have been thinking about a lot of ideas this week in a kind of ephemeral haze. I am stalled in my career. My attempts to find employment are still met with resistance.What is, is written in the cosmos for reasons unknown to me. As a result, I came to decide that my best career move at the moment is to focus on this one space: my blog.
Here's the premise:
This is a space where potential employers can test my mettle as a writer: Am I good enough?
And this is a space where I can build a following.
Still, it is clear that to be anyone today, you have to be here, there, and everywhere. A blog isn't enough. eMail isn't enough. One blog and eMail is equivalent to having no presence on the World Wide Web. You'll have barely left a footprint. How do I know this? Potential employers have been asking me about my social media qualifications:
1) How many friends on Facebook?
This question forced me to assess my Facebook habits. I have tried to keep Facebook honest. I didn't want to make friends for business' sake. I have LinkedIn for that.But today's employer expects you to exploit all social media for his/her benefit. That means that numbers count.
It also forces you to decide on your perspective--what do you deem a prudent career move and what borders on performing immoral acts? Do I agree to exploiting the numbers in this equation? Do I rack up friends to drive the numbers up without giving a damn about them? Do I friend famous or successful people, hoping that our friendship somehow leverages me to a different stratum of the social sphere?
If you were to do your own assessment of your Facebook friends, you may find that you have many friends you know are not interested in you in the least. Some of them never wrote a word on your wall or pitched in on a thread. Some never said a word but saw you in the supermarket and told you that they read everything you write and share--it's just that s/he's a lurker. Now that's a horse of a different color: an honest statement like that must be savored and appreciated.
But if they see you and still say nothing. Or they live far away but you see they wish everyone else in your old crowd Happy Birthday except for you.
Maybe you had a warm, even BEAUTIFUL reunion, seasoned with the wisdom that comes with age. But one party sensed the other's antipathy over the decision to divorce a spouse, or asked for financial help after having no connection for 3 decades. Or perhaps you posted too many youtube clips. Or perhaps it's really your constant politicizing but the other must find a noncontroversial excuse to unfriend you that doesn't seem anti-Semitic so the person says that you post too many youtube clips.
And what of lurkers who comment on every single posting and make everything all about them? Personally, I would love to do an honest clean-up of my facebook list. Keeping friends who do not like you feels like RAPE and it's not much better when it's you who doesn't like THEM.
But the numbers. I'd go down to so few real friends. Okay, not by that many, I'm exaggerating. But I'm thinking one-third would stay by my side, given a choice. Can I afford to be honest at the expense of doing what needs to be done to help me pay my bills?
Here is what I have considered then: Perhaps I will tell people that I will unfriend anyone who doesn't wish me happy birthday on the date Facebook tells them is my birthday (As an aside: I celebrate my birthday according to the changeable lunar calendar, for religious reasons. My lunar birthday is ט"ו סיון or the 15th of Sivan.)At that point, if you wish to continue to be my friend, so this line of thought goes, you will have to send me a new friend request. If you have unsubscribed from my feed, then you likely will not receive notice that this blog entry has been posted. I post my blog entries from here, Twitter, linkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.
When I write something new, it is out here in the blogosphere. So, shall I adopt this policy? If you don't wish me happy birthday, you're gone and the numbers be damned? I feel I need to have some scruples, you see.
So maybe I shouldn't do that. What do you think? Should I keep the numbers and let two-thirds of my friends just be numbers? Is my career more important than calling nonfriends, "friends?"
To be continued.
Hi Varda,
ReplyDelete**Facebook**
I totally disagree about using your personal Facebook page to impress employers. Facebook can be the kiss of death to potential employment. For example, if you have a strong opinion at either end of the political spectrum and it doesn't match that of the recruiter/HR person/hiring manager, etc. you're out! And that's just "you", what about your friends and their opinions and posts, etc.?
As a rule I don't friend clients or potential employers on Facebook because I don't want to expose my good friends and family to potential privacy violations. And that's why I also block applications that would require me to allow the app access to my friends personal information. If a potential client or employer wants to know how many friends I have on Facebook, I'll take a screenshot of that section of my Facebook profile (without the names of the friends) and send it off to them. But honestly, if they are going to judge my writing skills on how many FB friends I have, then they probably aren't someone I want to do business with anyway.
If you want to use Facebook for business, then create a PAGE using your business or blog name for people to "Like" and invite everyone you know, along with the lurkers on your personal page, to "Like" it. Then unfriend the people who don't belong on your personal page. If Blogspot allows, push all posts from this blog to that Facebook page (as well as Twitter).
***LinkedIn***
I use LinkedIn for business and suggest that if you haven't already joined LinkedIn Groups that relate to your work and professional interests, that you do so. Participate in the groups - post comments, answer questions, network... And ask people to join your network (i.e., increase your number of LinkedIn connections).
It's also really important to get as many recommendations as you can from former clients and employers. And to help out those who have poor writing skills, you could put something in your request for recommendation that they could copy/paste in (e.g., I would really appreciate your recommendation of the xyz work I did for you in month/year that involved researching xyz and producing your xyz report/web site/press release/blog post, etc.) and it they ever sent you an email thanking your for a great job, copy/paste their words into the request form.
***Google+ Circles***
In addition to your personal profile, create a business page and use it in the same manner as your Facebook business page.
Regarding the myriad of other social networking sites, my recommendation is don't bother investing a lot of time building profiles unless they offer an environment that's very relative to your profession and has the potential to provide you with solid leads.
One final word of advice; break your long blog post down into a series because most people don't have the attention span to get beyond 500 words on a screen.
My friend Tehillah Hessler wrote a very long comment which has somehow disappeared. I got the notification, however, so I am copying and pasting on her behalf:
ReplyDeleteHi Varda,
**Facebook**
I totally disagree about using your personal Facebook page to impress employers. Facebook can be the kiss of death to potential employment. For example, if you have a strong opinion at either end of the political spectrum and it doesn't match that of the recruiter/HR person/hiring manager, etc. you're out! And that's just "you", what about your friends and their opinions and posts, etc.?
As a rule I don't friend clients or potential employers on Facebook because I don't want to expose my good friends and family to potential privacy violations. And that's why I also block applications that would require me to allow the app access to my friends personal information. If a potential client or employer wants to know how many friends I have on Facebook, I'll take a screenshot of that section of my Facebook profile (without the names of the friends) and send it off to them. But honestly, if they are going to judge my writing skills on how many FB friends I have, then they probably aren't someone I want to do business with anyway.
If you want to use Facebook for business, then create a PAGE using your business or blog name for people to "Like" and invite everyone you know, along with the lurkers on your personal page, to "Like" it. Then unfriend the people who don't belong on your personal page. If Blogspot allows, push all posts from this blog to that Facebook page (as well as Twitter).
***LinkedIn***
I use LinkedIn for business and suggest that if you haven't already joined LinkedIn Groups that relate to your work and professional interests, that you do so. Participate in the groups - post comments, answer questions, network... And ask people to join your network (i.e., increase your number of LinkedIn connections).
It's also really important to get as many recommendations as you can from former clients and employers. And to help out those who have poor writing skills, you could put something in your request for recommendation that they could copy/paste in (e.g., I would really appreciate your recommendation of the xyz work I did for you in month/year that involved researching xyz and producing your xyz report/web site/press release/blog post, etc.) and it they ever sent you an email thanking your for a great job, copy/paste their words into the request form.
***Google+ Circles***
In addition to your personal profile, create a business page and use it in the same manner as your Facebook business page.
Regarding the myriad of other social networking sites, my recommendation is don't bother investing a lot of time building profiles unless they offer an environment that's very relative to your profession and has the potential to provide you with solid leads.
One final word of advice; break your long blog post down into a series because most people don't have the attention span to get beyond 500 words on a screen.
(Thank you, Tehillah! I almost did break this into a series, realizing it was very long. Maybe I should do it now?? Hmmm)
I wouldn't wish someone happy birthday on FB just to remain a friend--I would only do it because I wanted to.
ReplyDeleteWell me too, Hannah. That was the point I was making: if you like me enough to wish me happy birthday, you can remain my friend on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteSomeone who doesn't take the time to wish me happy birthday, is obviously not my true friend and shouldn't be hanging about on my Facebook friend list as just another digit for potential employers to see.
My point was the opposite. Not everyone sees wishing HB on FB as a sign of true friendship. And what if you went away for a couple of days?
ReplyDeleteThere you have a point. I don't post on FB when it is Shabbes or Motzei Shabbos, so I miss a lot of birthdays.
ReplyDeleteI think what I want to do is let people think about the way their Facebook activities are interpreted.
I really think that wishing someone HB on FB is meaningless. Did you read about the guy who kept changing his birthday so he had a few during the year? Hardly anyone caught on. If you never like my status, comment or especially are always asking me to do things for you, that's a reason to unfriend.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. I just thought I'd throw out there the idea of a litmus test. I would notice if someone was changing his birthday around often. I care about my friends enough to wish them happy birthday. It seems only polite and friendly to do so. If someone doesn't like me enough to do that, I think that along with the other signs you mentioned, that's a final arbiter for me.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget I said that if I unfriended them in error after they neglected to send me birthday greetings, they could take the time to send me a new friend request. I would be delighted if that were to happen.