LinkedIn and dating; much the same really!

The business world has changed so much in the last twenty years that it is nigh on impossible imaging returning to sitting in a library flicking through reference manuals or scrolling through microfiche to unearth the information that you were after. If you’re under 30 you’ll probably have to Google microfiche – now how old do I feel!

So, where would we be without LinkedIn, the new business white pages that seems to dominate these days? I bet you couldn't imagine going back to the days before you could find people you'd lost track of or attempt to connect with pretty much anyone in the working world, whether they like it or not. And therein, lies the rub.

In many ways, LinkedIn is a lot like a dating site, except for business.

If you’re old enough you’ll remember the J. Geils Band who had a song called "Love Stinks" that goes like this, "You love her; but she loves him. And he loves somebody else; you just can't win." Trying to connect with people on LinkedIn can be just like that. Moreover, how we network and form relationships in the working world is very similar to how we do it in our personal lives.

It is an almost unquestionable fact that these days if you want to have a career, you've got to have a LinkedIn profile. On top of that it's also a great way to manage your business contacts. But LinkedIn also makes it easy to try to connect with people you don't know to further your career or your business opportunities. However, don’t be surprised that it’s not just beautiful blondes who hit on your LinkedIn profile but the occasional moose too.

OK, not the world’s best analogy, but you've got to admit, it true. I’d be surprised if you haven’t had an opportunist or two contact you on a number of occasions. They put you on the spot and then you've got to reject them. It's annoying. Unless, of course, they've got something you want, in which case you’ve just made a connection. Not for life. Just until you get what you want, get bored and dump them. Just like dating.

As for posting to all those groups and commenting on discussions, that's just like when you were single, wasting your nights bouncing from one bar to another hoping to meet that someone special. Just try to imagine all those desperate, inane, rambling nightclub conversations that ultimately led to absolutely nothing. That's right. LinkedIn is just like that.

Twitter's different. Twitter's a media outlet, an overloaded news source for people with ADD - because very few people really ever have the time to read even a tiny fraction of what is tweeted. Anyway, you're not going to form any real relationships on Twitter. Either personal or business.

I’m over thirty (and quite a bit) so yes this all makes me sound cynical and jaded, but really that's because there's nothing new here, at least not if you’ve been around the block a few times. Working at a company or doing business is all about relationships. Business relationships, personal relationships, they all work pretty much the same way. And online social networks are just a new way to find each other.

Is there anything that can be learned from this? Business life is a lot like personal life. Companies are a lot like homes. Bosses are like parents. Business partners are like spouses. Colleagues are like friends. And employees are like kids. Yes that sounds strange, but if you think about it, it might actually make sense.

As for online social networks, they're just a new way to do the same old stuff. They're another way to find and connect with each other. The same rules apply.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts on networking, social networks and if you must – your dating experiences!!

You can contact us at: blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

Will Social Media scupper your career?

There has been a lot in the press (both online and in print) recently about Hiring Managers and HR using Social Media to take up unofficial references on candidates; this has included comment and research and some of the conclusions are quite alarming. For example research by the website CareerBuilder.co.uk found that over half the employers who responded have rejected a candidate after having seen something on their social media that put them off!

You may think that this only applies to Generation X and Y – the young, tech savvy candidates and not the mature professional, management grade candidates. But think again; how many of these now have a strong presence on social media through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as YouTube?

Many of the younger generation we talk to are quite prepared to share their lives via social media (ask your teenage children if email is old hat) and don’t seem to comprehend that it is all in the public domain and not confined to their immediate circle of friends. Unfortunately this is now moving up the age and professional scale with many individuals posting regularly on Twitter and Facebook.

But here is the big question: should you as a (potential) employer seek to find answers to those delicate questions you can’t ask in an interview anymore on social media? And if you do should someone’s private life influence your decision? Should a candidates’ social media profile be used to pre-screen them and to judge if they are a worthy person who will fit into the company culture?

As a candidate you can obviously use social media to increase your chances of success by posting great stuff that shows you in a good light and by networking carefully. On the flip side it is so easy to damage your chance of success by throwing caution to wind and posting what to an employer may be seen as inappropriate content.

Many users of social media do not realise that the internet never forgets – once it is posted it will be found, even years later – a public skeleton in the cupboard!

So beware those photos that you wouldn’t want your mum or granny to see and be careful not to make any comments you may regret later. Remember you have chosen to share this content with the public so make sure it shows you to advantage.

Make sure you look professional on-line and avoid posting anything that could be construed as an illegal activity; shows you as a drinker or drug taker; shows you can’t spell or construct a proper sentence; is untruthful about your experience; has improper photos; bad-mouths your colleagues or ex-employer; demonstrates that you are not confidential at work.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

Why companies watch your every Facebook & Twitter move.

The recent banning and fining of a number sports stars for tweeting rude comments about their lack of selection has once again brought attention on modern networking sites back into focus and a reappraisal of how they’re used by commercial organisations.

Once upon a time companies could afford to be rude. I might grumble to a few friends and walk to the next shop on the high street but there was little else that I could do. These days I’ll still grumble to my friends, but now I do it online, using social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

Today one witty Tweet, one clever blog post, one devastating video - forwarded to hundreds of friends at the click of a mouse - can snowball and kill a product or damage a company's share price. It's a dramatic shift in consumer power. But what if companies could harness this power and turn it to their advantage?

Social media is quickly becoming a customer relationship management system, as companies have for the first time access to people's minds in near real-time. It may be all the buzz, but I suspect that in reality only a few firms understand it and know how to use it, it's been of peripheral interest for most. Few realise that using social media has become much more than customer service and reputation management.

Most importantly, it can act as an early warning system when something goes wrong. But for many companies social media tools are poorly integrated into the corporate structure, if your system tells you that your customers are unhappy about a product or service, it can be critical that the tool immediately alerts the team in charge of it.

It also makes business sense. Good use of social media can reduce complaints and costly calls to a service centre. But there are dangers that the obsession with social networking can make management lose focus. If a company needed a random tweet to alert them to a problem, surely something was wrong in the first place.

Even in normal times social media marketing has its quirks. I was told that the single most important rule is to try to sound genuine, "don't push... and don't pretend you are hip". Just as readers can quickly tell whether a CEO's blog is really written by the boss or the PR team, Twitter and Facebook don't lend themselves to spreading the corporate message.

As companies are getting to grips with social media, the very business model of customer relationships looks set to change. Consumers are spending their attention on social media but firms don't know how to repay them properly. There's no manual for that yet and there probably never will be.

After all, what works today, might not work tomorrow.