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.
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:
- Was your company recently valued at 8 Billion dollars? If so, then you really don’t care about future employers poking around your party photos and updates. Congratulations – you are loaded and you don’t care what people think. Don’t let celebrities influence your decision. They live on another planet.
- Social versus professional content. Think about the interview process. Would you bring a photo album of your trips, parties and social outings to a career fair or interview? The answer is no, since this violates an established business norm. As you head into the working world, you will discover there are boundaries in the professional world. Work colleagues can become friends, but in the interim, one does not offer up a photo album to professional colleagues. Its just weird and creepy.
- Content out of context. If your sarcastic wit is well established, your true online friends will understand the humor behind an update you make. A friend at work would say “I am not taking enough pills and alcohol today” when things were stressful at the office. It was part of his wit. If I came across this post, I could very easily assume the person had a drug problem. Context matters!
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!
