Social Networking: Your Online Brand
May 25, 2009
Working for a staffing company is never boring. We are a people business, so daily I hear tales of great candidate successes and every once in a while, shocking defeat. Last month we had to navigate a social networking snafu with a candidate. For most employers and employees, this is new territory.
Employers and recruiters are increasingly using social networking tools to sort through potential job candidates. CareerBuilder recently conducted a survey about employers and their relationship with social networking. The survey was telling. Twenty-two percent of employers said they used social networking sites when they were looking for or evaluating potential job candidates. Thirty-four percent of those that use social networking sites to screen candidates found content that convinced them to remove a candidate from their search. Ouch.
The internet is a public place. It is a permanent record of sorts. There is no doubt at this point, that usage will grow and employers will view a person’s online image as a part of their personal branding.
Here are a few basic guidelines that we give to our candidates when we advise them about social networking:
Are you Real or Fake?
May 25, 2009
One of the best experiences a recruiter can have is to sit down with a candidate that is comfortable, confident and real. They look you in the eye, precisely expound on their experience, listen when you are talking, and make a good impression when you send them to a client. They are authentic.
Conversely, it’s painfully awkward to interview a candidate that is “putting on a show” for you. It’s embarrassingly evident when a candidate is saying things that don’t quite match who you perceive that they are. Recently, I interviewed a candidate that was dishonest with me. When she started talking about her background, she wasn’t herself. She was overconfident and pushy. After years of recruiting, you learn to trust your instinct. Her skills were on target, her personality was good, she was polished, but there was something that didn’t sit well with me. I did some research after our interview and found a mark on her background. This situation stimulated a lot of questions for me.
What made me suspicious of her before I found out that she was hiding something? What were the indicators? The only conclusion I came up with was that she wasn’t real. She wasn’t being authentic, and I knew it. During the interview experience I felt that she was covering something, and it left me with a negative feeling.
Consumers are the same way. The consumer of 2009 is part of the new collective conscience that is a little more cynical, and desires a genuine interaction with the people they do business with.
Recently, I had the opportunity to read Authenticity by James Gilmore and Joseph Pine II. Gilmore and Pine take a long hard look at the post-modern consumer and what makes them tick. Today, they assert, consumers are looking for an authentic, memorable experience.
Remember when quality was king? It is now a given. Consumers today assume that you will deliver a product that is easy to attain, at a reasonable price, with high level service and quality. These are no longer points for differentiation, they are expectations. Apparently, a revolution has occurred and authenticity has replaced quality as the criteria of concern when making a purchase.
I guess we should clarify what authenticity means. For business purposes, it is basically the perception that you are who you say you are (as a company) and that what you are selling is what you say it is. This starts with honestly knowing and admitting who you are in the first place. When a consumer encounters you and your product, how do they perceive you?
Gilmore and Pine have created a practical book that will help to guide your company on its way to honest self and consumer perception. They call this “rendering authenticity” and they very clearly assert that this will become a skill that is just as important as “controlling costs” or “improving quality.”
There are some axioms contained in Gilmore and Pine’s authenticity paradox that you should keep in mind on your journey to authenticity. They are:
- If you are authentic, you don’t have to say you’re authentic.
- If you say you’re authentic, then you’d better be authentic.
- It’s easier to be authentic, if you don’t say you’re authentic
I highly suggest that businesses read this book and re-tool their identity and marketing strategies for a consumer that demands experiential authenticity. Be real with your customers. Make your message congruent with your core values. The result will allow you and your company to join the revolution of reality that is already raging.
The Legacy of Leadership
May 22, 2009
In 1983, entrepreneur Linda Crawford opened Delta Dallas while Texas was experiencing a recession. Twenty-five years later, Delta Dallas has survived several economic downturns. This is a direct result of strong leadership and a business of passionate people.
Delta Dallas is the only nationally accredited staffing firm in the DFW area and has a full staff of certified, award-winning recruiters. Recently, I met with Linda to discuss her current thoughts on leadership:
Tabitha: Linda, thank you for meeting with me. I‘m truly excited to talk to you about leadership. In today’s world, what characteristics do you like to see in a leader?
Linda: Leaders have integrity, which builds trust within an organization. Leaders are accountable for results and will admit when they are wrong. Leaders keep one foot planted firmly on the ground, and their eyes on the horizon, which is a reflection of a visionary. Leaders embrace the ideas of others and continue to seek new knowledge; leaders beget leaders. In my mind’s eye, leaders in today’s world walk a fine line between managing resources and taking risks.
Tabitha: Who inspired and influenced you?
Linda: So many people… Through the years I have benefited and been gifted through associations with my mentors, business associates, and most of all our Delta Dallas team. The leadership of Delta Dallas, Don, our CEO and President, and Vice Presidents Kim Follis and Michelle Cook, make decisions on behalf of the company every day. They are proven and trusted.
Tabitha: Linda, I met with two of Delta Dallas’ long-term employees to get their perspective on your leadership style, and here is what they said:
When I started working for Linda over 20 years ago, I had no idea what an amazing leader she was. I have learned through her to never give up, believe in your people, use integrity and heart in making decisions, and to be true to yourself. She not only leads others, but leads herself.
~Kim Follis, CPC, CTS, Vice President, Delta Dallas, 20 years
Linda has been an inspiration to me in many ways. I knew people in the industry before I came to Delta Dallas, and the reputation that she built with those people was amazing. I have come to know that the reality far outweighs the reputation. She has built one of the most recognizable staffing companies in the state. Knowing that Linda can take an idea and transform it into such an awesome reality, simply by making that first phone call in November 1983, inspires me to pick up the phone every day. Her leadership and constant encouragement are the reasons that I feel blessed to come to work for Delta Dallas every day!
~Dana Lee, CPC, CTS, Executive Recruiter, Delta Dallas, 7 years
I think that one of the greatest successes is when you develop leaders that have the same value system. I trust the staff of Delta Dallas to uphold our reputation. This has served both me and the company well.
Tabitha: Do you believe all people are leaders?
Linda: Absolutely! For Good or Bad. Years ago, I read a book, The Flight of the Buffalo which was the catalyst for leadership training and a leadership team at Delta Dallas. A chapter in the book compares a herd of buffalo with a flock of geese. A herd of buffalo will follow their dominant leader over the edge of a cliff. A flock of geese, though, will fly in a “V” formation and take turns leading the flock. They can fly for miles and miles and miles!
After reading this book, I implemented a leadership team at Delta Dallas. The purpose of our team is to communicate and exemplify the values of our company while mentoring, coaching and training during the course of a normal workday.
Tabitha: How do you encourage your employees to take a role of leadership?
Linda: We constantly seek new knowledge and stay aware of what is happening in business. We read business books. We are students of leadership. The very nature of our work demands that our employees are leaders. Our philosophy is to be on the “inside” what we present to the “outside.”
Tabitha: What advice do you have for leaders during these challenging times?
Linda: To read the poem “IF” written by Rudyard Kipling. I think it perfectly describes survival strategies for any person in business and in any economy. How dull life would be if it wasn’t uncertain.
IF…..
by Rudyard Kipling-IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!
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