Algonquin College’s Career Week is coming up February 8-12th at the Woodroffe Campus.
Click on the image or this text to find out more and to register for the event.
I will be speaking on Monday Feb 8th at 1PM and Thursday Feb 11th at 2:30PM on the topic of creating an online presence using personal branding methods and some of the most popular social media tools. My 45 minute talk will cover: why you should have a online presence and 5 steps to get you started.
Rene Faucher is a former boss of Andy’s. Almost 3 weeks ago, Rene had a fall on the ice while playing hockey and hit the boards. This fall resulted in Rene being paralyzed from the chest down. Although as friends and supporters, we know this man has the will and energy to change is prognosis. He’s very positive and already starting to feel new sensations that weren’t there a week ago. You can read his updates on the Facebook Fan Page ‘Friends of Rene Faucher‘.
Rene is a 40-year-old father of three young children is expected to be in the hospital for at least a year through his recovery and rehabilitation. He did not have any long-term disability insurance. He had recently wound down his business where he worked with Andy and was starting to develop plans for his next venture.
Rene’s story touches Andy and I on many levels because we share many common values: he’s an amazing dad and loving husband, entreprenuer and idea man, and an optimistic and caring soul. He’s a good man who has been faced with a terrible situation that any of us could be placed in. In Rene’s word to Andy at the hospital, “You don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
It is for all these reasons that we have been working with the Ottawa 67s to put on a Family Fun Game in Rene’s honour. We hope that you will join us, our family and friends, and many of Rene’s family, friends and supporters on February 7th at 2PM at Landsdown.
I would like to send a special thanks to Patrick Whalen and Sheryl Hunt for being instantly ready to help and incredibly supportive. The Ottawa 67s is an organization that also shares our values of community, kindship and enjoyment of life. Hats off to you all!
This week the Algonquin PR students and I focused on understanding product branding, personal branding and developing their ‘Positioning Pitch’. In a WhyHire.me profile, students have 350 characters to develop their clear concise message which sets the tone of their personal brand. It should highlight their keywords which could include personality traits, skills, strengths, or values which they discovered in Dig Deep. Additional ingredients for their pitch include a ’splash’ of proof to provide validity and a target which could be a position, industry, value system, or location they have in mind.
At first it seems easy to write a paragraph but soon into the process I start hearing: ‘this is hard’, ‘I don’t feel comfortable writing about myself this way’ and ‘I really don’t know what makes me unique’. These are initial thoughts that many people have when they start this process. However, it’s so important to put in the time to craft a message that is clear, unique and strong for not only your profile but your overall personal brand which will be used in meetings, interviews, emails, career fairs, resumes and more. Employers want to know what grads have to offer, what makes them different and how they can solve the organization’s business problems.
I look forward to reading their pitches as they start to pop up in our social network and I hope a few of these students will get a chance to use their pitches at the upcoming Algonquin College Career Week (Feb 8-12). Career Week features a job fair and a series of information session and networking opportunities for past and present students to connect with industry.
Yesterday, my class of Algonquin PR students and I started the process of digging deep. Many people think that our program is centered around social media tools. There is no question that technology is a large part of getting your personal brand online but first you have to develop a clear message.
We start the process of self-discovery by looking into several key issues including; personal values, personality, strengths, achievements, passions, the opinions of others and finally, we take a brief look at weaknesses. To many this seems to be a little far from the original expectations of developing an online presence but you have to start at the heart of the matter.
People don’t give enough thought to what they are all about, what they can offer the world, and what they want to offer the world. We’re all so busy, overworked and overwhelmed to give ourselves the time we deserve. It’s easier to think about stuff, to-do lists, tasks, technology, friends, ….. We all need to take the time to think about what’s important to us, what we have to give to others and how we want to continue to develop and grow.
Do you know what your values, passions and strengths are? I hope my PR students now have a better handle on these big issues and now know what their keywords and phrases are, we will see next class.
If no one clicks, then what? How many adds have you clicked on since Jan 1st? I can’t remember the last time I clicked through. I do recall someone telling me, home delivery newspaper subsriptions are down…so if you do the math and follow the trend of people wanting their news online and no one clicks or we all block ads, the model is broken.
I get your point about something else to pay for….but check out all the papers that folder in 2008 – http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/19/newspaper.decline.layoff/index.html
Papers come and go…but arguably, they are going faster then they are coming. If we value credible reporting, what is that price point? I am suggesting ZERO is not going work…and you will likely move those holdings out of your 401k?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
I had an interesting chat with Sidney Eve Matrix, a professor of film, media and mass communications at Queen’s University. We 
got to talking about Facebook in the workplace and the pressure students are under to accept friendships from near strangers, business acquaintances or bosses. She mentioned, many of her students are in an absolute panic over what to do.
The founder of Facebook, has suggested we all lighten up and share with the world our entire digital life. It turns out, some of his pictures are private. Regardless of the trials and tribulations of such a high profile character, let’s explore social norms and the topic of openness and social media peer pressure. Here are some key points to consider and debate, if you start getting friend requests from potential employers, work colleagues or bosses:
We have espoused a simple rule for managing your Facebook privacy and friendships. Consider applying this simple rule before you accept Facebook friends. Friend people you would invite in for dinner, or include in a group invitation for a night of karaoke. Sharing a meal in your home suggests you have a personal connection, and joint karaoke suggests you don’t mind making an ass of yourself in front of this person.
This simple filtering rule will help you create a line between your professional and social lives. It is simple and easy to apply.
What happens if a business associated or boss wants to friend you? If they don’t pass the filter, ignore their request and move on. If need be, drop them a polite note suggesting your Facebook space is an extension of your personal life. I have turned WhyHire.me students down with a polite response along these lines. No harm, no foul.
If you do have a boss that continues to pester you, consider your options carefully. They are in effect asking to enter your personal world. My suspicion is, Facebook social pressure at work will start creeping into lawsuits, since one could argue there is a line an employer should not cross. Pestering someone repeatedly is likely grounds for harassment. Check out this story filed by Erin Geiger. In time, HR departments will start clamping down on bosses who friend employees or prospects being considered for positions.
Your life need not be an open book.
Recruiting practices are evolving very quickly. Kristi Stubbs, a recruiter for Starbucks Canada use all kinds of social media to narrow in on candidates. In her words, it is a better use of her time. The ROI associated with finding like-minded groups of people online, interacting with them, looking for referrals and posting jobs via Twitter is simply higher. The alternative model of posting a position on Monster or Workopolis simply takes much longer to weed through candidates that have relevant education or experience.
Dawn Mullar, from the Helping Friends Career Network, is a huge advocate of using the web and networks of people that share their experience and requirements online.
The two page resume is a nice leave behind…but it won’t help you market your potential, skills you have learned and experiences you have picked up through your education. As future graduates coming to the work force, you need to think about how you can create opportunities or solve business problems for your future employers. Use the web to your advantage and get engaged with people and industry issues (opportunities and threats) around your course of study and future career interests.
For those of you enrolled in WhyHire.me, I hope you will dive into the program feet first and build your brand with our program.
We cross into the 1000 user territory this week. Its going to be interestin
g to watch students learn from each other and start cross-connecting across schools. Into the breach!
The Winter 2010 version of WhyHire.me is up and classes are underway.
With every new version we take 3 steps forward and one step back. The beauty of software development, I suppose. With our enhancements comes the need for refamiliarization. With new features there is always some regression. Like I said a few posts ago, life is beta and software is a part of all of our lives now.
I introduced the second year Algonquin College Public Relations students (the graduates of 2010) to WhyHire.me today. I’m thrilled to be working with them to develop their personal branding using WhyHire.me. They are getting ready to enter the working world and have considerable real world experience for us to work with. They are familiar with social media tools because they have used several in classes already and they are trained communicators that are open and eager. Couldn’t ask for a better combination.
I asked them to rate what they experienced today in class. I gave them three options for evaluation – thumbs up, middle thumbs or sideways thumbs, and thumbs down. I think all evaluations should be so simple. This was their answer!
We’re on the verge of a new academic term which is very exciting for us. Within days we will have another 500+ users on the Winter 2010 version of WhyHire.me. More users, more schools and a lot more changes! A little daunting at times as we have worked into the wee hours but so incredibly exciting as we see our program grow and develop with the help of our users and their institutions.
Our inaugural term was Fall 2009, when we launched 650 users from Algonquin College, Carleton University and Centennial College onto the system. We experienced a few bumps with provisioning (we were putting students in the right classes until exam time), interface usability issues (they all want the system to be like Facebook – although I am thrilled that we are being compared to a 350 million user system with thousands of staff, they are big shoes to fill and not the same kind of product), and it was obvious it was time to upgrade the blogging component.
Our students created a group called Facebook vs. Whyhire.me which provided us with feedback as well as the Support group that was set up by us. In addition to the groups, we have had countless in class and online conversations with users about issues to improve and all of our schools did their own research into the use of WhyHire.me.
Overall, we are thrilled with the results and appreciate the feedback. The Winter 2010 release will include integration of WordPress (Yeah!), a new Zone that will provide the learning tools in a very dynamic environment for users, and dozens of small changes that will make the usability and experience more enjoyable for everyone. And of course, we have cleaned up the provisioning and we dramatically simplified our pricing model.
We know that all the students want it for free but as an organization we do not want to develop an advertising based model when the product is being delivered in educational institutions. We just don’t think it’s right and will continue to follow the model of student payment based on institutional, and professor endorsement in a class, similar to the textbook model. Students will receive an account to the social network plus their personal URL, an 80 page eBook and interactive learning modules. The pricing for Winter 2010 is $29 for 12 months or $39 for life. We simplified it for all the different programs and uses.
This term Memorial University will be integrating WhyHire.me into a E-Marketing class and the MBA program. The Ted Rogers School of Business Hospitality and Retail programs (Ryerson University) will be using WHM in two separate HR oriented classes. Algonquin’s PR students will be developing online personal brands and well as the 3rd year Business Marketing students, where we piloted the program last year, and lastly, we will have another gang at Centennial jumping into the world of personal branding.
So, we are on the edge of our seats: uploading, testing, teaching and just on the verge of ………GO.
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