NevOn

The importance of continuity of personal presence

A good friend of mine in the UK has just left the big manufacturing company he's been with for over 15 years and is now facing the Herculean task of quickly building and establishing his own identity.

Two key starting points - a new email address (he had a personal Hotmail account but everyone knows him from his business email) and a new mobile phone number (he didn't get the option to take over his current phone number and continue maintaining the account himself).

Creating a new presence is not that difficult. However, ensuring that all the contacts you've made and built up over the years know how and where to find you without interruption will be tricky.

This friend is taking three months or so to adjust to the change he's embarking on (a voluntary change, I would add, not because of an acquisition or being axed), during which time I expect he'll get his new presence started.

Perhaps as recently as the turn of the century you could manage a situation like this without much worry. And in a couple of months, you'd be out there again in touch with your business contacts and acquaintances as you get your new venture going, letting them know about your new email address, phone number, website, etc.

Today you don't have that luxury of time. If you're not ready to transition into a new way of working immediately, you will disappear off the radar screens of many of the people and businesses you need to maintain continuity with.

This applies whether you're starting out on your own or changing jobs to continue as a paid employee of a company.

So pay attention to the new rules of engagement such as these from Tom Foremski and Mitch Ratcliffe:

• Carry and use your own cell phone/number for business
  The workforce now is mobile and temporary even if you have a salaried job. You need to be in control of the center of communications: you.
• Carry and use your own email address even at work
  Otherwise your contacts and the relationships you build can be severed when you leave a job, and that is an investment that you have a right to maintain--as does your employer.
• Carry and use your own health insurance
  Because otherwise, you will be stuck in a job that makes you sick just to keep the health insurance.
• Incorporate and work on contract rather than as an employee
  This allows you to negotiate the same kind of stock compensation while allowing you to keep your business costs, even the ones you can't get compensated for at work, on your own taxes while increasing the flexibility you have as a working person.
• Carry and use your own hardware, building tech expenses into your compensation
  This prevents lock-in to a job through access to technology. Sure, you may have to work with a less impressive laptop, but you're also forced to think more like the people who really buy computers, software, services and so forth.

Sound advice and well worth heeding.

I'd add two more:

• Create a blog and establish your personal presence in the new marketplace
  In this new age of global inter-connectivity, linking and influence, a blog is a prerequisite if you want to build your own credibility, be found easily and connect with others. Forget the static website. Forget the fancy brochure. Do a blog. It works - I speak from personal experience.
• Join a business network like LinkedIn or OpenBC
  However you actively use these or not, they can help establish your individual credibility and provide avenues of contact with others for mutual benefit.

What else?

How to create your CV for machines to read

If you're career searching, you know how crucial a well-prepared CV/résumé is. You've probably read various guides on how to prepare it, what format it should be, layout, use of typefaces, how many pages, etc.

For instance, take a look at the résumés/cover letters section in the Wall Street Journal's Executive Career Site - links galore to useful information that will help you.

One thing you've probably heard about, too, is what happens to your CV when you send it off with an application for a job. The rules have changed now, according to The Sovren Group, who make specialist software that intelligently reads CVs (what they call a 'résumé parser').

Your CV will be read by résumé-parsing software before it ever gets in front of a human being, especially if you apply for a position with a large company who frequently recruits, or if you go via a recruitment consultant or headhunter.

Traditional thinking about content and presentation will do you little good in the face of cold logic from a computer program. So you need to know how to prepare an electronically-readable CV.

It's not as complex as you might think, as long as you know how. And Sovren has put together a helpful and free 7-page guide that explains how to do it.

Download Tips for Electronic Resumes (requires Microsoft Word).

Once you have your electronically-readable CV ready, Sovren offers a pay-for service where you can test it on actual job board processing software and see exactly what it "sees" before you post it to the job boards, recruiters, etc. After you see the results, you can revise your CV and re-test it until it's just right.

Google blogger firing highlights again why guidelines are essential

News yesterday that Mark Jen, a Google employee, had been fired for blogging serves to add yet more focus to a matter that has become increasingly important to companies and employees alike - establishing clear guidelines on blogging in the workplace.

This subject is beginning to sound like an auto-repeat CD (yes, I have moved on from the 'stuck record' analogy), but it is a subject on which many people have commented in past months, me included, and continue to comment.

For opinions about Jen's doocing, take a look at the volume of posts that Technorati is listing. The trouble is, most of these blog posts are emotional and hardly balanced or factual, with wildy differing accounts of what happened, and many decrying Google for stopping an employee's "right to blog."

Then look at Jen's blog and see for yourself what he has posted since he started working for Google last month. The blog was last updated on 27 January. Look at his brief post the previous day entitled Oops - a sure sign that he must have known he was making some people at his new employer not too happy.

Amongst all the blog noise, here are some comments from three influential US bloggers that struck me as providing some thoughtful perspective:

• John Batelle, entrepreneur, journalist and author: "This is a clear message to Google employees. I imagine any who are blogging, are re-reading their HR policies about now... I guess someone who violates the rules like this will, I imagine, be dealt with in various ways by various companies. I wonder what Yahoo might have done in the same situation, or Microsoft? The information on the site, which was taken down and then redacted, was really not that big a deal. At least, it seems that way to me. But one never knows. Is this such a clear case of violation as to merit firing? Perhaps he left on his own accord, we may never know as I imagine he signed something on his way out the door."

• Jeremy Zawodny, Yahoo (who said he spoke to Mark Jen): "Yes, he was fired from Google. It was directly related to his blog. He was employed there for just a couple of weeks. Mark's a good guy. He doesn't believe he was doing anything wrong (neither do I based on what he told me)."

• Robert Scoble, Microsoft (who said he had an email from Mark Jen): "Reading Mark's blog I can see a variety of mistakes he made. When you start at a new company you need to build a relationship network before you start discussing the company in public. You need to understand what the various forces that have power (and, at every company there are probably people who have more power than you do -- even the CEO has to listen to the board of directors and to other people inside the company) and you have to work carefully and deliberately. It's not easy writing in public. All it takes is one paragraph to lose credibility, have people laugh at you, get you sued, create a PR firestorm, or get your boss mad at you. Think about that one for a while. Just a few hundred pixels on the screen can dramatically change what people think about you."

Taking into account all of the above, it's a very clear and short step to arrive at Employee Lesson Number 1 -

> Employees - Use your own common sense on what you say about your employer and issues in your workplace in your public blog. The responsibility for this is yours, as are the consequences if you don't use your common sense.

So what about the employer? Where do they stand? I'm not speaking about Google and this situation in particular: this is about any employer today.

It isn't too hard to answer, actually, which takes us another clear and short step to arrive at Employer Lesson Number 1 -

> Employers - You must establish the framework under which employees can blog in their workplace, creating the guidelines that make it clear what the ground rules are, and then communicating them to your employees in a way that they clearly understand. The responsibility for this is yours, as are the consequences if you don't have clear guidelines.

Both of these 'lessons' go hand in hand - you can't have one without the other.

Finally, the last word (in this post, that is):

• Michael Gartenberg, research director at Jupiter Research: "We'll probably never know the full story behind these events so it's silly to speculate on what was the straw that broke that camel's back but it's clear that unless you have a VERY tolerant employer and boss, be careful what you put out there for the world to see. Having said that, it's more important than ever for every company to have a clear policy on blogging and what is and what is not acceptable. While common sense should rule, it's clearly not in all cases and it's best for everyone to be on the same page early on, if for no other reason, to stop the rumor mills from churning every time something like this happens."

Related NevOn posts:

• Don't be dooced in 2005
• The Number One Hot Prediction for 2005
• Corporate blogging: Setting the ground rules
• Codes and policies to blog by

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Jeremy Wright Interview - January 27, 2005

Welcome to a the second Special Edition of the Hobson & Holtz Report, a 30-minute conversation with Jeremy Wright recorded live at the New Communications Forum 2005 in Napa, California, USA, on January 27, 2005.

A high-profile business blogger, Jeremy authors the Ensight blog and is now focused on building his new venture, Inside Blogging. He gained signficant blogosphere and media attention in recent months related to his being auctioned on eBay, being fired by his employer for blogging and his plans for starting a book on business blogging. In this show, listen to Jeremy's thoughts and views about his book, his new venture (with Darren Barefoot) and about being dooced for blogging.

Download the file here (MP3, 27.6MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For this, you’ll need ipodder, software that lets you subscribe to receive podcasts automatically and sync them to your digital player.)

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at comments@forimmediaterelease.biz. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

PeopleSoft job seekers try eBay

After a team of in-house creatives was displaced following Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft, the group turned to eBay to try and find work, a report by Fast Company says. Not as individual job seekers, however, but as a complete team.

According to a post on AdFreak, AdWeek's blog, the team wanted to continue working together, and so they decided to auction themselves off on eBay:

Take advantage of recent merger and acquisition activity in the technology sector. Their loss, your gain. An award-winning, clear-thinking, bottom-line-focused creative services organization is now immediately available to rock your bottom line. We are a creative team that's ready to plug and play. Today.

A great example of different thinking, when you do whatever it takes to find a way to earn your living.

Related: hundreds of displaced PeopleSoft employees have signed up to LinkedIn, the business-social network, in recent weeks. See PeopleSoft employee David Sohigan's blog for details and other information helpful to PeopleSoft ex-employees looking for work.

Related NevOn post:

• The harsh reality for PeopleSoft employees

Thinking time for PeopleSoft employees over Christmas

It's time for PeopleSoft customers and employees to start thinking about the future and about protecting their own interests, because nobody else is going to be watching out for them, says an eWeek report.

Benevolent or paternalistic aren't words that have ever been seriously associated with Oracle or with its founder and CEO, Larry Ellison. Business is business, and now that PeopleSoft is about to disappear into Oracle's labyrinthine halls, everybody is going to have to cut the best deal that they can.

So, to all PeopleSoft employees, that means taking a close look at your role at PeopleSoft and soberly considering whether there will be a place for you in the new organization.

eWeek Enterprise Apps | Time for PeopleSoft Customers, Workers to Cut Best Deal

Wise advice. My experience in working for an enterprise software company that was acquired in mid 2004 was similar - you need to be brutally realistic as you observe what's going on (and, indeed, what's not going on) during the lead-up to the deal being announced, what shots the acquiring company are calling, more so in the period in between the announcement and when the transaction is actually completed.

When it comes to cutting a deal, you've got two clear options - what you want if you continue with the new company, and what you want if you leave. While you may decide to make some compromises, don't accept any that you (and your family) can't live with.

Often, the best career moves happen in times of considerable workplace uncertainty and radical change.

Related NevOn posts:

• Microsoft ramps up the FUD
• The FUD begins in Oracle and PeopleSoft deal
• Communication challenges for Oracle and PeopleSoft after acquisition

More Ned's tips on IABC accreditation

We had a few emails following this blog's conversation with Ned Lundquist about IABC accreditation earlier this month. Most of them were wondering what warm beer and a vintage MGB had to do with it.

So Ned and I got together again in cyberspace to demonstrate how effective we are at clear communication.

Ned, I hear that one of the big obstacles to becoming accredited is not liking warm beer.

No, you got that wrong. What I wanted you to think I said which is what I meant was that, while you and I may have our cultural differences, as business communicators we share some universal truths wherever we live, wherever we work.

So, becoming accredited is meeting a global standard, not just some local or industry-specific standard?

You catch on quickly, don't you.

Yes, I'm quite a fast learner. So, what's the biggest obstacle?

For such a fast learner I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already.

I'll take that as a clue. It's time, then?

Time? Oh, you mean the fact that you need to be "in the business" for at least five years? That kind of "time?"

No, I wasn't really thinking of that, although it would preclude a brand new professional starting out from becoming accredited, wouldn't it?

A conversation with Ned Lundquist on IABC accreditation

For business communicators, IABC accreditation is an effective way to benchmark yourself against a set of proven standards. I wrote a commentary in this blog a few weeks ago on my own beliefs in the value of this excellent professional development programme.

My blog post is just one particular message, though. What do you really know about the IABC accreditation programme? What are the requirements? What help can you get to prepare? And how do we get the story out to more communicators?

Ned Lundquist is the man who can answer such questions. So we sat down in cyberspace and had a chat…

Ned, I understand you are the marketing director for IABC's International Accreditation Board. Is that right.

That's correct, Neville.

Does that mean that you are selling accreditation?

I'm not selling accreditation, but I am promoting the value of becoming accredited, and the value of the process through which one becomes accredited.

You are an American. Is the IABC accreditation program geared towards Americans?

Neville, you and I speak the same language, and our ancestors received spiritual guidance at Stonehenge, or plundered some villages near there. But you drink your beer warm and drive on the wrong side of the road. Does that mean you are not a good communicator?

[Ned pauses for virtual dramatic effect. Neville is virtually stumped.]

Accreditation through IABC means that you have met a global standard. Not a Washington, D.C. standard (actually Washington has no standards), or a North American standard, but a universal standard. We agree on the basic fundamentals of good business communications are universal truths. That's the standard we use. Undergoing the scrutiny and passing the portfolio and the exam means you have met that global standard. Even more, it's a personal statement about yourself.

You don't like warm beer?

I have an MGB, Neville, and I'll never forgive the UK for that damn electrical system, but when it comes to understanding our messages, key constituencies, having some useful research and analysis and basing our measurable objectives upon that research, and creating a sensible plan and executing it in a professional manner, and evaluating our results against the measurable objectives, well, that's something we do, or should do everywhere.

You mentioned measurable objectives, do you have measurable objectives for the IABC accreditation program?

I sure do. I want to double the number of ABCs [accredited business communicators] in 2005. Then I want to double that number again in 2006. That means each ABC needs to be personally responsible for bringing in one new ABC next year, and just one more the year after. My goal is 2006 by 2006.

Ned, does direct marketing figure into your plans?

Absolutely. Each ABC needs to reach out and touch someone they know and believe is a good communicator and encourage them to undertake this process. That's pretty direct.

Do you think a lot of our fellow communicators can pass the test?

I most certainly do. Beyond the fact that the test is a very fair assessment of one's experience, knowledge and expertise, I feel strongly that most communicators with at least five years in the business have already accomplished the kind of work needed for a portfolio and could pass the test if we administered it right here and now.

But there are all kinds of resources to help you, like mentors, workshops and funshops to guide your way, and some helpful publications. But the test isn't based on some body of knowledge. It's based on what you should already know. You are the body of knowledge.

That's quite a stirring image, Ned, that body of knowledge.

Your body, not mine. But take it from me, a guy who isn't the brightest bulb in the marquis. If I can do it, so can you, and your fellow communicators. I should mention that passing your ABC doesn't require that you demonstrate that you are the best communicator, you just have to show that you are a good, solid communicator.

Thanks, Ned. Care for an ice-cold Heineken?

---

More information about IABC accreditation:

• IABC | Becoming an Accredited Business Communicator
• Download the accreditation brochure (PDF)

Ned Lundquist, ABC, is Director of Corporate Communications for the Center for Security Strategies and Operations at Anteon Corporation of Fairfax, Virginia, USA. In addition to his wide-ranging IABC volunteersim activities, Ned is creator of JOTW, the email newsletter community for communicators who are seeking jobs and/or have jobs to offer. Written about in the Wall Street Journal and Fast Company (see my post in August), JOTW now has over 7,500 subscribers.

True value in IABC accreditation

I had an email last week from my professional association, IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), with an update on what’s happening with the association’s accreditation programme. A great deal, actually, which has given me cause to reflect on what a superb professional development opportunity accreditation is.

The formal description of the programme says accreditation offers communicators a way of demonstrating to employers, fellow communicators and themselves their ability to successfully manage and perform those tasks essential to effective organizational communication. When I took the accreditation examination 10 years ago, I saw it as a perfect way to benchmark myself against a set of proven standards.

When you pass the exam, you are then known as an accredited business communicator and can use the designator ‘ABC.’ And re this, one of the news item in last week’s email announced that, for the first time, IABC has introduced a special logo that accredited members are entitled to use on business cards, brochures, websites and other materials. I’ve now proudly got mine on my profile page.

I’ve never regretted taking part in the accreditation process. And process is probably a good word – accreditation is no simple undertaking, involving as it does the preparation of a portfolio to demonstrate how well you understand the principles and practice of communication planning, execution and measurement, followed by a written and oral examination, all of which is judged by your peers. I’ve also been an accreditation examiner myself.

To get an idea of what the written and oral exams entail, take a look at the sample exams.

I believe IABC’s accreditation programme for communicators is unmatched by any other professional association. And there are other programmes, of course, that are tailored to specific disciplines. So, in the US, you have the APR qualification if you’re a member of the PRSA. In the UK, there are programmes run by the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Institute of Public Relations, for example. Associations in other countries have their own professional development programmes.

The difference with IABC’s programme is that it enables you to secure a recognized professional qualification that isn’t limited to demonstrating your knowledge and abilities in purely one or just a few areas of organizational communication. It’s ideal if your career has embraced the wide spectrum of organizational communication – PR, employee communication, corporate communication, investor relations, and so forth. Indeed, if you have had lots of experience but focused in only one or perhaps two areas, it’s unlikely you would be able to meet the requirements for taking accreditation.

I give a call to every IABC member who hasn’t yet taken the route to accreditation to consider it, either for the first time or again. You will never regret it. And here’s your opportunity to find out more about becoming an ABC – participate in Getting Accredited in 2005: Developing Your Portfolio, IABC’s first teleseminar on accreditation taking place on 19 January 2005.

So, in sum, accreditation helps you judge whether you really do know what you think you do, and how effective you are at doing what you do. That’s it’s true value.

More information:

• IABC | Becoming an Accredited Business Communicator
• Download the accreditation brochure (PDF)

Using a public blog as part of the hiring process

Via A Penny For... comes an extremely interesting story of how Bzzagent, a word-of-mouth marketing network in North America, proactively used their public blog to discuss their needs for hiring a particular new senior employee, and then posted commentary about the two short-listed candidates asking for comment and opinion on which one to hire.

A Penny For... | When I think open source business

A very bold example of being wholly open and transparent in recruiting. A sign of the near future.

Community editing your CV with a wiki

As everyone knows, having an effective CV (résumé, in American) is a prerequisite when you embark on a new career search.

Yet it's not always easy to produce a good CV, in spite of great inputs from friends, colleagues and others who willingly give of their time and experiences to help.

Today I found out about the ResumeWiki, launched just three days ago by biz-tech blogger Jeremy Wright:

ResumeWiki is a community edited resume centre. You post your profile (goals, etc) and resume the community of peers will give you comments and possible edits. It is about harnessing the power of lots of eyes to help you get your job. It is kind of like Open Source’ing your resume. Less bugs, more potential, less work for the individual (you).

Beyond editing and commenting on your resume, ResumeWiki is also a ResumeWriting and JobHunting resource, with pages like the Recruiting Blogs list, tips on ResumeWriting, JobHunting tips and a ResourceDirectory which includes a list of more than 30 corporate job hunting sites.

What a great resource! So I'm participating with the idea that any input can only be helpful. I'll do my bit as well to help others who participate.

So if any of my blogging buddies would like to add their 10-cents-worth of comment and opinion to my CV, as well as any of the others there, please head on over to the ResumeWiki.

Seeking the next challenge

Well, it's official. I'm openly on the job search market.

I've now completed my exit from my employer, Scala Business Solutions, a Tier 2 enterprise software vendor headquartered in Amsterdam. For the past five years, I've been VP Corporate Communication here. Five challenging and great years.

Scala was acquired in June by Epicor Software Corporation of the US. Four months on from the closure of the deal, things are looking good for Epicor going forward with strong results reported in Q3: the first complete quarter as a combined company.

I wish Epicor well, and to all my Scala colleagues around the world - make it all happen, guys!

I'm actively on the market now, seeking the next opportunity in my career. A few weeks ago, I posted commentary on using blogs as part of job search strategies, both from the recruiter's and job searcher's viewpoints. So with this post, an updated About page and a new Career Profile page, I'm making a start in putting my money where my mouth is.

What will the next opportunity be? It could be consulting, independent project work, a new job, or even something completely different and/or non-traditional. Physical or virtual, or a combination of the two. While I'm not fixed on any specific industry area or geography, I am especially keen to find opportunities with interesting high technology companies or in consultancy that's focused on the high-tech area.

If you're looking for an experienced business communicator with a truly international perspective who can strategize with the CEO on a Monday, be out in the field listening to the sales and marketing organization on a Tuesday, and apply a roll-up-your-sleeves approach to actually getting things done on a Wednesday - plenty of other things to make happen during the rest of the week - I could be your man.

If you would like to talk, I'm willing at any time (I'm in Amsterdam, Central European time zone). See my Profile page for more information and contact details.

Just some parameters. If you want safe and traditional command-and-control, let's not talk. If you need fresh thinking to help you succeed with your business goals, let's do talk.

Update 11 November: I've decided to strike out on my own as an independent communication practitioner. There is so much going on in the tech sector that interests me, so I want to see how I can get involved with some dynamic people and work with them on some interesting projects.

A big driver for this decision - I picked up my first client last week. I've signed a non-disclosure agreement; all I can say here is that it's a start-up in the tech sector and the web will play a prominent role in their new offering when it launches next year.

Let's see how independence goes over the next couple of quarters at least. I have a couple more irons in the fire, and things are looking very interesting.

My current status will always be reflected in my career profile on this blog.

Imaginative HR at Genencor

Great story in Fast Company on a biotech company in the US which nurtures its people with imaginative benefits, keeping them happy, loyal and productive.

Genencor International's headquarters in Palo Alto, California, are the physical manifestation of what happens when you effectively transform employees into designers of their own work environment. The 1,260-employee, $380 million company, which focuses on health-care products and enzymes, has generated remarkable worker loyalty and greater productivity. Its turnover rate was less than 4% in 2003. The [US] national industry average is 18.5% and the Bay Area's is 17.8%, according to the Radford Surveys. This isn't a one-year blip either. When the economy was roaring in the late 1990s, Genencor's turnover rate hovered around the same level.

Its creative benefits programs earned Genencor the number-four slot on a list of the best medium-sized companies to work for, created by the Great Place to Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. And the company generates approximately $60,000 more revenue per employee than its largest competitor, Novozymes.

Read the full article to learn the secrets to Genencor's success.

Fast Company | Mutual Benefit

Spill your secrets at Workdirt

Loosely continuing today's theme of blogs and careers, here's a blog that has a lighter (no, darker) side about the workplace: Workdirt.

Self description:

We're here to make it all better because our jobs suck either sometimes or always, or when you-know-who is around. We like to break the rules and share dirty little secrets such as salary information. We like to have fun at the expense of others who deserve it. We tolerate bad spelling, the occasional bad word, blue and dark humor, and brutal honesty. Join us; help us.

Only a few posts at the moment and just a couple of comments. Unfortunately, this is a Blogspot-hosted blog so we have that situation you encounter too often with such blogs - if you want to leave a comment, you get a log in screen so, unless you have a Blogspot or Blogger blog or want to sign up for one, you can't leave comments.

No contact info on the blog to reach the owner (who is anonymous), so if the owner reads this post - please adjust the configuration settings in Workdirt to enable it to accept open commenting. Unless, that is, you want comments only from bloggers who user Blogspot or Blogger.

Could Workdirt bring to the blogosphere the irreverence and complete and utter contempt for the workplace that FuckedCompany.com and InternalMemos.com brought to the web?

(Via JOTW. See my post in August about JOTW.)

Blogs as part of job search strategies

A number of media articles and blog posts in recent weeks have been discussing the role blogs can play in the job search process, both from the recruiter's and seeker's points of view.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article on how blogs are catching on for recruiters and job seekers (see my post). The latest such article is in today's New York Times.

The NYT's article quotes Michael Gartenberg, a vice president and research director at JupiterResearch who covers blogs, as saying there's no conclusive data on the spread of blogs to the job market, but based on anecdotal information, people are using blogs on both sides of the job search process. Gartenberg says it's a trend on the rise, especially for employers, who get a much better sense of a person this way. "Résumés and interviews are a very scripted process," he says, "Read someone's weblog and you get a good sense of that person's thinking and perspectives."

Sound advice.

Key points from the NYT article:

• Job seekers use blogs to establish a strong online presence, display their skills and advertise their availability.
• Corporate recruiters use blogs to draw in qualified candidates, and they search for potential hires by reading bloggers who write about topics relevant to a particular industry.
• A good example is Heather Hamilton, a senior marketing recruiter at Microsoft: "I have great candidates in process that have resulted from blogging. Personally, I think blogging is going to change the way companies recruit." Heather writes about recruiting and careers at Microsoft in her Heather's Marketing at Microsoft blog.
• A driving factor behind job market blogging is the search engine Google. If you are thinking of interviewing someone, it's almost standard now to Google them online and see what you find. If that person has a blog, it's usually the first thing that comes up.

On that last point, I'd add that if you are a job seeker looking at a potential opportunity in a company, you should also Google them to see what you can find out more than you'd already know about them as part of your job search due diligence.

The last word from Roy Singham, CEO at ThoughtWorks, quoted in the article as saying his company's employee blogs have attracted some job applicants: "We're looking for needles in haystacks, and the blog is like a massive magnet."

New York Times | Before Applying, Check Out the Blogs (registration required)

Blogs catching on for recruiters and job seekers

According to a Wall Street Journal report yesterday, some career experts now predict that blogs could become the next wave in electronic recruiting, following job boards and corporate career sites.

In short, blogs could become a new way for recruiters to identify candidates and for job seekers to gain a clearer picture of a company's culture on a day-to-day basis.

Wall Street Journal | Blogs Catch On as Online Tool For Job Seekers and Recruiters

(Via Heather's Marketing at Microsoft)

No Friendster comment as fired employee speaks out

When the story of Joyce Parks (aka Troutgirl) and her being fired by Friendster for blogging blew up late last month, it became a popular posting topic by many business bloggers (including me: see post) as well as mainstream media.

Last week, Joyce told her tale to Red Herring, going into some detail on her side of the story. Friendster wouldn't comment in the article.

Red Herring | No Friendster of mine

Whatever the real situation, the very public ending of Ms Parks' career at Friendster has done some damage to Friendster's reputation, becoming a PR issue as much as an HR one. How significant or long lasting this will be remains to be seen.

On balance, it's hard to see how else Friendster could have dealt with this public exposure of a private employer-employee matter other than making no comment. If they had engaged in discussion about it, it would likely have built and developed into a major public issue with ongoing commentary.

'No comment' and wearing a kevlar jacket may turn out to be their wisest move.

Blogs make firing a public issue

A story that's been posted on a couple of blogs today concerns an engineer at Friendster who comments on her blog that she was fired yesterday because she blogs.

In her post, Troutgirl (Joyce Parks) says "I worked really hard for that company, and I don't think I have anything to be ashamed of."

Reading through the blog posts she quotes as the reasons for her firing, it's hard to see what she said that would cause the company to dismiss her. Of course, it's impossible and inappropriate to make any judgements without knowing anything of the background. Nevertheless, something happened that caused such a violent reaction by her employer.

There's a link from Troutgirl's blog to that of her boyfriend Tim. In a post yesterday, Tim takes up a cudgel in defence of Troutgirl and attacks Friendster's CEO: "Scott [Sassa] fired one of Friendster's most respected engineers, for blogging about Friendster. Fired her, what's more, for blogging in a generally positive and non-specific manner about Friendster. [...] There were no warnings, no requests to remove the material, no other reasons mentioned."

Without blogs, none of this would have seen the light of a global day and would likely have remained a private employer/employee matter. Blogs make the story a very public one. Potentially, this could develop into a public issue, one in which Friendster may suddenly find itself having to defend or comment on.

It will be interesting to see if or how this develops, and how Friendster deals with it.

(Via CorporateBloggingInfo and Corporate Engagement.)

UPDATE: Checking my latest RSS webfeeds, I see this story has also been reported on a number of other blogs, including Media Guerilla and PR Opinions.

JOTW gives a helping hand

Great to see a big public accolade in the Wall Street Journal to Ned Lundquist, a fellow professional business communicator and publisher of the Job of The Week (JOTW) email newsletter for communicators looking for new career opportunities.

JOTW is much more than just a job-search newsletter with job listings, though. There's a real community surrounding JOTW which has more than 6,700 subscribers. I've been a JOTW subscriber for some months and thoroughly enjoy reading each issue - up to 3 a week - as much for its humour, witty commentary and other subscribers' stories as for its info on new career opportunities.

If you're a professional communicator looking for the next opportunity, or have an opportunity to advertise, sign up for JOTW.

Read the feature on Ned and JOTW in the Wall Street Journal's Career pages:

CareerJournal | E-Mail Lists Unite Job Hunters To Provide Support and Leads

See also what Fast Company has to say:

Fast Company| Why does this big idea keep getting bigger?

Fast Company | News of Ned’s network spread by word of mouse!

Online job boards and spam

One thing I'm pretty convinced about as I embark on my quest for a new career opportunity is that online job boards like Monster or TotalJobs are unlikely to be the route through which I find the next opportunity. My view is validated by an article I saw recently on the Wall Street Journal's career site which included this comment:

...despite the reach and apparent ease online job searches offer, a surprisingly small proportion of jobs get filled that way. Only 6% of hires for management-level jobs currently occur through any Internet site, compared with 61% for networking.

Nevertheless, job boards should be an essential ingedient in a career search strategy. It's all to do with timing and opportunity. Recruiters do look at job boards; it could be that the day after you post your CV, a recruiter sees it, and you get a call. I look at such boards as the perfect automated recruitment tool: it's there 24x7, you don't need to do anything once you've registered (except make sure your info is compelling and up to date) - but don't rely on it as a primary channel to your market.
 
There is an unexpected downside, though. Two days ago, I registered on just two job boards and already I'm getting email solicitations offering CV writing services, career counseling, you name it. Spam email has no boundaries!

LinkedIn looks promising

About a month ago, I joined LinkedIn, the latest service to hit the web to offer a way of networking together people who know each other. Unlike those networks which offer a social-only structure - almost a kind of online speed dating system - LinkedIn is geared to business networking.

Recently, I seem to be catching articles everywhere about LinkedIn, the latest published yesterday by IT industry guru Esther Dyson (read it here).

LinkedIn is still in beta. But it looks very promising as one other means of connecting business people. I was truly amazed when I joined up to see more than 20 people I know already using it.

Life change philosophy

How often does anyone go through a life-changing experience? I suppose it depends on who you ask and what their particular circumstances are. I'm about to go through one, one that's a forced change due to changing work circumstances. It's a situation that's familiar to more people these days - I will soon be on the job market following changes at my company as a result of their being acquired last month. In sum, my job's been eliminated in post-acquisition restructuring.

How do I feel about it? Well, as someone highly accustomed to living with change, not in a panic (at least, not yet). Disappointed, yes. When you're given the chop, you can feel that you're not valued. But such things are rarely personal, so it's better to be philiosphical, look at the forced change as an opportunity and move on.