Make Your Career More Social: Show Up and Engage

This month’s Career Collective topic is “social media - how to use it in a job search, how to get started, do's and don'ts”. This post, however, provides perspective on using social media for long-term career management.  For specific job search applications, you’ll want to check out posts by Career Collective colleagues. As well, use Google to find great content; for example here, here, and here. You can also join LinkedIn and choose relevant discussion groups, or use Facebook and it’s tools, including BranchOut. Finally, there are several great books such as this, this, and this.  So, now, let’s get on with the rest of your career.  

It often seems to me that many people in the career transition space continue to party like it’s 1999. That was the year when we were all concerned about defending life-as-we-knew-it from the looming Y2K Bug. Had disaster struck, it would have included a setback for job seekers who were just discovering the newly minted monster.com that promised to ease the process of applying for jobs. Fortunately, catastrophe was averted, and many people breathed a sigh of relief knowing that life could be the same as it ever was. Well, at least until 2003, when LinkedIn was launched, … and in its wake, the social media revolution that would change things forever.

By now, everyone realizes that social media has emerged as a force in career management! Yet, many tend to use it according to the old job search rules; that is, as a means to an end – like a resume, cover letters, career fairs, and networking events. One danger of this approach is that social media use can be put on the shelf with job search tools as soon as one lands what seems like a secure new position.

Yet, the new career management reality increasingly requires always-on engagement with trusted networks that form out of your broader brand community. We have entered a world where social media is fast becoming the ticket to opportunities that emerge in a relationship economy, or as Gary Vaynerchuck has recently dubbed it, The Thank You Economy.

So, what is this new economy? Here’s Vaynerchuck’s view:

[Business] … happens in the small, personal interactions that allow us to prove to each other who we are and what we believe in, honest moments that promote good feelings and build trust and loyalty.  Now imagine that you could take those interactions and scale them to hundreds, thousands, or millions of people …. Now, … it's necessary. In fact, those companies and brands that refuse to try could jeopardize the potential of their business, and in the long term, even their very existence.

Why?  Because when it comes down to it, the only thing that will never change is human nature.  When given the choice, people will always spend their time around people they like. When it's expedient and practical, they'd also rather do business and buy stuff from people they like. And now, they can. Social media has made it possible for consumers to interact with businesses in a way that is often similar to how they interact with friends and family.

A shorter way of saying this, and one familiar to many small business people, is: People do business with people they know, like, and trust.  And lest you think you’re not a small business person, consider that increasing numbers of workers continue to be hired on short-term, contract gigs, requiring an always-on pursuit of new opportunities. In fact, the new standard of “job security” is rooted in your ability to always find work. And this has implications for how you actually use social media. To mention a few, you need to:

Establish and Cultivate Professional Presence. If the “thank you” economy is all about doing business with people we know, like, and trust, then people need to know you. This means having an online presence that conveys who you are, the differentiated value you deliver, and what sets you apart from others. The trend is away from hiring the right skills and job titles and toward hiring the right people!

Convey an Authentic Story to Underscore Credibility. Today, people are especially astute in creating personal brand statements to convey value. Unfortunately, many of these are superficial. You now need to provide your backstory, showing you’re the best choice because your brand is truly rooted in relevant life and work experiences.

Identify and Connect with Your Brand Community. Contrary to what many social media advisors say, there’s little benefit in large numbers of friends, followers, and fans. The key standard is not the number but the relevance of your social media connections. So, you’ll benefit most from relationships with your people; that is, audiences who understand what you do, and who are most likely to look for you (or people like you) when they see an opportunity.

Use Platforms that Display Your Expertise. You probably understand the importance of having an online profile at sites like LinkedIn, but have you settled for providing just career history? If so, you risk being too easily ignored or forgotten. You can only stay relevant and current – and memorable – when people see your expertise expressed in fresh ideas and new accomplishments. There are many ways to do this, from participating in LinkedIn Groups to tweeting, blogging, and posting videos and slide shares – just to name a few!

Invest the Time to Engage Others. Social media has deep roots in the idea that markets are conversations. And with the powerful platforms available today, it’s possible to have conversations with people from anywhere in the world, and at any time of day, and over extended time periods. Short or long, regular online conversations go well beyond exchanged information to facilitating trusted relationships built over time.

Cultivate Good Karma. “What goes around comes around” applies to positive thoughts and deeds as well as to negative ones. On social media, pushing your own agenda, especially if you have not taken the time to help or acknowledge others, can be a negative. So, find ways to put others first. You generosity can take many forms; for example, extending simple congratulations, providing links to resources, answering questions, putting up how-to posts, promoting others or their causes, or even consulting with someone who could use your expertise.

Frankly, all this requires a commitment of time and energy.

Yet, regularly showing up and engaging your brand community in small daily doses has a cumulative effect, and will generate good will and word-of-mouth marketing as your reputation spreads. As more people know you, chances are better that they’ll consider you for that next gig because they’re already predisposed to do business with you. Make the investment. You’ll thank yourself!

What did other Career Collective members have to say? Here are links to their posts:

You 2.0: The Brave New World of Social Media and Online Job Searches, @dawnrasmussen

How to Get a New Job Using Social Media, @DebraWheatman

Social Media: Choosing, Using, and Confusing, @ErinKennedyCPRW

How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search, @heatherhuhman

Updating: A Social Media Strategy For Job Search, @TimsStrategy

Your Career Needs Social Media - Get Started, @EliteResumes @MartinBuckland

We Get By With a Little Recs from Our Friends, @chandlee

Expat Careers & Social Media: Social Media is Potentially 6 Times more Influential than a CV or Resume, @expatcoachmegan

Social-Media Tools and Resources to Maximize Your Personalized Job Search, @KatCareerGal

Job Search and Social Media: A Collective Approach, @careersherpa

How Having Your Own Website Helps You, @keppie_careers

Social Media: So what's the point?, @DawnBugni

Tools that change your world, @WorkWithIllness

HOW TO: Meet People IRL via LinkedIn, @AvidCareerist

Effective Web 2.0 Job Search: Top 5 Secrets, @resumeservice

Jumping Into the Social Media Sea @ValueIntoWords

Sink or Swim in Social Media, @KCCareerCoach

Social Media Primer for Job Seekers, @LaurieBerenson

Comments

[Career Sherpa]

Walter,
Thanks for taking us on this tour of how things have changed! I agree, Gary Vaynerchuck's The Thank You Economy does an excellent job explaining why "social" is working and the way of the future! And as you so nicely laid out, a required on-going effort!

I really enjoyed your approach to this!

[Heather Coleman-Voss]

This is a fantastic article, Walter! We teach this very concept in our career and business workshops, and it is so important!

@HeatherEColeman

[Walter Akana]

Hi Hannah!

Thanks for your great comment!

Clearly social media continues to gain steam as a tool for enriching one’s life and career. There were insights that Shel Israel captured in “Twitterville” that began to point the way.

Yet, if we need to be reminded that it’s all about becoming known, liked, and trusted, then Vayernerchuck’s book is a must read!

In this post, I’ve mostly tried to present what I think are recommendations for driving your career in a social media enabled world!

Great to be on the Career Collective with you!

[Walter Akana]

Hey Heather!

Thanks for your terrific feedback. Knowing that you “get it” on social media, I’m not surprised that this is what you’re teaching! You really are giving your people a big advantage in driving their careers in this brave new web-enabled world!

Thanks, again!

[EJobMate]

The Thank you economy sounds like an interesting book, I am very intrigued by it. With the emergence of the new tools and platforms we have available these days, it should not surprise us that employers want to harness these in an effort to not only shorten their time needed to find the right candidates, but learn more about those that have applied for their opportunities. When you say "People do business with people they know, like, and trust," I couldn't agree more.

A resume gives people some formal, almost stoic idea of their capabilities. Social media gives much more, which includes a persons connections, involvement, interests, and personality. These aspects create the chance to get to know people, and by developing trust, you are dispelling many of the hesitations others may have of you. Any information that can build trust is valuable, and social media allows us to do this.

[Walter Akana]

Thanks for your comment!

“The Thank You Economy” is an interesting book, and I highly recommend it!! It is perhaps the best treatment of how social media has given rise to a relationship economy on a global scale – yet with small town dynamics.

From a career management standpoint, it has given us the tools to reach out and build relationships with the people we most need to connect with. And this is a two way street, where both “candidates” and “employers” need to get to know, like, and trust each other!!

Building relationships inside of trusted networks can lead to opportunities that make formal “job search” methods and documents of secondary importance!