Will The Last One Out Please Turn Off The Lights?

While attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona I had the chance to observe an amazing amount of things that reinforce the idea that this is truly a global economy. We generally concentrate on local and national news because this has usually has the most personal impact on us but it’s amazing how global workplace decisions can have wide reaching effects on people not only in one locale or one country but across the globe.

Not to single any two companies out, but there was a major announcement by one of the world’s leading technology companies (they don’t make iPhones) about an alliance with one of the world’s leading mobile telephone makers (not BlackBerry).

At their keynote addresses, the CEO of one of the involved companies gave an impassioned if flawed sales pitch and the other CEO came out and touted the benefits to both companies. Okay, I get it – one company gets an outlet for its operating system and some distribution and the other company gets – well I guess – hmm, that’s a good question. Well, I guess it gets a lot of money to ditch its proprietary operating system. All good right?

Could be, but what about those people who were developing that operating system and other people in that organization who might be, in HR-speak, “affected”?

Now this is sadly not the only two companies making this decision or this type of decision. So what should you do even if you don’t know if you’re “affected”? Guess what, no matter what happens, you will be affected. Even if you still have a job your responsibilities will change and inevitably the company culture will change.

Do you run screaming out the door, get your resume on the job boards or hunker down and hope for the best?

Probably not. But you should start taking care of yourself and taking your career into your own hands. You should definitely be open to exploring new opportunities and be open to companies and locations you may not have previously considered. If the axe falls, believe me – you don’t want to be the one turning out the lights.

On the other hand, you should still make moves for the right reasons but really begin to examine the things that might have kept you in your company before it decided to change your world. A big obstacle has traditionally been location but having maximum flexibility will give you the best chance of not only surviving but thriving in troubled times.

Company loyalty? Hey, I’m loyal to my company, it’s a great company with great people and I’m sure yours might be too. But if you’re not going to be with that company – well in my mind loyalty is a two way street.

So no, you don’t have to be the first one out, but you should be prepared to explore all opportunities and have your CV/resume and LinkedIn Profile up to date. You might want to clean up your Facebook page – make sure nothing embarrassing shows up. Careful on those Tweets too! Yes, we recruiters do check sometimes.

And if you stay a bit longer, you might get a better severance package and that’s a big help but no substitute for being able to continue your career and support your family. What you don’t ever want is to be the last one out the door because the package is usually meager and all the good jobs were probably taken by your less qualified colleagues who were willing to make a move.

Remember, your skills are your job security.

Best,
James Seetoo

PS – Okay, so now you’re networking and keeping your options open, great. The next step is to make sure that you get the offer and you’re the one who gets to say “no”.

If you’ve been reading my blog, I’ve given some hints on how to use these skills.  I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hours to learn these techniques and this is a primer on how to quickly, easily and naturally begin to use the kinds of tools and techniques I use on a daily basis to stand out in the crowd.

Just look up Stealth-Hypnosis.com – I don’t make any money off this and offer it as a resource.

Now I’m sure there are times when you’ve just “clicked” with someone, maybe an interviewer and there were times that you just didn’t. Take the randomness out of your communications. After all, there are a lot of people with job skills but those who communicate with power will be those who get an offer.

This is the first product I’ve actively endorsed and it’s only for you if you’re ready to make the commitment to yourself to take control of your life and your career.  I’ll have more of a review of this new product by my friend and mentor, David Van Arrick next time but you can check it out in advance by looking up Stealth-hypnosis.

Recruitment Underground Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Recruitment-Underground/97619508151?sk=wall

Are You Twit?

I am, kind of – and not necessarily in a good way. At least not yet.

I’ve only recently begun exploring Twitter, Facebook and the whole Social Media phenomenon that’s exploding all over the place. But then again, I rarely text and use IM so I’m behind the times and I admit it.

Still, I’m lucky because my sister, Joanna Seetoo (@joannaseetoo on Twitter) is an expert in Social Media Marketing. She’s a featured speaker at the San Diego Cool Twitter Conference World Tour and so I’ve entered the world of Social Media. Now a lot of this is for personal branding and marketing but as I see all of the interactivity and all of the possibilities of publicizing yourself out to people who never would have otherwise known you, there’s some downside to go with the opportunity.

First, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and a whole slew of new social media sites are now very much part of the mainstream. So if you’re not at least getting involved with it you’re really handicapping yourself in your job search. I’ve done a lot of recruiting through LinkedIn and in return many candidates look me up on it if only to make sure that I’m for real. Hiring Managers and recruiters look at your profile to see if you might be the person they want to hire and as a professional, if you’re not at least on LinkedIn it’s like having a phone that only works some of the time.

Second, while sites like Twitter and Facebook can be a lot of fun and a great way to connect with people you’ve lost touch with you must remember to be very aware of what you put in your profile. I remember a candidate who had accepted an offer a great job that really matched everything he was looking for. Then out of curiosity the Hiring Manager looked this person up on a Social Media site and saw pictures of that candidate smoking pot. Needless to say the offer was rescinded as soon as possible.

What it comes down to is that Social Media has become another facet of your personal branding and like your resume everything has to be directed to delivering a congruent message about you. I’ve even seen people starting to build online resumes that are like a hybrid between your resume and your Facebook profile. I’m not sure it’s necessarily a good idea though as it seems to be another thing to manage but since it’s early in the game it might eventually catch on.

I don’t know about you, but I think everyone has seen or heard of an email that went out to the wrong people, which happens when people do a lot of “reply all”. Let’s be honest, when we see that recall message we always open the email to see what’s in there. So imagine that happening on a global scale if you have the wrong thing on your profile.

If you really enjoy the social aspect of this new outlet I would suggest that you have separate personal and professional pages and profiles. You can share your personal one with your close circle of friends and your public one with everyone else. By doing that you can take control of your on line reputation. All of these profiles are now part of your personal branding so you have to protect it.

So follow me on Twitter (@jamesseetoo) and join my The Recruitment Underground Fan Page on Facebook and send me a LinkedIn invitation (jmseetoo@gmail.com). Nothing on those sites has anything I would be afraid to show to my mother. Of course, she’s not really on the internet, but you get the point.

And I’ll continue to learn more about Social Media Marketing. I’m pretty good on LinkedIn and I can tell you that it’s become a much, much more important tools for recruiters. It doesn’t replace your resume but in many ways it’s replacing the big job boards. Make sure you get as many recommendations as possible. I like to see them and it gives me an idea of who likes your work. Besides, as a recruiter, I go where the people are and this is where the action is.

As for Facebook, I’ve had several people contact me that way for help in finding a job and I’m always happy to help. Shakespear said “All the world’s a stage and we’re all players on it” and he was right but now it’s broadcast live 24/7. That’s the great thing about this phenomenon and the possible dangers of it so I’m looking forward to exploring it more. Twitter has tremendous possibilities but I think I’m still a Twit and not a Tweeter – yet.

Remember, your skills are your job security.

Best,
James Seetoo

yiwtrfzd9j