Test your Network…..

My kids were home Friday from school so I was catching up on some reading. I love the magazine Fast Company, and was excited that my local Wegman’s is carrying it now. I was reading an article called ‘What Should I Do with My Life Now?” and a bi-line within the article caught my eye. It was about a start-up called UpMo, www.upmo.com, talking about Upward Mobility in your career. Their application, which is in beta, can help you further define your career path and see where you need to further develop your network. Since networking is on so many people’s minds, and I just finished writing an article on the topic, I decided to try it out. The survey and results are currently free. It took about 5 minutes – you answer some interesting questions to determine how you would react in certain situations like, if someone passed you a resume of a friend of a friend, what would you do? Then it immediately scores the viability of your network to support you….So when I pressed enter I have to say I was a little nervous to see how I did. Well it turns out that my network does support me (but I already knew thatJ).

Then it gives you feedback on how to further develop your network. I found the feedback very helpful. Even though I work in a job where I am always networking, there are things that I can always improve. Without your network you cannot be successful. So if you have an extra 5 minutes try it out and see how your network rates.

New York New York

Last week I was in NYC visiting clients and attending a branding meeting. I try to make it down to the city a couple times a year to connect with everyone. So I started my journey the day after NYC experienced a “snow day” for the first time in YEARS! I was so nervous that my plane was not going to take off on time from Rochester. To my surprise, my flight was 30 minutes early which allowed me to get to the hotel before my day of meetings began.
I have to say, my husband is on a great roll picking hotels lately. I had a wonderful hotel on Lexington and 34th Street. My room was bigger than many NYC apartments, complete with a small kitchen. I started the trip off by having a wonderful lunch with a PR firm. We were celebrating 5 years of working together. Boy, time flies when you are having fun! I was able to catch up with the folks that I placed there – which is always so nice. I was not quick enough though to get a group photo before they were all on the phone again! I love the upbeat atmosphere at this company, they have a great space with a tremendous amount of light that just makes you want to stay and work there!
Then I had a meeting with the organization about branding for our company. I was amazed at what we put together within an hour. It was nice to see an organization at work and what goes into putting a PR plan in place – stay tuned to our new branding efforts.
Then I was off downtown to meet with a software client of mine. It was wonderful to see all my friends, and talk about what is facing them within the marketplace. It was great to brainstorm about issues that employees and companies are facing and what information people want to hear. We agreed that more positive information needs to be shared in the world right now. Then back uptown to a great coffee shop. In all, I probably visited 8 coffee shops throughout the city during my week. This place is smaller than my office, but had a wonderful bakery and great cup cakes. I took the strawberry one! I had a wonderful conversation with a VP of Technology at a PR company, we have known each other since 2006, but this is the first time we met in person. It was great to have an opportunity to put a face to the name and we had a great walk back to 34th Street even though the wind was howling at 30 miles an hour and it was 10 below. We had a great conversation on how to leverage social media within the business space. Then back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.
Wednesday was a full day. I woke up tan from the wind the previous day. I was very excited to learn that there would be no wind that day. I do not think I could survive another day of that extreme weather. Even though I live in Upstate, I do not walk anywhere; everything is by car, and I have the heater on 80! I started the day off meeting the Director of Marketing for a software organization. She is a person that I have had the opportunity to work with many times. She is always full of energy and has a positive outlook. It was great hearing her perspective. Then off downtown again to meet up with a VP of Implementation for another software company. We talked about how to continue to provide quality service to clients in these economic times. Then……..a little shopping. I have to confess I cannot go to NYC and not shop!
After lunch I visited another software organization. It was great seeing their new space, very modern with a lot of exposed brick. I had a delightful time at a wonderful Cafe where all the food looked lovely, and met with a client of mine of 6 years. She is one of my best sales people and I am forever grateful. I also met with the Director of Marketing too, and learned how to leverage Twitter and social media – which is definitely a trend in conversations from all my clients. Back to the hotel for a meeting and a drink and looked forward to settling in for the night……..wait! I haven’t even logged in to check email yet!
Thursday was my last day, it was a beautiful, almost spring day and my appointment was on Wall Street. My drive to the financial district by the river was lovely. The sun shimmered on the water, making the light in my incredibly herky-jerky cab dance. I tend to get car sick, so riding in the back seat of a cab is not one of my favorite things! It was my final meeting for the day, a new company, but a contact I have been working with for 5 years. It was a great company, you could really feel the energy within the organization which is so great to see and feel. Plus, the view from their office was breathtaking. If I worked there I wouldn’t get any work done. I would be too busy watching the world go by on the water.
From my meeting with different organizations in different industries, a couple of themes came out of our conversations. First is that every dollar counts right now. People are looking at ways to develop new sales opportunities and leverage social media to help them promote their organizations. I also realized that in this time of uncertainty, people are still looking for the positive. We must continue to do this, and rely on the innovation that has always made us great.

How Social Media Helped Kyle Flaherty Find His Next Job

I had the opportunity to catch up with Kyle Flaherty last week about his recent job search. I have known Kyle for a couple of years, and we have been keeping in touch through Facebook and Twitter. Kyle was actually one of the first people to explain to me the world of SEO and SEM.
One day a month or so ago, I was logging into Facebook and saw that Kyle posted a video link from the local news. He states “My Austin television debut, ugh.” Naturally that peaked my interest. As it played I learned that Kyle heard about his new job through Twitter. The piece highlights how companies have really increased market awareness through this new tool. I was aware that Kyle started a new opportunity(through his comments and tweets) but was really excited to learn how. So I gave Kyle a call to see if he was open to sharing his story.
To give you a little background on Kyle he has been working in the Marketing/PR space for the past 11 years. He has worked both for an agency as well as in-house within the technology sector. He has a passion for PR; so much so he started his own blog five years ago at http://www.engageinpr.com/.
Kyle told me when he started his job search he chose to blog about it. He wrote a post about the 5 characteristics he was looking for in his next role. One of his friends and former colleagues, Laura Beck of Porter Novelli (@laurabeck on Twitter), read the blog and knew of a company that was looking. Laura passed Kyle’s name along to the VP Marketing at Breakingpoint, Pam O’Neal (@poneal on Twitter) www.breakingpoint.com. The VP saw that Kyle was an active user of Twitter so she decided to approach him via the tool and sent him a Direct Message (I love that aspect of the site).
Within a couple of days Kyle was flying down to the organization to meet the team. Throughout the recruitment process the VP kept in touch with Kyle via Twitter letting him know about events that were going on and what was happening with the organization. It was a great way for them to stay in touch and for Kyle to get updates.
I asked Kyle what he feels is the best social media tool to leverage during a job search and he feels that Linkedin is the top. It allows you to network from a geographical perspective and to see who is within your network at other organizations and then leverage those relationships. He states in today’s market its imperative to have an address out on Google. Companies need to be able to find you on the web so it is really important to have your profile updated on Linkedin. Kyle said he views his profile on Linkedin as his on-line resume.
I talked to Kyle about how people are nervous about starting to blog or commenting in the blogosphere. They feel no one is going to be interested in what they are doing or have to say. Kyle makes a good point, in that a blog is not about you – it’s about what you are passionate about. After thinking about this for a minute I would have to agree. Once I got over my nervousness of starting to put my thoughts out there and really think about what I am passionate about it makes blogging so much easier. I am passionate about helping organizations and candidates find a match.
Kyle continued by telling me that it’s important to blog or use tools like Twitter when you are in a job search because they are like cover letters. He leveraged his tweets and his blog to let companies know what he was up to and what he was looking for.
Kyle also mentioned how, on Linkedin for example, it’s important to engage with the various groups within your industry. He explained that his current company is very specialized when it comes to technology and that they monitor certain technical groups to see who is participating in the conversations. This allows them to engage with those folks to see if they would be interested in Breakingpoint.
I want to thank Kyle for sharing his story. It is a testament to a new way of developing a career. His use of Social Media tools is an important lesson for anyone in the job market today.     Watch The Video