’s a lot harder to fire someone who has a public voice, because it will be noticed."

I heartily agree with all of the above. If you are an executive without an online identity, it is time to begin remedying that. Your executive resume writer or career consultant will be able to advise and assist you with creation of a web portfolio and/or blog that will enhance your name recognition and credibility.

Beware of Predators in the Online Job Search Jungle

Five Tips for a Safe Online Job-Search
A CEO Refresher article by Teena Rose

"Conducting a job search using the Internet has definitely transformed how jobseekers contact hiring companies... With the Internet's convenience, a breeding ground for scam artists continues to grow each year as well. Identity thefts have increased to an overwhelming 10 million cases per year, and many of them are the result of phishing - not surprisingly, the employment industry is under attack as well. "

Laurie's Comments

This article reminds us that it is indeed a jungle out there. Online resources such as executive-level job boards and recruiter sites are undeniably a valuable tool in today's executive employment search. While it remains true that networking is by far the most productive search method for executives in career transition, you are missing potential opportunities if you do not post your executive resume to job board and executive career transition sites such as CareerJournal, ChiefMonster, ExecuNet, ExecutiveRegistry, Netshare, RiteSite, SixFigureJobs, and TheLadders. It is also advantageous to submit your resume online to the major elite recruiting firm sites such as Korn Ferry, Christian & Timbers, Heidrick & Struggles, A. T. Kearney, Blue Steps, Spencer Stuart, Brilliant People, Top Echelon, etc.

However, with the prevalance of scam artists, identity thieves, and phishing schemes on the Internet, searching online does entail some dangers. For example, with "phishing," you may receive inquiries that look as if they have come from a legitimate recruiter but are actually invitations to become a victim of fraud. You may receive solicitations from "career marketing firms" who will represent themselves as recruiters who have an opportunity for you but need you to pay them for access to their "exclusive" contacts. Be very wary of these, as there are numerous scam companies ready and eager to take your money.

So what can you do? Firstly, do not take any e-mail inquiry at face value, and avoid clicking on links embedded in e-mails. And if you do click on a link in an e-mail, NEVER provide personal information such as social security number or credit card number, no matter how legitimate the web page looks. To visit a website to which you are invited via e-mail, do a quick search on Google for the firm name to identify the correct URL, and copy/paste or type it into the Address line of your browser. Only when you are sure you have reached a legitimate site should you submit any personal information.

When filling out forms on various sites, read and understand their privacy policies. Specify that you do NOT give permission for your information to be sold or given to others without your approval.

Weddle's Top-Rated Employment Websites for 2005

Weddles User's Choice Awards
"Recruiters & Job Seekers Pick the Top Sites on the Web

Who has the best insight on which employment sites are most helpful? We think the answer to that question is obvious - it's you, the recruiters and job seekers who have used the sites. And, that's what the annual WEDDLE's User's Choice Awards are all about. They recognize the elite of the online employment according to the most discerning judges around - that would be you!

WEDDLE's User's Choice Awards recognize the Web-sites that provide the best level of service and value to their visitors, and help others make the best use of the best employment resources online."

Laurie's Comments:

It can be difficult to discern in which among the plethora of job boards and employment sites out there your time is best invested. Given the fact that as an executive employment candidate you do not have unlimited time to conduct your online search, it is good to know where your efforts in posting your executive resume or browsing listings are likely to yield the best ROI.

This annual survey conducted by Weddle's ranks more than 150 job boards and career portals based on the input of more than 15,000 users, and produces a list of the top 30. I find it interesting that ExecuNet, a site used and recommended by many of my executive clients, once again ranks as one of the elite in the online employment industry - as it has since the inception of the awards.

For a list of online employment resources that is geared specifically to the executive candidate, see Creative Keystrokes' Web Resources page at: Creative Keystrokes Executive Resume Service.

The Herman Trend Alert Niche Job Boards Filling a Need

Niche Job Boards Filling a Need

The Herman Trend Alert
March 2, 2005

"With the increasing use of the Internet for purposes of job-seeking---and by employers searching for just the right candidates, there is a growing trend toward the use of niche job boards. The relative popularity of these services, particularly compared to the more general job boards, is fueling expansion of Internet use in the re-energized employment market."

Laurie's Comments:

What a revealing set of statistics! Niche job boards are preferred by 78% of corporate employment specialists, while only 17% prefer mega-sites like Monster and Career Builder!

As an executive resume writer, I have for quite some time advised my clients to make sure their executive resumes are posted to appropriate senior-level boards such as www.theladders.com, www.6figurejobs.com, www.brilliantpeople.com, www.christian&timbers.com, and www.atkearney.com, as well as consider membership and posting at executive networking sites such as www.netshare.com and www.execunet.com.

With this trend driving increased use of the Internet for both recruiters and candidates in the current employment market, it behooves executive-level candidates to take notice.

Are You Ready to Be Googled?

BostonWorks - Jobs, Events, and Information from The Boston Globe:

"Ask not for whom the Web searches because someday soon it may be you.
By Alan R. Earls, Globe Correspondent, 1/9/05

If you're looking for a job, be aware that prospective employers are taking a close look at you, too, in more ways than one.

A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive shows that 23 percent of people search the Web for the name of a business associate or colleague prior to meeting them. And plenty of hiring managers Google prospective candidates as well."

Laurie's Comments:

Yet another sign of the times... Googling is here and it behooves career-advancement-minded executives to take heed! This is another front in the rapidly evolving executive employment marketplace that top executive resume writers are monitoring closely.

With research showing that YOU as a job candidate are likely to be the subject of online research by your potential employer, you'll want to maximize your visibility on the Web. This can be accomplished through basic public relations tactics such as press releases (yes, you as an individual can do this through PR Newswire or PR Web), working actively to have yourself interviewed and quoted, maintaining a business-related "blog," and maintaining a personal website and/or online career portfolio resume.

If creating and maintaining a website or webpage is too technical for you, you might try a commercial service such as those offered by www.ziggs.com, www.eliyon.com, www.linkedIin.com, www.zerodegrees.com, and www.ryze.com. You can also have a resume webfolio created and posted online for you by your executive resume writer (Creative Keystrokes offers a web resume development and posting service).