Friday, November 29, 2019

Tap Todays Best College Graduates via Online Networking

Tap Todays Best College Graduates via Online NetworkingTap Todays Best College Graduates via Online NetworkingTap Todays Best College Graduates via Online NetworkingMay 4, 2012 Blaszczyk, Managing Editor, Resource CenterThe social media tidal wavehas changed the way we think, interact, work and play. And nowhere has its impact been greater than with the emerging workforce.This group that includes college graduates and who are often referred to as Gen Y have embraced social media in every aspect of their life including their work environment and career development.As social media recruitment evolves, one thing is clear employers will need a clear social media strategy as well as a carefully-consideredsocial media policyto engage Gen Y workers.To find out mora, we spoke with Tom Chevalier, Product Marketing Director for BeKnownTM, Monsters professional networking app for Facebook.MonsterWhat picture emerged of todays college graduates from Monsters recentEmerging Workforce Summit? Why has the college grad demographic become so critical to our future workforce?Chevalier At Monsters social summit on Educating and Engaging the Emerging Workforce, keynote speaker and Gen Y expert Dan Schawbel pointed out that todays emerging workforce (18-29 years old) are extremely tech savvy, collaborative, flexible and passionate, adding that they will play a key role in driving employeeinnovation. Gen Ys are critical to the future workforce as they will make up 75% of the global workers by 2025.In addition, GenY is becoming more entrepreneurial for multiple reasons barriers have lowered to starting a company, while it is more difficult for them to find internships and professional jobs with little professional experience.Ryan Paugh, a Gen Y thought leader and community-building expert, believes that entrepreneurship is the solution America needs to help the current job market.He is a strong advocate of youth entrepreneurship as both a solution to unemployment and underemployment and urges the government to do more to support entrepreneurs.MonsterWhat are the expectations of todays college graduates regarding their future employment?Chevalier A theme expressed by those in attendance was that todays collegegraduates expect to have an impact within their organizations starting on day one.Gen Ys are often extremely driven and hungry for success, coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit to create the next big thing.Gen Y talent is more focused on meaningful work and will leave an organization if they do not feel fulfilled by their contribution or dont believe in the work they are doing.With that, they have different values than today Gen X and Baby Boomers. They are changing the everyday values of work-life balance as a meaningful job they seefreedom and access to social media as more important than salary increases.MonsterHow can employers do a better job of meeting those expectations?Chevalier Employers should effectively onboard new hiresto leverage the emergin g workforces passion and energy while concentrating on retaining their talent. According to Schawbel, Microsoft estimates the cost to replace each Gen Y employee is $24,000.MonsterHow important is social media in reaching this demographic when it comes time to recruit?Chevalier It is extremely important for employers to engage the emerging workforce demographic where they live and breathe - online, using social media.Currently, there is a social network mismatch. Keynote speaker Dan Schwabel cited Jobvites 2011 Recruitment Survey, which reported that the majority of job seekers (almost 80%) are on Facebook, while less than 60% of recruiters are on Facebook.It is important for employers close this gap and be where the job seekers are. Employers need to enable recruiters to connect directly on social media, like Facebook, with a separate profile dedicated to careers.MonsterHow are todays college grads incorporating social media into their professional lives?Chevalier Social media is a major part of college students personal lives and they are experts in using social media. They are not as comfortable using social media in their professional lives and are currently learning how to better integrate social into their job search.MonsterAre todays universities helping guide young grads in their social media usage and participation?Chevalier Colleges and universities recognize the importance of social media and the need to educate the emerging workforce.Kristin Mattera, adjunct professor at Suffolk University, teaches a social media class to juniors and seniors.At Monsters Social Summit, Kristin presented how to transform social media training to real work outcomes, which is a main focus of her class.College/university career centers are also using social media to reach their students and alumni while educating students on their use of social media in a job search.Marilyn Santiesteban, assistant director of graduate and alumni career services at Bentley University, d iscussed career services in the social age during the event.Bentley organizes various workshops to try and get the word out to students that employers are using social media too - not only to recruit students for employment via professional networks, but also to screen candidates, based on their online social profiles.Of course, educating every student about the proper social media usage is a concern of college/university administrators.It remained a theme among the career services professionals at Monsters Social Summit.Monster Has social media changed the way companies now shape their companybranding strategy?What are the key elements that a company should have in place for their social media strategy?Chevalier Using social media is a must for company recruitment/branding strategies. Todd Van Hoosear, Principal at the PR agency Fresh Ground, explained that successful social recruiting programs involve community, content, conversation and conversion.Todd added that these 4 Cs are the cornerstones for companies building a branding and recruiting strategy using social media.More and more employers are utilizing social platforms to extend their employer brand and distribution network of job postings, while providing the opportunity for candidates to directly engage and get an inside look at the company culture.Facebook has turned into a viable place for professional networking. The time spent and active engagement on Facebook dominates time spent on other social sites. The younger demographic and specific industry sectors like nurses and others are not on LinkedIn, but they are on Facebook.However, keep in mind that with the increased popularity of recruiting through social media that social should be considered an AND, not an OR solution, and should be integrated as a part of a companys overall recruitingstrategy. Social media should never replace the traditional methods.Monster What advice do you have for employers who are looking to engage this demographic v ia social media?Chevalier It is important to give your recruiting team a voice on social media thats separate from the corporate brand within social media sites.Career-focused social profiles at your organization enable students and alumni to ask questions about the employment process, understand your corporate culture and learn about your recruitment process. Have a communication strategy in place that focuses on being transparent and genuine.Finally, as weve successfully seen with BeKnownTM, Monsters professional networking app for Facebook, its essential to encourage the participation of employees and recent alumni in your social media strategy, as they are the best company ambassadors and will show potential candidates a genuine insight into your organization.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

5 Things to Know Before You Make a Career Change

5 Things to Know Before You Make a Career Change 5 Things to Know Before You Make a Career Change Asuccessful career transition takes planning. Youll need to prove to an employer you have transferable skills that will help you be effective in a new role outside your previous career path. Youll also need to communicate why a career transition makes sense for you.If youre planning to make a transition soon or are in the middle of one now, here are a few things to keep in mind1. Know Your WhyYouve probably heard of Simon Sinek and his wildly popular book,Start With Why.The book is based on the notion that people arent influenced by what you do rather, they care about why you do it.In any job interview, you must clearly articulate your why. When making a career transition, its even mora important. If you cant share a compelling reason why you want to change careers, a prospective employer wont be convinced that your decision tomake a change is a meaningful one.If youve ever interviewed nannies for your children, youll understand the importance of a good why. Imagine you have two candidates. One tells you they are nannying because it is the best way to pay for their college education. The other candidate is also paying for school, but she tells you she loves kids. She believes childhood is the most impactful time in apersons life, and she wants to make a difference for the kids in her care. Both candidates have the same needs, but their whys are very different. Which candidate would you want taking care of your child?2. Know Your Strengths and SkillsIf youre making a career transition, certain skills may be transferablefrom your old career to your knew one. However, other skills required in your new role may need to be learned or developed through nontraditional avenues - for example, through volunteer work.Knowing your strengths also ties back to your why. Lets say that, through volunteer work, you found opportunities to uitilize skills you dont get to utilize i n your current job. Usingthese skills may bring you more joy than your job does, and this may lead to the realization that youre not truly maximizing your personal strengths in your current position. As a result, you may choose to make a career transition that allows you to take advantage of these neglected strengths.Whatever thecase, be prepared to articulate your strengths and skills as clearly as your why to a prospective employer. The goal is to show that even though this career path is new to you, you are still positioned to deliver value to the employer through your current skill set.3. Do Your ResearchPeople who arefrustrated in their current roles can make decisions in haste. The grass always looks greener elsewhere.However, even people who hold the most glamorous of roles will tell you their jobs are not as perfect as they look. Before making a career decision based on the emotion of the moment, start networking. Talk to people in positions you want to learn more about. Dig deep to evaluate whether a career transition is really the right move for you.4. Surround Yourself With SupportAsuccessful career transition can be a long process, and you want to be sure you are surrounded by people who understand your situation and empathize with you. Because so much of our self-worth is tied up in our jobs - even though it shouldnt be - it can be fiercely demoralizing to be stuck between a job you hate and a new career you havent established yet. Working with a career coach may be a great way to keep yourself motivated, and they can also serve as a sounding motherboard for frustrations and a guide when you feel lost.5. Its Okay toMourn Your Old JobIf you really cant stand your current job, you may feel like youll never look back once youve left. However, even making a transition from a role you hateto a dream career can be challenging.Leaving a familiar situation to walk into the unknownis unsettling. You likely feel a certain amount of comfort in your current role, and your new position may bring more pressure to perform and a new set of expectations to meet. Until you find your footing, you may second-guess your decision. Be kind to yourself, and take it one step at a time.A version of this article originally appeared on theAtrium Staffing blog.Michele Mavi isAtrium Staffings resident career expert.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Ten Social Listening Tools to Track your Brand

Ten Social Listening Tools to Track your BrandTen Social Listening Tools to Track your BrandTen Social Listening Tools to Track your Brand M. Rand, President and CEO of Zocalo GroupThese free tools can help you sort through the clutter and master the art of social listening as you evolve into a highly recommendable social business. Google Alerts. Google Alerts are so effective, so simple, and so helpful Im surprised they are still free. Simply type in a search term, like your company name, your CEOs name, or a product name, include what sites Google Alerts should look at - like only in blogs, in the news or media, or in graphics or videos - and also include how frequently - like daily or weekly - and Google will deliver the information right to your e-mail address. Twitter Search. Twitter Search is a great means of hands-on data gathering because the results you get are real time and real special and they arent sugarcoated. Simply use thesearch box and type in a term and landsee what comes up. You may, or may not, be surprised at what you find.IceRocket. When it comes to social listening, few sources are as rich and bursting with discussion as blogs. IceRocket lets you search not only blogs but also Twitter, Facebook, images, and more to find the latest on whos talking about you and where.Compete.com. Your free Compete.com analytics account allows you to see traffic data for over 1 million websites, discover related sites and competitors, and get monthly updates on your site and more.Technorati. One of the, if not the first search engines devoted to blogs, Technorati tracks not only the authority and influence of blogs, but it is also the most comprehensive and current index of who and what is most popular in the Blogosphere.HootSuite. HootSuite is a great free tool for measuring not just your reach but also a whole lot more. According to the companys website, With HootSuites integrated, custom social analytics, youll be able to measure your campaign perfor mance to help improve your social media communications. Yahoo Small geschftliches miteinander Advisor. Helpful for knowing and growing, Yahoo Small Business Advisor offers a variety of resources like articles, trend watches, columns, and more. In addition, it offers website hosting and a marketing analytics dashboard. BrandMonitor. When it comes to social listening, monitoring is the name of the game. Simply checking in with Facebook and Twitter every now and again isnt good enough. BrandMonitor helps you monitor both your social media reputation as well as that of your competitors, which, as we all know by now, can be just as important. Basic (and free) tools include a social media dashboard, brand sentiment analysis, and daily and weekly e-mail alerts so you can set it and forget it. SocialMention. SocialMention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user-generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information. It allows you to easily track and measure in real time what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the webs social media landscape. SocialMention monitors over 100 social media properties directly including Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, and Google. SimplyMeasured. This website has quite a few free reports to download as well.How to Listen to your Company Brand Whats important to remember in the rush - even crush - of tools, data and analytics offered is that nothing can take the place of good old-fashioned observation. What the free tools below do is help gather information. Your kollektiv needs to actually sift through that info to find the real insights.Not all of it, of course. What we typically do at Zocalo Groupon any given campaign is sift through a statistically significant hand sampling of the data thats coming in.Whats critical to understand about social listening and a companys or brands ultimate reach in real conversations that are taking place both online and off is how social mediaresults Twitter, Facebook, blog and forum mentions are turning up as search engine results.What were learning through online word-of-mouth (WOM) analysis is how thoroughly social media is blanketing how others hear and find out about you, what they hear and find out about you as well as where.Keyword monitoring becomes critical in behauptung online discussions because those keywordsthat are actually being used by consumers about consumer brands wind up rising to the top of the search engine results.Through careful monitoring and measurement, brands can master these keywords and use them to drive online discussions, rather than merely follow them.Which, of course, is what knowing is all about.Excerpted with permission from Highly Recommendedby Paul Rand, reprinted with permission from McGraw-Hill. Copyright 2013Author BioPaul M. Rand is author of Highly Recommended(McGraw-Hill, 2013) and the founder, president and CEO of Zocalo Group,one of the worlds leading digital, social media and word of mouth marketing agencies and one of the fastest growing companies inside Omnicom Group. He served as president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and is on the board of the national Council of Better Business Bureaus and vice chairman of the Deans Advisory Board for DePaul Universitys Driehaus College of Business and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.