I received this way cool email from Linkedin the other day:

I know that others received this email too. But I still love it. Here are 76 people…which, by the way, is 18% of my network! 18% of my 423 contacts on linkedin changed gigs in 2010. Some were unemployed. Some changed companies. Some moved up in the companies they were in. Some of us did 2 of those 3.

First, that is just a SICK percentage.

Second, there is some HARDCORE talent in that mix.

HARD.

CORE.

Third, there are a few lessons to be learned here. Besides the fact that I have a frickin’ AWESOME network. The first lesson is that you COULD find a new gig in 2010. 18%! That is so HUGE. The second lesson is that you need to have your profile picture on linkedin. Do you want to be the person – THE ONE PERSON – of that 76 without a picture? No. No you do not. All of these people are also on linkedin. There is a TON of opportunity in that email/picture.

76 people all with a whole NEW set of problems.

76 people all with a whole NEW set of connections.

76 people all with a whole lot of positive energy looking to pay it forward.

76 people all with a whole lot NEW set of needs.

There are sales people, executives, software developers, recruiters, hiring managers, career sherpas, etc all in different states, different countries, different verticals.

This is an email of OPPORTUNITY.

Go!

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I took my brother to Career Sherpa’s Employment Club meeting last night. She walked through her presentation on Using Social Media in Your Job Search. This made me feel guilty, because I was working on an update for this same subject. So – here it is. This goes into a lot more detail this time around. This isn’t just about searching for a job, this is about managing your career and your online identity. Enjoy! Drop a comment and/or share if you like it!

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I know a couple of people that are re-entering the job market after years of not working or only working part-time. I thought I would share some thoughts and words of encouragement.

First. You need some kind of marketing vehicle. Traditionally, this is called a resume. Right now, I have three documents. I have your traditional resume – HOWEVER, it is a way cool resume updated for the 21st century. I have a Marketing Plan – which between you and me, I should update. I have something called a “pre-resume” which is something I recently read about and thought I would give it a try. It is a one-page combo of a resume (with limited info) and the meaty part of your marketing plan. If you need help with any of these things, you need to throw a little bit of money at Hannah. She will tighten you up.

Second. You need to get yourself on Linkedin. And you need to get yourself a complete profile. And you need a picture. Linkedin is a part of your marketing toolkit. But – more important – Linkedin is a giant relational database. It is not Facebook. You cannot play Farmville on it. But, if you work it, and use it to your advantage, it will help you find people inside of companies where you would like to go work. It is a tool to aid you in your most important job searching task…

NETWORKING.

Third. I don’t have a college degree. Yes – I went to college. I started as a Political Science major, got dis-illusioned in a hurry, switched to English Lit because it was fun and easy to read books and argue with people (two of my favorite things to do ). But ultimately got bored because I was working full time and going to school full time and making money and LEARNING a load of stuff that I still practice TODAY…20 (shut up) ish years later.

Not having a degree hasn’t hurt me. Yes, there have been a couple of companies that wouldn’t even look at me. Too rigid for me anyway. They did me a favor. It hasn’t hurt for two reasons. One – I hustle. I work hard. I achieve results. I win. Two – I focus on BUILDING and MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS. Some of you know this as “networking”. Every job I have had since I started delivering newspapers – with the exception of a very few of them – came from relationships and recommendations. In fact, the crappiest jobs, were jobs where I went in cold.

Starting in 2007/2008 when the world went ape-shit, HR departments decided they could add even LESS value by REQUIRING a degree from everyone. In fairness, they did this because there were just an overwhelming number of candidates for every gig. There are stats. You can look them up.

None of this matters to you though. You don’t answer ads on Monster or (sweet baby Jesus!) ads in a newspaper. No – you are new school. You build relationships and market yourself. While all the sheep are pounding on the front door, you have a close personal relationship walking you and your kick-ass marketing document (resume) to the hiring manager and and she tells that manager what a total rock star you are and how sick it would be to have you on the team.

Talk to Hannah. Or come with me on the 19th to her career club in Canandaigua.

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Over the last week, our intern and our receptionist left to go back to school. MBA and undergrad respectively. Neither school was teaching either of these smart, high upside, people the skills that they need to be developing and nurturing TODAY.

To me, those skills are:

• Networking.
• Personal Marketing.
• Skill Evolution and Development.

Networking – Its not about making friends. It is about gaining and spreading influence. You HAVE to get out there and meet people. Opportunities are everywhere. You must have a deliberate plan to expand your circle of influence.

Build Relationships! Leverage your network. This doesn’t need to be some kind of nefarious, Dr. Evil type plot. You should be doing this genuinely. Not simply stepping over people to get to the next circle of influence. You will get a reputation. Quickly.

Marketing. This should probably go first on my list. I love the Seth Godin approach. “If you can’t describe your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position.” LOVE IT. Tom Peters loves it so much he has officially named it the R.POV8. Remarkable Point of View In 8 Words or Less. You must know yourself. You must have a home base like Chris Brogan advises where you can send people to learn more about you. (For me it is this blog). You have to stand out. You have to be constantly tuning. Tinkering. Fiddling. FINE TUNING. Not re-inventing yourself every day. Being a hammer as Harry says.

Skills to Pay the Bills. You have to be CONSTANTLY updating your skills. Along with marketing, you have to know who you are. What are you the BEST at doing? Tom Peters – every project a WOW! project. Keep current. Think globally. Having trouble with that? Read “The Economist” religiously. It will scare the pants off of you. And hopefully motivate you. You are being outworked. Right now. This very second. There are people in China, India, Brazil, Russia, and countless other places that are sacrificing more, working harder, learning more and they are coming for YOU.

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I started writing “a” blog on this day in 2004. I cannot believe it has been six years. I’ve been through a lot in that time.  I was running a telemarketing operation at the time. Then I had back surgery. I tried to launch an outsourcing business with some partners. That failed. I went to a major telecom provider where I spent a year commuting to Florida helping to launch a 500 seat call center. I went to a learning solutions company to become a product manager. I got laid off after one year. I spent a year out of work. My daughter spent 15 days in the hospital with what we now know was H1N1. Now I am doing account management/project management for a software company.

Whew.

In ’04 I started it all off by referencing Tom Peter’s Brand You Survival Kit from FC. ALL of what TP says in this article is still relevant. Lots of us STILL aren’t hearing it. To re-cap:

• Turn every project into something the recruiter or person doing the hiring is going to get excited about.
• You must market yourself. Accomplishments on a resume are NOT ENOUGH.
• Don’t settle for being a jack of all trades. Master something. But be able to adapt at a breakneck pace.
• Loyalty to the “company” is dead. Loyalty to your peers is crucial. Build your contacts.
• New technology is useless for the first five years. But you need to know its out there and be ready to use it when it becomes useful.
• Constantly re-invent yourself.

The funny thing is that in my original post I said that you should build your contacts in your Palm Pilot. I also said “rolodex” but I think in 2010 I have a better shot at people snickering at the dinosaur that is Palm Pilot versus the Rolodex (the modern day equivalent of writing on stone tablets.)

But DAMN, Tom is right. Was right. WILL CONTINUE TO BE RIGHT.

You have to be marketing/re-inventing. You have to be a hammer as Harry Joiner says. Loyalty to your peers IS critical. Your network is your future.

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Last night I gave an updated version of my “Managing Your Online Identity: Using Social Media in Your Job Search” presentation to Hannah Morgan’s Career Club in Canandaigua, NY. It is really aimed at anyone who needs to manage their career not just job seekers.

Give me some love if you found this interesting or yell at me if you think I missed the mark.

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John Porcaro directed my attention to a Time magazine posting about the future of work.

“The Last Days of Cubicle Life” paints a compelling picture of our work future. Like John, I like this quote:

Most of the best jobs will be for people who manage customers, who organize fans, who do digital community management.

The article asks a very critical question. It asks if you are ESSENTIAL. Because, friends, if you are NOT, then you should start getting into a position where you are considered MISSION CRITICAL.

And I just realized that Seth Godin wrote this article. DUH. He is all about TRIBES. Makes sense.

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Just read the latest from Penelope Trunk.

Do you know who is using social media? Gen X. The average Twitter user is in their 30s. The median age of LinkedIn is 40. The majority of people who are joining Facebook right now are over 35. This is because Gen X wants to meet new people online and reconnect with all the friends they lost along the way. Gen X is using social media to network.

I have embraced all of the above. I was a semi-early adopter of linkedin. Facebook has turned out to be fun. And today, ironically, I discovered a few things about Twitter that I am LOVING!

I figured out how to add a TON of followers. So what you say. Well…I am driving a ton of traffic to this blog. I am fine tuning as I go. Targeting and attracting people that will like what I am doing here.

All for free. All from the internets.

I agree with Penelope. I am trying to reconnect with all the people I lost along the way. Some of them should stay lost. As I should probably stay lost from THEM. I use all three tools differently. I try to use all of them to drive a little bit of traffic to this blog.

I use Linkedin to manage my professional network. It works.

I use twitter solely as a marketing tool. I only use it to “tweet” back and forth with 3 people. I use it to drive traffic. I want to see how many followers I can add. Then I want to see how many people I can get to the site. Then I want to see how many come back and/or subscribe.

Math and science people. Math and science.

I use Facebook to reconnect to old friends. I LOVE this about fb. It lets me get in my way back machine and re-connect with people I LOVED at some prior point in time. I’ve moved around a lot. I’ve lost people. FB ties me back in….sometimes only on the peripheral. But it is better than not at all.

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Great post from Rajesh Setty on tompeters.com

I love Raj – he lists a set of questions you should be asking yourself if you are wondering if you are safe.

1. Is your job CORE to the company? (This is what happened to me.)
2. What will the company LOSE by eliminating this job?
3. What is your QUANTIFIABLE assessment of your value in the eyes of stakeholders? (Math and science people, math and science)
4. Is your job off-shorable?
5. Do you care as if it is your own?
6. Are you likable/Do you play office politics well? (I combined both of these because I feel like are inseparable?)

You need to know the answers to these questions. Math and science. I lost my job because we were running an experiment AND my understanding of my perceived value was off. Huge huge huge learning experience for me.

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Hannah was on TV last night talking about resumes.

Give her some love and check her out!

Link. I had trouble with audio in Firefox.

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