Mutually Inclusive PR

Do Not Enter - Reputation at Risk

I reached a turning point shortly after I started reading blogs. After leaving a few comments online, I Googled myself and realized just how public my life would be if I kept on participating in The Writeable Web.

Staying invisible to Google and other search tools is hard, and getting harder. Some of the articles I wrote for my college paper in 1981 are now online. I'm waiting to see some of my more embarrassing articles bubble to the surface as my past catches up with me.

Thankfully, the poetry I wrote in high school has never been posted online. I plan to keep it that way.

While many online tools can be fun to play around with, Susan Crawford looked at the many ways privacy is threatened. And John Wagner and Stephen Silvers warned students to keep their online presence from jeopardizing job opportunities.

These are valid concerns, but if everyone worried that something written in second year university might cost them a job later, nobody would write anything worth reading.

Yes, avoid flamingly stupid public acts, if there's a way to do them privately or anonymously (good luck on staying anonymous). But employees of the future, please don't establish a standard of employability that screens out people who have done some stupid things in their past.

Is a life devoid of potentially embarrassing events worth living? Maybe, but it sounds awfully dull. Hopefully smart companies will look to hire both those with spotless records, and those who are spectacular in their screw-ups.

Employers: if you Google job candidates and find examples of errors in judgment or just plain errors, remember that you have something to gain from hiring people who are willing to take risks. Avoid the bozos who don't have a clue of the impact of their actions, but don't avoid those who show  smarts.

I've already made the decision that any future employer is going to have to be okay with my online reputation, or I won't get hired. I can live with that.

See also Recruiting the Millenial Student Using Social Software, by Una Walsh, and Online Party Crashers (New York Times).

Tags: reputation, blogging, bloggers, online, careers

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Don't Chase a Job Title, Sell your Reputation

Jane Genova doesn't believe in waiting around for someone to notice her. She promotes herself, constantly trying to reinforce her image as someone who's got something special.

The Connecticut corporate writer says the trick to success has nothing to do with chasing job titles or steady paying gigs. You have to position yourself as a player.

"How I started to become a player and stop being an entrepreneur, vendor, public relations pro and all those 20th century roles is by taking full responsibility for my own survival," she says on her blog.

Invoking the confidence and media savvy of Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs and Angelina Jolie, she dumps people from her network who aren't actively moving their work and reputations forward like her. She focuses on leveraging her work and self-promotion to give her more influence and saleability.

"Players never evereverever approach the game as simply the need to earn a living.  It's all about leverage.  I don't accept an assignment in order to pay my rent.  I accept it because I know that I will make the contacts, pick up the skills, and understand the concepts I need to land me the next assignment, at a little higher price (than) I billed for the last assignment."

If it sounds crass and creepy, tough. "The best way to morph from earning a living to being a player is to observe other players," she advises.  "Don't judge.  Don't recoil in horror.  Don't try to fix their game.  Just consider where they are and where you are.  The latter you can change."

Does that mean I have to wear my hair like Donald Trump and pretend to be an asshole?

Tags:  donaldtrump  photoshop  promotion  reputation  branding  entrepreneurs 

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Hire Me! Job Search Networking , the Online Version

  Will Pate 
  Originally uploaded by kk+.

Vancouver web development sales guy Will Pate is using his network of friends, associates and pathological geeks to help him look for a new challenge.

Pate has been making good things happen for Raincity Studios, but wants to try something else.

Technorati's community manager Niall Kennedy is also using his blog to help his job search.

Some of the posts, recommending Pate:

Darren Barefoot, Tris Hussey and others.

Leave the Germs at Home

Going through the Technorati listing of posts about the blogging conference I'll be attending, I came across someone who had the guts to turn their back on the airfare and first night's hotel stay they had paid for and stay home. Chris Heuer, who had planned on presenting a session tomorrow, cancelled.

Because he's sick and doesn't want to spread his illness further. The fact that this is at all remarkable says something about our misguided work ethic.

Presenteeism is running rampant in schools and offices, reinforced by bosses who mistakenly believe that time spent away from the office is bad. When I get sick, I try to stay away from people, at least for the first day or two, in order to minimize the spread of germs.  If I can't avoid going to work, I try to stick to myself, wash my hands religiously, and avoid sneezing or coughing in the direction of any living being.

Next time you're contagious, don't be a martyr.  Do like Chris Heuer and stay home.  If they're smart, your co-workers will thank you. And hopefully your boss, too.

Tags: northernvoice2006 presenteeism workplace health

PR Firms in 25 Years

Brendan Hodgson of Hill & Knowlton Canada speculates what the firm will be like in 25 years. Some of his predictions look pretty good, but I can see them happening in two to five years, not 25.

And that's okay. Any sort of planning exercise that makes you try to speculate on the world 25 years from now will be skewed by the continuation of trends we see today, rather than by trends that are going to emerge in 10 or 15 years. Knowing what those future trends might be is a grand pursuit, but difficult to pull off.

Hodgon's View of PR Firm in 25 Years 
(my estimate of the timeframe for an ideal agency is in brackets):

1. Consumer-generated media relations services for clients (within two years)
2. Increasingly specialized services by niche audience (within three years)
3. Employees - and customers - become the H&K brand (five years)
4. Accurate measurement of activities on bottom line (hmmm... five years, maybe more?)
5. Non-financial drivers (brand, reputation) drive corporate value (hmmm ... eight years, if ever?)
6. Clients will increasingly be execs in new roles - chief marketing officer, chief communications officer (three years)
7. Change communications will be the norm (today)
8. Always-on global scanning and response (two years)
9. Cultivate conversations, not one-way interactions (one year)

Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson picked up on Hodgson's glimpse into the future on their For Immediate Release podcast (number 91). They had a similar take -- that some of these trends are either already a part of the way we do business, or they'll be mainstream within two to three years.

Marketing Mag Adds Online Careers Site

Marketing Magazine has launched a careers e-zine that links Canadian marketing job postings with careers tips.

Careers in Marketing lists marketing-related jobs from the Working.com site in its right margin, to flesh out editorial content that guides marketing types through the process of searching for a better opportunity out there, or managing their career development.

Marketing and Working.com are both part of the Rogers media conglomerate.

Says an e-mail from Marketing:

"Careers in Marketing has been developed as a resource for aiding marketing professionals in their career sourcing and development. The e-zine examines the who, the what, the where and the how of today's marketing job market."

Cubicle Life: Now We Have Action Figures

I thought this was a gag web site when Judy Gombita forwarded the link, but apparently The Cubes action figures are available for purchase in all their empowered, disincentivized glory.

My favourite is the Sensitivity Consultant action figure.

If any of your action figures come without job titles, or if you want to motivate them by offering them a lateral transfer that will expand their skill set and increase their experience and employability, you can try the Job Title Genherator.

You can buy cubicles and action figures, plus Seattle-based Accoutrements offers a new Break Room and Copy Room. You can even add a Corporate Protester to your own miniature cube farm.

Good thing Judy pointed these out before Christmas...

Communications Jobs in South Saskatchewan

I notice three communications job openings in the Regina and Moose Jaw areas this week, and I haven't even cracked the local paper's careers section today.

To stay updated on communications job openings, visit IABC Regina's Job Bank regularly. CPRS Regina also has information on job openings.

The Government of Saskatchewan web site is also a good place for department openings, but don't assume all the crown corporations automatically post openings on the Public Service Commission's Career Centre. It's best to check crown corporation web sites, check the papers, and subscribe to some job search tools.

But more important than anything, get the word out in your network of contacts. Not every opportunity is widely publicized, and some of them have ridiculously short closing dates. The more people who know you're looking around, the more likely you'll find something that suits you.

Report from the Front Lines of Customer Service

A movie theatre employee cuts through the crap, and suggests that people behave themselves when at the movies.

He explains to parents why he doesn't express overwhelming enthusiasm for yet another boring Hollywood movie aimed at kids:

"To the mothers who ask me if the crappy ass kid film you are seeing is good...you know it's not. You're just toying with me now. Spy Kids is not good. What do you want me to say? It has the beginnings of a resigned Felligni, but really the diplomatic pace is more akin with such classic tales as seen from Weir? No, I'm sorry. Even if I were to say "Yeah, it's really good" the words from my mouth would burn a hole in my very soul. Don't ask. Just don't ask. You know the reason you're going is to shut your kids up or buy their love. That's all. That's it. Suck it up. It's very awkward, and I dislike lying."

It may not be the attitude the theatre chains want their staff to express publicly, but it's honest, and makes hilarious reading.

Thanks to Colin McKay on CanuckFlack, who posted a quote from Rant from a Frustrated Movie Theatre Employee! (Craigslist).

Tags: customer service, employees, rants, etiquette

To Get the Work, You Have to Network

A colleague was coming to the end of a work contract, and started to get antsy.  So I put out feelers to  a couple of people.  Now, whenever an opportunity comes up, I get an e-mail or a phone call, wondering if my colleague is available. Not really. Now I need to find someone else who's available, so next time people call I can suggest someone.

That's how term work and consulting work flows. You let people know you're available, and you use your network of contacts to spread that message as far as they can. There's a similar network of people who are trying to find the right resources for their projects. And the networks overlap.

It's great if your contacts can spread the word about your area of specialty. But don't expect a lot of the opportunities to apply to your preferred area of work. The opportunities come as they come, and proving you can do one kind of work may lead to your preferred work.

Turning down opportunities because they don't perfectly fit your plans may be right for you if you're actively pursuing a narrow field that has lots of earnings potential. On the other hand, you could be earning money and building your reputation while you wait for your ideal gig to come around.