"badges, we don't need no stinking badges"

Well maybe we do? This article on the future of credentials by Monica Guzman from the Seattle Times asks the important question about the future of the resume. It basically boils down to this: "If résumés are a bunch of claims, badges are a bunch of evidence."

So what do badges have do do with this, you may be asking yourself. Well if you are familiar with any kind of gamification you may already know the answer, but if you don't know what that is I will try to cover them both in brief.

Gamification is a process where elements of games are applied to non game situations to influence behavior. This is typically done by businesses but it is also making its way into education and other areas... many times the elements that are being brought in are levels, experience and rewards. Many of these have centered around the idea of earning a badge to demonstrate an accomplishment (hence the evidence in Ms. Guzman's quote.) So here are a few basic examples:

Using the Social Media app for smart phones FourSquare people can 'check in ' at locations and earn badges for things like the number of times they visit locations, the number of locations visited, etc. They can also become 'mayor' of a location when they reach the top of the list of check-ins. The business could then use this information to issue deals, coupons, or other rewards to help encourage people to stop by.

This is a fairly simple example, and there are many others on the gamification site linked above. I can also discuss this with anyone individually who is interested and/or recommend further reading.

Where it becomes interesting is (as the article from the Seattle Times hints at) when we expand these badges into other social media tools (perhaps LinkedIn for example.) Here is a frame work for how I could see this unfolding:

LinkedIn working with others creates a smooth and simple interface to allow users to display badges, certificates and other items demonstrating achievement (the evidence or virtual currency.) Then MOOCs and other systems where people can go to learn skills award some sort of badge, certificate, etc. and this gets loaded into LinkedIn or some other profile building site. Now along with the standard names and dates of schools and employers (the old resume), I have a skills section (LinkedIn already has this) with the endorsements from my network (LinkedIn has this as well) and a layer with badges, certificates, and other forms of evidence from a whole host of other potential sources.

The rating/point system would need to be fully developed, but  here is my initial thoughts of a hypothetical example:

• Being a member of network (think LinkedIn Groups)                    1 point each
• Being active in that group (writing posts, asking questions, etc.)     1 point each
• Having activity from the group voted up                                        0.5 points each
• Having appropriate connections (network)                                    0.25 points each
• Blogging about your professed expertise                                       0.1 points per post
• Followers of said blog                                                                  0.25 points each
• Comments on said blog                                                                0.5 points each
• Certificates, badges, awards                                                         1 point each
• Recommendations for work                                                          2 points each
• Endorsements of skills                                                                  0.5 points each
• Answering questions (Yahoo Answers, etc.)                                  0.1 point each
• Answer to question being voted up                                               0.25 points each
• Writing reviews (Amazon, Yelp, etc.)                                            0.1 point each
• Reviews being voted up                                                                0.25 points each
• Publications                                                                                  3 points each
• Presentations at conferences                                                         3 points each
• Invited to speak at a conference                                                    5 points each

Obviously this list would continue to grow as more systems were integrated, and the point system would have to be constantly adjusted to ensure its effectiveness. Hopefully It is clear that the value would lie in the usefulness that others place on the content that I as a job candidate create, not just me trying to inflate my standing by producing anything. I could also see layers being added if I wanted to integrate my purchases, for example if an online retailer could verify I bought a book or other tool needed for some task it would add a small bit of confidence that I am prepared to tackle the task.

Another benefit of such a system is that it would start to show specialization. By that I mean a sub field or area that you may not have received formal education in or that your job titles don't match... but that through experience you have learned. As an example my advanced degree is in Library Science, and I have worked in both public and academic libraries as a reference librarian. However through my experiences I have picked up a lot of knowledge about business, entrepreneurship and career development (which is why I write this blog!) If I wanted to get a job at a college in a career center I would probably have a hard time, since none of my education or employment background would lead the hiring manager to think I had the knowledge... but with such a system in place, it might be much more clear that I have the knowledge to complete the job duties. For example of my 186 LinkedIn connections 33 are career center people in higher ed and 24 are entrepreneurs or business school faculty that teach entrepreneurship. Then if you looked at my publications and presentations (something that any hiring manager outside of hiring for teaching faculty is unlikely to look at...) you might see most are related to creating resources for students to improve the job search. Then factor in this blog and you would begin to see that I am quite capable to take on a position in a career center for an institution of higher learning (not that I am currently pursuing this... but if I wanted to it might be hard for me with a standard resume/cover letter type hiring system in place today with most employers.)

Now I am sure I am not thinking of every possible result of creating and using such a system. I also know it would take some time for all the bugs to be shaken out and for everyone to catch up, but the bottom line is that it would be just a new piece of the pie that might help to bring together all of the things that hiring managers are already doing. We know they are checking our online presence and identity. We know that they are contacting not only the references we list for them, but others that may know us for insights.

Thoughts? Am I missing something?

Think like a free agent?

This blog post comes from the Richland Library in South Carolina and discusses the 'new search strategy' of thinking like a free agent. The author Lori Cook is a job readiness trainer, and her many posts show her knowledge and describe ways of helping the general public with the complicated nature of the job search. I like this analogy, and while the general advice is very much in line with things I have read in the past the analogy is new and very effective.

In sports of any kind, players are under contract. Depending on the sport and the union rules they can often earn the right to become a free agent, meaning that they can receive offers and choose to work for a new team. This almost always comes with a large pay increase and much press coverage.

In Ms. Cook's piece she outlines how using some of the philosophy of athletes and working for yourself can be beneficial in searching for or being offered employment. I like the tone of the article, and believe that many job seekers can benefit from this attitude shift to the job search.

The Social Resume: do you need one?

This post over at Social Media Today shows an infographic with statistics about the use of social media in hiring. They title the graphic the Social Resume, and it reinforces the need for a strong but measured approach to using social media. The results mirror the results from a survey done by the SHRM in 2011, which I wrote about here.

The biggest take away is that hiring managers/employers are using these tools more than job-seekers. For example 93% of employers reported using LinkedIn while just 38% of job-seekers use it. There appears to be an opportunity for the skilled job-seeker to use the social media tools to put out a positive public profile of themselves as a candidate no matter what the field or job you are seeking.

Do you need a Facebook profile to get a job?

My short answer is NO. But as this article from AOL Jobs points out you should not be completely invisible online if you are actively job searching. The article cites a survey that matches closely with a study I talked about in a previous post. These both suggest that the #1 social media site checked by HR is LinkedIn. The AOL article also points out another useful tip:

It's okay to protect your Facebook updates with privacy settings, but allow your Work and Education, About You, and Contact Information sections to be public.

As a librarian interested in both educating the public on the importance of information security and how to effectively use technology in the job search, I like this advice. Use the security/privacy features provided to you by the sites where you are a member... but don't lock it down so tight that the HR manager can't find you online.

Comments or questions? Let me know. Cheers!
-George

Networking with LinkedIn

While I and many other career related blogs have extolled the importance of using LinkedIn to network, here is an article with tips on things to avoid when reaching out to for connections. "Who are you and why should we connect?" offers insight to all the options with in LinkedIn's connection wizard and how you should use them to the best effect. It also discusses the four common types of LinkedIn user, and why they might not what to accept your offer to connect.

I personally only connect to people I have worked with in the past, or those who are in my field (librarianship) and in my region (Indiana/Midwest). How do you use LinkedIn?

Making Employers FInd You.

In this piece originally from theundercoverrecruiter.com provides 7 Secrets to Making Employers Find You. When I first encounters this article on a listserv I thought it would make a good piece to blog about myself. As most of you know I try to link to relevant career related articles and blogs and provide my own commentary.

As I read the tips I thought to myself these aren't secrets. They seem geared towards professional careers more then manufacturing and service careers. Also I have written previous blog posts about similar articles dealing with the importance of Social Media on the career search. Now before the comments come, I freely admit and acknowledge that not all of these seven secrets are not all about social media... but more than half of them are directly tied to social media and the others are related.

Now even if we concede that these are oft written about, and maybe even common sense we shouldn't just ignore them. HR personnel do use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media tools to find and screen candidates. By being proactive as a job seeker you can help improve their opinion of you as a future colleague.

Thoughts?

Set yourself apart

As some of you may know I used to work at Purdue University as an academic librarian. I had the privilege to work with the staff of the Center for Career Opportunities. The staff in this office worked closely with the companies that came to interview students and had many great insights to help students. The following is a post on their blog about some of these insights from the company perspective about interviewing.

My first observation is that if you have attended/graduated from a school don't forget your career center. They usually have services for alumni as well as current students. These can be very valuable for your job search.

My second observation is that here is another voice mentioning the importance of preparing and researching the company you are about to interview with.  I can not stress enough the importance of this step, and here is the voice of the company telling you that it is important!

So use your former college(s), local public library, the internet (social networking like LinkedIn) and any other place you can think of to find information on your perspective employer.

-Good Luck!

Simplifying Social Media and the job search.

In part one on using Social Media I detailed a study on the use of these tools by HR staff at companies to learn about perspective employees. In part two I referenced two books I have been reviewing about how to use various social median tools more effectively. I have just seen a blog post over on SocialMedia Examiner about tips to simplifying the use of your social media tools. I knew about several of the tools/tips they were describing, but some were new to me. Reviewing these tips may help some of you in your use of social media tools for your job search.

Have you used any of these or other tools for organizing your social media presence for the job search?

Social Media & jobs (part 2)

LinkedIn just hit 150 million users. Yet another reason to use it for job searching and more importantly networking. But in case you are still skeptical, I am reading through a few books that might interest some of you:

Schepp, Bard & Debra. How to find a job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other Social Networks. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010.

Crompton, Diane & Ellen Sautter. Find a Job Through Social Networking: Use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and More to Advance Your Career. Jist Works. Indianapolis. 2011.

As I say, I am still reviewing these, but my initial assessment is that the first does a good job of walking through the process of setting up accounts on LinkedIn and other social media tools, the second book covers a wider variety of tools. This creates a larger breadth but of course the side effect is less depth on each tool.

Do any of you have a favorite social media tool? How are you highlighting your skills?

Using Social Networks to get hired.

The Society of Human Resource Management conducted a study recently that found 95%  of respondent organizations used (or would use) LinkedIn for Recruitment in 2011. The use of this and other social networks for passive searching (searching for people who may not be currently looking for jobs) is up to 72%.

Moral of the story... if you are not using LinkedIn yet you should. Keep in mind, however, that you want a profile as complete as possible. Don't just stop at the basic resume type information, make connections to people you know in the industry you would like to work in. Join groups for that industry(ies) and contribute your ideas. In this way you will begin to be noticed by people in the industry, and hopefully make a positive impression. If possible get recommendations from former employers and colleagues. These steps won't necessarily garner a job, but when the next company you apply to searches they should find a more positive image of you than if you have no profile or an incomplete profile.

Obama, Romney, Jobs - NYT's Krugman

I told myself when I began this blog to try my hardest to keep this apolitical. I hoped (and still hope) to mainly cover advice for job searchers, free resources for performing the necessary research, and occasionally provocative questions to spur discussion. I provide the following graphic to hopefully spur discussion about the 'recovery' and not to begin a political debate (for those interested in the OpEd piece that published the picture you can read Mr. Krugman's piece in the NYT.)

So for a three year period (2008 - 2010) things were bad! And there is still a long way to get back to where the country was before the downturn. But things have begun to turn around. What steps would best help the country continue to grow? I would love to say comprehensive tax reform and continued support of our social safety net would be possible, but I won't hold my breath.

Social Q's

'Times' Advice Guru Answers Your Social Q's

 On the December 5th 2011 edition of Fresh Air host Terry Gross discusses modern day advice columns with Philip Galanes, a New York Times advice columnist. His column and new book are called "Social Q's." During the interview they discuss one of the questions he gets a lot about breaking up via email or text. It got me thinking about the number of employment rejections I have gotten via email. As a job candidate how does this make you feel?