Restricting Social Media at Work

How does restricting social media in the workplace affect employee productivity? Check out this infographic from Socialcast.

Personal Branding

When you are putting yourself out there – passing out resumes and business cards, applying for jobs, and networking – you’re selling yourself. In order to be successful, you have to have strong personal branding in person and online. Check out this infographic for tips to improve your personal branding on social media:

 

Clean It Up!

Searching for a job can be tricky, but it can be even more challenging when your social media accounts are bringing you down behind the scenes. If you’re job hunting, or even if you aren’t, keeping your social media accounts free of inappropriate content is always a good idea. About.com offers these tips for social-savvy jobseekers:

• Don't post anything you wouldn't want your current employer or a prospective employer to see.
• Avoid any comments that could be interpreted as racist, sexist or discriminatory in any way.
• Remove or ‘untag’ photos of you that show you in an unfavorable light. If you prefer not to, then be sure to carefully manage your album privacy settings. These control which people can see which of your albums.
• Look at your wall. Remove comments from your friends that seem distasteful.
• Look at the apps on your profile. Does their purpose portray you well? There are more than a few apps that may not be the best ones to have on your page when you're looking to get a job.
• What groups are you a member of? If you belong to "It's 5 a.m., I'm drunk, and on Facebook" or any similar groups, you probably want to leave them.

Facebook Privacy Settings

• Make sure only friends can see your photos, religious and political views, and posts.
• Within the privacy settings, you are given an opportunity to preview your profile as an outsider. Take advantage of this and double-check what others can see.

Twitter Accounts for Jobseekers

Some of the great advantages of being a Generation Y job seeker are the information and career resources readily available online, but this can also be a job seeker’s greatest downfall.  There is an abundance of relevant information out there, but there is just as much out-dated and conflicting advice out there too.  Twitter to the rescue!  There are many experts who have taken to twitter with a focus specifically on Generation Y job seekers.  Here are a couple of great career-focused accounts:

Heather R. Huhman: @heatherhuhman

v  Offers tons of helpful advice, interesting articles and relevant information for Gen Y job seekers looking for internships and entry-level jobs

 

Dan Schawbel: @DanSchawbel

v  Follow his interesting and often witty blog about career success specifically for Gen Y’s

 

Jac Poindexter: @ValueIntoWords

v  A reliable resume expert who mixes things up with work and life balance

 

Loyalist College Career Centre @CareerCentre

v  Offers information to assist you with your career, job search and professionalism

14 Career Experts to Follow on Twitter

v  Click here for more great career experts on Twitter

How Professionals are Using LinkedIn: Infographic

Who uses LinkedIn? Find out with this infographic from SiliconANGLE and Lab42.

Employers on Social Media

Did you know 37% of employers are using social media to research job candidates? Career Builder put together this infographic to show you just how social your social media profile has become.

The Low-Down on LinkedIn

According to Forbes, 97.3% of employers who use social media as a recruitment tool turn to LinkedIn. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started building an effective profile on LinkedIn:

Profile:

• Have a good quality profile picture of just you.
• Make sure it is 100% filled out.
• Add keywords that represent you in your position.
• Be specific  i.e. if you are a student, state your school and program with the use of keywords to make it effective.
• Include all of your education, awards, and even extra-curricular activities.
• Stay up to date with your profile, and update your responsibilities often.

Summary:

• Never leave your summary blank!
• Make sure your summary is clear and concise.
• Share goals, accomplishments, and qualities – and make sure to use keywords that will help you stand out.

Connections:

• Focus on expanding your network on LinkedIn by adding professional connections.
• Always personalize your connection requests – avoid using the default LinkedIn invitation text.
• Join groups on LinkedIn that are specific to your field of interest.

Recommendations:

• Try to get a variety of recommendations from all of the positions you've held.
• Ask for recommendations for part employers, professors, or colleagues.
• Just like you would for a reference, ask for a recommendation politely and professionally - don't assume you deserve one.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Ever since Twitter erupted, celebrities, athletes, and your friends have been able to share anything they want at any given moment.  Sure, this method of communication has its perks, but do you really need to share everything?  After researching what the experts had to say, here’s what we suggest keeping off Twitter, no matter how tempting it may be to post!

 

1.       Work-Related Gossip: This one seems like a given, yet it continues to be a problem for some.  Sure, your boss may have ticked you off today, or maybe you heard a juicy tidbit about a fellow employee, but there is never a good reason to share this information with the rest of the world.

2.       Your Whereabouts: Maybe you’re going to be coming home from work late tonight, you’re alone in the house for the night, or you’re going away for the week. As innocent as a tweet about any of these things may seem, posting about it on the internet spells out vulnerability. While you think you’re sharing your exciting vacation details, you’ve also let who knows how many people that your house is going to be empty for a week, or you are going to be at home alone tonight.  Bottom line: don’t share this information on social media – for your own safety.

3.       Inappropriate or Offensive Content: This one is pretty simple. If you are about to tweet something that you wouldn’t want your Grandma to see, don’t tweet it.  Remember, employers scan through potential candidates’ social media posts, and you don’t want inappropriate tweets to cost you a potential job.

4.       Personal Information: It’s surprising how many people still share too much personal information online.  Just remember – the info you’re tweeting can be seen by hundreds of people, some of who you may not even know. Being smarter about your posts can help you stay safer online.

How to Clean Up Your Facebook Account

Facebook is still one of the most popular social media sites, which means it’s important to know how to clean up your profile before applying for jobs.  When you’re reviewing your profile, your aim should be to have a career-appropriate profile (and profile picture!) but still show some personality.  When reviewing and cleaning up your Facebook profile, focus on these things:

·         Pictures of Yourself (tagged and uploaded by you)

-        Remove inappropriate photos that may portray a negative image. For example, pictures that are overly revealing or show you or your friends engaging in illegal activities.  

·         Privacy Settings

-        One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is deleting their Facebook profile all together and/or creating a new one. This could make a potential employer think that you may have something to hide.

-        Review the things you would like to be accessible to the public and the things you would like to keep private.

·         Interests and Groups

-        Make sure none of your interests or groups conflict with the job you are applying for, or the industry you’re interested in.

-        Consider deleting any status updates that may come off as controversial or overly-negative to your potential employer. For example, if most of your posts are complaints, an employer may see you as a negative person and not want to add you to their team.

·         Timeline Posts  

-        Your main goal should be to avoid any potentially racist, sexist, or controversial posts that could make you look bad to somebody who hasn’t met you yet or doesn’t know you very well.

-        Don’t forget about the things others have posted on your timeline too – your friends may not realize it, but their comments can have a negative impact on you.

Traditional Energy vs. Alternative Energy

It’s been mentioned that green and alternative energy, along with traditional energy such as gas and oil, will both be in demand in the next decade.  At first glance, it seems to be a paradox – why would both types of energy be in demand? The fact is, since 2009 the oil and gas industry has been focusing on the transparency and sustainability of the traditional energy industry.  In accordance with the Responsible Canadian Energy program, the oil and gas industry has been attempting to adopt more sustainable strategies to reduce their environmental impact.  They will be in need of new, younger employees to fill the positions of retirees, along with the increasing need for environmental studies graduates. That means new job opportunities within the industry.  Even if you are enthusiastic about green and alternative energy, the oil and gas industry still could be a great option. You could help develop new environmentally-friendly and sustainable methods that will reduce the natural impact of petroleum corporations.  Check out the following article, originally posted by Talent Egg, for a little more insight to how these two industries will coexist in the future.