Older Workers-New Technology: YES THEY CAN

NEW Survey Debunks OLD Stereotype

For years, a stereotype has been fostered by the media, and now social media, that older people are just not that savvy when it comes to new technology. 

This false perception contributes to age discrimination that affects the older job seeker.

Two companies,  DROPBOX and Ipsos Mori, have surveyed more than 4,000 information workers in the U.S. and Europe about their use of technology in the workplace. 

The survey has revealed that workers aged 55+ are actually less stressed using technology in the workplace than their younger peers. The results also showed that older workers are actually BETTER at using multiple devices than their younger peers - only 13% of respondents aged 55+  reported having trouble working with multiple devices compared to 37% of 18-to-34-year olds.

If you are an older job seeker, don't PERPETUATE the stereotype of the obsolete older worker. Be sure to keep your skills AND resume up-to-date. Create your killer resume HERE.

If you haven't been in the job market lately, it might not be your job skills holding you back but your JOB HUNTING skills. CLICK HERE for a free assessment.

"5 Simple Tips to Beat Age Discrimination During a Job Search" Live Event - REGISTER HERE

5 Ways to Find a Job on LinkedIn

Are you making the most of LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a professional networking site which offers unique features for both businesses and job seekers:

• Businesses can easily post jobs, find prospective clients and check references. 
• Job Seekers: A good knowledge of this platform gives you a great chance of getting a job within the shortest time possible.

Here are five major ways to find a job in just sixty days on Linkedin

#1 Make Yourself Easily Found on LinkedIn: According to a survey, 90% of recruiters and their sources ( both within companies and external headhunting agencies) make use of LinkedIn to spot ideal candidates. And for several reasons these recruiters prefer sourcing for talents rather than assisting desperate job seekers. In other words, you have to make them come to you by making yourself easily found on the platform. You can achieve this in several ways including:

• Creating a strong and compelling profile summary.
• Completing your employment history.
• Completing all other sections of your profile such as education, certifications and more.
• Including samples of your work to showcase your accomplishments.
• Joining groups and participate in discussions.
• Properly filling out the skills section of your profile

#2 Job Board: The LinkedIn’s job board offers you several ways to access the numerous ads posted by recruiters and employers. They get paid for featuring these ads on their site and others that the site aggregates from across the internet.LinkedIn leads you through a process whereby you can create your profile of the kind of job you seek based on the industry, location and more. You are allowed to edit your profile at will, but that also determines the type of ads you will get from LindkedIn. Another way of getting applicable positions is by clicking on ‘Advanced’ at the LinkedIn’s homepage. After this, click on ‘Jobs’, and filter jobs through keywords, location, title, country and more. However, when conducting an advanced search, it is advisable to avoid searching on title, as different firms have different titles for the same role.

#3 Group Jobs: With LinkedIn, you can join up to 100 groups at once. These groups are numerous and each based on anything imaginable such as hobbies, location, school alumni, industry and more. Each of these groups has its own menu structure which includes; discussion, promotion, jobs members and search.The job menu in each group is meant for job listing which could be posted by any of the group member as well as job discussions. This makes making it faster for you to find a new job.

#4: Company Pages: All you have to do here is to search for companies. Typically, on a company’s page, there will be a listing of vacant positions at the company or a link to the company’s employment portal on its site where the open jobs listing is provided. When you find a job opening it is advisable NOT to simply apply to multiple jobs in a relatively short period by clicking on ‘Apply’ numerous times. Instead, take your time by checking each good job prospect. Make use of the features provided by LinkedIn to see who posted the job and who you may know that works in the company. Develop these contacts into networking partners. Most companies use employee referral bonus program. You will be at an advantaged position if your company contact brings your resume to the attention of the recruiting manager or human resources staffer assigned to fill the position. Consequently, the probability of your resume disappearing into thin air is minimized and your chances of getting the job significantly increased.

#5 Feed Update: Updates are at the center of your LinkedIn homepage. What you will get here are not just articles that the Pulse feature thinks you should be interested in but also the status updates of your contacts or connections. Take your time to scroll through these updates on a regular basis as there are often some posts from hiring managers or recruiters calling the attention of qualified job seekers to some vacant positions in their respective companies

Get Started NOW by creating your own KILLER resume - CLICK HERE

6 Ways To Kill Your Job Search Without Knowing

Free Online Workshop "How to Get a Job in 6 Weeks - Guaranteed" Register Here

Recruitment Revolution recently polled 1700 companies where “employers reveal most off-putting traits displayed by job applicants.”   There are a couple of very revealing conclusions. First you better be thinking about how you present yourself to the outside world before you NEED to find a new job. 

What you write and say on social media sites WILL likely be viewed by a prospective recruiter or employer. So those innocent posts with photos on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can turn into a magnifying lens in which a recruiter can be Judge and Jury without you ever getting cross examined. 

Here are the 6 Ways You Can Kill Your Job Search Without Knowing.

1. Abbreviating when you write. Ex. “TTYL” Talk to you later.
2. Spelling errors on your social media, resume and emails.
3. Listing your other interests and hobbies that are fun, but not necessarily good employee traits. Like partying instead of scuba diving.
4. During interviews avoiding eye contact, bad breath and confrontational body language.
5. 73% of Employers checked social media before hiring. Yes if you post it then assume it part of “your permanent record”.
6. Dressing too Casual.

All of these self destructive behaviors can be modified with very little effort. Why not give yourself an edge in the race to a new career or job.  What other traits have you seen that are self destructive?

Your Personal Branding as an Older Worker

What Sets You Apart?

Personal branding is the act of letting your identity be known and showing the qualities that set you apart from others in your area of discipline. It comprises a combination of skills and talents alongside style and personality. In other words, it requires having a clear message of who you are, what direction you are going in, as well as the experience you have. You are letting the hiring manager be aware of your identity so that you are not just part of the faceless crowd.

Personal branding comes with lots of advantages. Besides highlighting your personal strengths, personal branding can help pull your resume from the bottom to the top of the pile and make you an outstanding interviewer.

Here are some tips to help prepare yourself for a new job:

• Brainstorm: Take some time to think about what to include in your personal brand. You can do this by going over your resume, understanding the leadership qualities you possess and your work ethic. Determine the path or direction you want to take your career in and also figure out the type of projects you are mostly drawn to. Then, develop a big plan on how to express this to the hiring managers and recruiters.

• New Market, New Skill: You have to accept the fact that you are competing in a marketplace which is entirely different from what you had in the past. Consequently, you have to learn about the new workplace, accept and leverage it to your advantage. You can do this by trying to understand the generational differences. For example, there is a myth that older workers are not usually energetic or tech savvy. However, they are generally taken to be reliable, honest, hardworking and loyal. Take the positive assumptions, and use them to your advantage. Efforts should be made at addressing the negative ones.

• Technology and social media: Brush up your knowledge about the latest technologies and get yourself engaged in the use of social media. Show your prospective employer your willingness to learn new things. Social media is a great platform to start your personal branding. Therefore, you have to build a social media friendly resume and ensure its done the right way by not making blind submissions to different websites. The idea is to create a resume that would be so dynamic that it becomes readily accessible through searching, distributing and sharing. The resume should be able to:

• Accurately portray who you are as a brand.

• Attract hiring managers, recruiters and job opportunities to you, instead of going about making blind submissions.

• Showcase your abilities, talents as well as what you look for in a job. You can create a personalized resume by clicking here.

• You can also make use of a cover letter. A cover letter represents a better place to make your personality known. Be unique and discuss why you would be a better choice over your younger colleagues. Start creating cover letters that get interviews by clicking here.

• Posting your information on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and others is a good way to get started.

• Make Yourself Stand Out: This involves convincing the hiring managers that you are a very rare talent. Start by expanding your thinking about your own particular capabilities, then tell it to the world. And make sure you describe your unique personal brand value in everything you do. You can do this by creating an online profile and identity, building your network, connecting with local groups and associations, and seeking out volunteer opportunities.

Studies have shown that most workers who seek job opportunities at mature ages usually find the new job more appealing when compared to the old job. Therefore, ask yourself how you could combine your vast knowledge, experience, and personality to produce something that a younger counterpart cannot. In other words, regardless of your age, you can always brand yourself and stand out.

CLICK HERE for a complete schedule of online workshops and resources to prepare you for your new career.

Beware of these 5 Online Cyber Mistakes During the Holidays

Lohrman on Cybersecurity & Infrastructure:5 Online Mistakes to Avoid During the Holidays

Editor's Note:  The holiday season is almost here, and many of us will be shopping online hoping to get the best deals possible. This is a time to give, not to be taken.

Review these cyber security tips compiled in an article from govtech.com, written by Dan Lohrman, the Chief Security Officer & Chief Strategist at Security Mentor Inc. It could save you time, money and aggravation.

 1) Watch Out for Online Shopping Fraud – We all want a deal. Some of us will go to great lengths both online and offline to save a buck. Sadly cyberspace is full of scams and “too good to be true” deals that really are fakes in more ways than one. From fake products to fake prices with hidden fees and exorbitant shipping charges to entire websites that are cloned imitations of more reputable websites, there are many ways to be tricked online. 

 ...Tip: Stick with online merchants (companies) that you trust. While it can be tempting to save an extra 10 percent at some new unknown retailer, be extra careful. Household names like Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Amazon.com offer great deals over the holidays without the extra burden or worry that what will be opened on Christmas Day may not be what looked so pretty in the online picture.  If you do buy from a new or unknown online merchant, do your homework. Make sure that you know the policies for returns, refunds and more. Remember that you are providing credit card and potentially other sensitive information to this company, so follow best practices to keep your sensitive information secure. Read entire article here.  

 Click HERE to get 49 Benefits to Hiring an Older Skilled Worker.

LATEST POLL: Election Stress and Older Americans

"People are so stressed by this election that the American Psychological Association has coping tips."  ~The Washington Post

Editor's Note: Yes, "election stress" is a thing, and, according to a poll by the American Psychological Association, an average of 52% of Republicans and Democrats  feel stress from the election campaigns. Social media users have more anxiety because of  constant media exposure. But, older Americans are especially feeling the stress of this election possibly because many issues that are particularly important to them aren't as discussed  - health insurance, medicare, prescription costs, social security, retirement.

The APA outlined a few more ways to manage the stress of this election. And, if none of the below helps you cope, just keep reminding yourself, it's almost over.

• If the 24-hour news cycle of claims and counterclaims from the candidates is causing you stress, limit your media consumption. Read just enough to stay informed. Turn off the news feed or take a digital break. Take some time for yourself, go for a walk, or spend time with friends and family doing things that you enjoy.

Read Complete Article Here.

CLICK HERE to get 49 Benefits of Hiring an Older Worker

Building Your Personal Brand on Twitter

So many older workers seem to be afraid of Twitter. It is almost as easy as sending an email. A couple of weeks ago I talked about how to simply build your brand on Facebook. While Facebook is a great starting point for connecting with people you meet, it is not enough if you plan on expanding your online network based on interests and knowledge. You will need a different social platform to do so and that platform is called Twitter.

What is Twitter?

Imagine sending a very short email to anyone that said they were interested in what you had to say. It’s a social network through which users micro-blog short bursts of information in 140 characters or less. It’s a way to demonstrate your expertise by sharing or “tweeting” your thoughts on current events, articles, or topics you are passionate about to a broader audience.

While tweets and Facebook status updates can overlap in content, there are subtle differences between the two networks. Twitter is set up to be a little more anonymous than Facebook in that you aren’t asked to fill out an entire profile with personal information and life history. And while Facebook status updates are limited to your connections, Twitter updates are fed into a network-wide stream such that they can be read by any of the 10-million+ users that Twitter has.

The name of the game is to gain “followers.” Followers are people subscribing to your updates. No one wants to subscribe to a boring person, so be sure your tweets are concise, witty, and informative. This is a lot harder than it sounds, because it takes some adjustment to become well-versed in the Twitter format and lingo. The investment will pay off when follower numbers start to grow.

Why Do I want to be popular on twitter?

If you become really popular, future employers may take notice of your tweets. So yes! You can tweet yourself to your dream job, but before you get there you must learn the rules of the Tweeting Game.

“Statistics show that job search networking is much more effective when you make ‘loose’ connections – touching base with people beyond your immediate circle whose networks and contacts are much different from your own.”

Rules of the Tweeting Game

Rule 1: Brand your profile

Before you start using Twitter, you need to think about how others will view your profile. You are your own brand. There are 4 main components you need to carefully plan out to distinguish your Twitter profile.

1. Handle

Your brand name is your Twitter handle, or username. If you’re looking for a job on Twitter, a professional username is more appropriate. Use your real name or some combination of your name and profession that sounds good and easy to remember, like JohnSmith or TechJohn.

2. Bio

An absolute must for your professional Twitter profile. Unlike most social networks, Twitter only allows 160 characters for your bio. Make it short, sweet, and to the point. List professional and personal interests. Being clever is a bonus, but keep it tasteful.

3. Link

Add a link of your blog or website on your Twitter profile. If you don’t have one, it’s okay to put your LinkedIn profile.

4. Avatar

Much like your Facebook profile, a Twitter profile pic, or avatar, is necessary to make your profile come alive and add credibility. The default is a picture of an egg; usually profiles with this default are seen as spam accounts.

Rule 2: Tweeting

Before you follow anyone, post some tweets first. This will get help you get acquainted with Twitter and get in the habit of writing your thoughts in less than 140 characters. A good start is to tweet about an article or an opinion on a current event. Whatever you do, DO NOT tweet about useless things like what you had for lunch. Here are some tools can you use when you tweet:

1. Hashtags

You can use hashtags, or the # symbol, to tag your tweet with a certain subject. Hashtags are used to collect metadata and to group tweets such that they will be displayed together when someone searches for a particular topic, event, location, etc. Popular hashtags at any given moment will be seen as Trending Topics. For example, any tweet about the Super Bowl can be ended with “#SuperBowl” “#NFL” “#Giants” or any relevant descriptor.

2. Retweet

If you like another user’s tweet, you can “retweet” their tweet by clicking the Retweet link when you hover your cursor over their tweet. The retweet will show up on your profile but still credits the original user.

3. Reply

Replying to someone’s tweet is the easiest way to start interacting with that user. Simply click “Reply” when you hover your cursor over the tweet. Your reply will automatically link to that user by placing a “@” in front of their username.

Rule 3: Following and Followers

Once you get the hang of tweeting, retweeting, and replying, it’s time to start building your network. You can start by adding people through your email address book, but try to maintain an even ratio of followers and following, and aim to eventually have more followers than following. The best ways to really gain a following are to post interesting tweets and reply to others’ tweets. Unlike Facebook, Twitter networks don’t necessarily need to be built through real-life connections, so don’t feel shy about following an interesting user who you don’t know in real life.
Eventually, you may get to the point where your followers will start listing you on Follow Fridays (#FF). This is a weekly hashtag topic in which users promote other user accounts that they think are worth following. When you start appearing on #FF tweets, that’s when you know you’ve truly mastered Twitter.

As you can probably see, Twitter has a bit of a learning curve, but it can be an extremely powerful tool for finding connections and leads to your dream job. As I said before, it’s never too late to start, so start connecting for success by following Intern Over 4o's Tweets.

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If you are interested in learning how to leverage LinkedIn read more here:

Does Social Media Confuse You As An Older Job Seeker?

7 Secrets to Get a Job Using Social Media - and a valuable LINKED IN TOOL! 

Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, The Baby Stork and mailing resumes to HR. As an older worker do you ever feel that all the good fantasies are dead? What do you think?:(Editor's Note)

Between current economic conditions and the technological evolution of the Internet, the traditional approach most job seekers have taken in the past is no longer viable.

The approach — developing a resume and cover letter, locating jobs on and submitting your resume to corporate sites and job banks, and crossing your fingers in hopes of receiving a call from a hiring manager — is, for the most part, a thing of the past. The new approach is far different. It boils down to the fact that there are fewer jobs available, more competition for those jobs and more touch points for recruiters and seekers to interact.

The current environment

There will be 1.5 million college graduates this year, yet the job growth rate is at a six year low, at 1.3%! The amount of jobs posted online is decreasing at over 13%, which has all led to the ratio of 3.3 job seekers per each job.

Social networks are starting to become part of the criteria that both hiring managers and college admissions officers are using to weed out applicants. One in five hiring managers conduct background checks using social networks (primarily Facebook), while one in ten college admissions officers do the same.

It’s time for you to be open-minded and think differently about how you’re going to get your next job and keep it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t submit your resume to job banks, corporate websites, vertical job agents (Simply Hired/Indeed) or attend job fairs, but these should only consume 10% of your time. The other 90% should be concentrated on the following seven social media secrets, which will not only get you a job, but help you create your own dream job!

1. Conduct a people search instead of a job search

The majority of jobs aren’t posted online. Hiring managers get a list of employee referral candidates before they even bother to view resumes from those who submit them online. Sometimes the listed jobs aren’t available or never existed in the first place. Many studies have noted that 80% of jobs are taken through networking, but few have sought to use the web to search and locate people they would actually enjoy working for at companies that they get excited about.

The 3-step people search:

a. Identify the top five companies that you would like to work for.
Use a focused approach instead of flooding thousands of inboxes with spam. You want to brand yourself, not just as the person of best fit for a job, but as someone who is eager and ecstatic to work for the company.



b. Use search engines to track employees that currently work there.
There are over 130 million blogs in Technorati and you can search through them to possibly find someone who works at one of your top five companies. You can search through corporate groups, pages and people on Facebook. You can even do the same on Twitter. Then there are people search engines such as pipl, peek you, and wink. Once you find a contact name, try googling it to see if there is any additional information about that person.

c. Connect with the person directly.
Social media has broken down barriers, to a point where you can message someone you are no longer friends with and don’t have contact information for, without any hassles. Before you message a target employee, realize that they receive messages from people asking for jobs all the time and that they might not want to be bothered on Facebook, where their true friends are. As long as you’ve done your homework on the company and them, tailor a message that states who you are and your interest, without asking for a job at first. Get to know them and then by the 3rd or 4th messages, ask if there is an available opportunity.

2. Use attraction-based marketing to get job offers

The traditional way of searching for a job was proactive, forcing you to start a job that you might not have enjoyed. The new approach is about building a powerful personal brand and attracting job opportunities directly into your doorstep. How do you do this? You become a content producer instead of just a consumer and the number one way to do that on the web is to launch a blog that centers around both your expertise and passions.

You need to be passionate to be committed to this project because it requires a lot of writing, creativity and consistency in order for it to actually help you. A blog is a non-intrusive, harmless and generous way of getting recruiters interested in your brand, without you even asking for a job! Make the recruiters fall in love with you and only send you opportunities that are related to your blog content, so you end up happy in the end.

This works a lot and is expected for new-age marketing jobs that require experience in social media and can even help you jump-start a new business off of your blog platform. By pulling recruiters into your world, you are able to impress them with what you want them to see and they can make a quick decision whether to hire you or not, without you hearing about rejection. Start a blog today using Wordpress.com (for beginners) or install Wordpress.org onto your own host (such as GoDaddy or Bluehost).

Click here to read part 2 of this article
                                                                                                               
Would You Like A Facebook Page That Attracts Hiring Managers?

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Suffering From Adult Social Media A.D.D. Overload?

Have you every started your day with that focused attitude: " I'm going to find a job today". But I just want to quickly check my email , tweets, Linkedin and Facebook. Then you look up and the Sun is about to set. LOL.
Then you should take a few minutes and read this article. (Editor's Note)

5 Ways to Reduce Social Media Distractions and Be More Productive

Scott Belsky studies exceptionally productive people and teams in the creative world. He is the Founder and CEO of Behance oversees The 99% think tank, and is the author of Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming The Obstacles Between Vision & Reality (Portfolio, April 2010).

Those of us who are social media-savvy suffer from a burgeoning problem that constantly threatens our ingenuity. If we fail to acknowledge and solve this problem, our brilliant ideas may may never see the light of day.
Every single minute, more “stuff” is being sent your way. E-mails, text messages, voice mails, instant messages, Twitter messages, Facebook posts… and the list goes on. The proliferation of mobile devices only increases the flow.


What do you do with this deluge? You simply try to stay afloat. You peck away at the latest communications at the top of your many inboxes. And since the flow of information never ends, you risk slipping into a life of what I have come to call “reactionary workflow.”
For those of us with great ideas and bold goals for the future, reactionary workflow is a big problem. If we spend all day reacting to the incoming barrage of communication, we will fail to be proactive with our energy. Our long-term aspirations suffer as a result.


For the past five years, I’ve been interviewing super-productive leaders and teams — people at companies like Google, IDEO, and Disney, and individuals like author Chris Anderson and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. I’ve never asked them how they come up with ideas. I’m not interested. My fascination is how they make their ideas happen, time and time again.
Many of the people I met have developed ways to combat reactionary workflow. Here are a few tips on how they do it.

1. Create Windows of Non-Stimulation

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Once you open the door to communications overload, you could spend all day reacting to what’s thrown at you. Piers Fawkes, founder and editor of the marketing consultancy PSFK, reserves a good chunk of his morning –- from 7 to 10 a.m. every day -– to do research and digest the day’s trends and news prior to going through his e-mail. Proactively blocking out time for creating and absorbing, rather than just responding, is a key tactic of productive creatives.

2. Keep Two Lists:

When it comes to organizing the day’s tasks — and how your energy will be allocated — create two lists: One for urgent items and another for important ones. Long-term goals and priorities deserve a list of their own and should not compete against the urgent items that can easily consume your day. Once you have two lists, you can preserve distinctly different periods of time for focus on each.

3. Schedule Focused Periods of Processing Every Day

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During the research for my book, I met a number of people who swear by “power hours.” These individuals would try to compress all response-related work into pre-determined short periods of time every day, usually one to two hours of uninterrupted inbox clearing. The notion of compartmentalizing reactionary workflow was a theme across the most productive leaders I met.

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4. Don’t Hoard Urgent Items

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Even when you delegate operational responsibilities to someone else, you may still find you are hoarding urgent items as they arise. When you care so deeply about a project, you likely prefer to resolve things yourself.
Say an e-mail arrives from a client with a routine problem. Even though the responsibility may lie with someone else on your team, you might think, “Oh, this is a really quick fix, I’ll just take care of it.” And gradually your energy will start to shift away from long-term pursuits. Hoarding urgent items is one of the most damaging tendencies I’ve noticed in creative professionals that have experienced early success. When you are in the position to do so, challenge yourself to delegate urgent items to others.

Read the full article at Mashable

You Don’t Need This Job Seekers Guide On LinkedIn. Right? Learn More.

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Should Older Job Hunters Use Facebook? (2)

To be sure, the Web can also thwart your job search if you're not careful in how you use it. "Whatever you put on a profile or networking site sends an impression of who you are. It becomes part of your personal brand identity," says Lauren Doliva, a partner at executive-search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. in San Francisco. "The key is to be thoughtful about the content you are conveying and what others might assume as a result of reading or seeing it."

Also bear in mind that any information you post online is likely to remain in cyberspace indefinitely. "This is a broadcast medium where you may not really have control over who sees, reads or shares the information," says Ms. Doliva.

If social networking just isn't for you, another way to build a Web presence and boost your odds of being found by recruiters is to write a blog on a topic related to your career interests, says Ms. Doliva. "A blog can demonstrate your thinking on a given topic," she says. "In effect, it's a series of white papers."

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Write to Elizabeth Garone at cjeditor@dowjones.com. If you have a question for the careers columnists, be sure to put Career Q&A in your subject line.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124121088218678411.html

Could Social Media Actually Result In Hiring Discrimination?

Job Seekers & Recruiters Beware:Could Social Media Actually Result In Hiring Discrimination?


As a recruiter you might be facing charges of discrimination in your screening process. But as a job seeker you just might be off the candidate radar if you are not actively using social media to help prospective recruiters and employers find you. Are you now part of the new "social media handicapped". Just another sign of the digital divide.


Story Excerpt by Fay Hansen:
"Discriminatory Twist in Networking Sites Puts Recruiters in Peril


Sourcing applicants from Twitter or LinkedIn or screening candidates through Facebook or MySpace may open employers to discrimination charges.
By Fay Hansen

In the rush to cut recruiting budgets and avoid the avalanche of résumés now generated by job boards, employers are increasingly tapping professional and social networking sites as a sourcing tool.


Some employers now rely heavily or even exclusively on Twitter or LinkedIn to fill open positions. While this approach may create short-term cost savings and new efficiencies, it may also skew applicant pools and trigger discrimination lawsuits.


“Networking sites, including Twitter, exclude whole populations,” says Jessica Roe, managing partner at Bernick, Lifson, Greenstein, Greene & Liszt in Minneapolis. “We are going to end up with a very homogenous workforce. The social networks represent limited social groups and very small labor pools. It’s an enormous issue.”




According to the latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic.

“Social networking sites are problematic because the population is limited and highly selective,” Roe notes. “I anticipate more race and age claims over the next two years, and a significant portion will be from sourcing through social networking sites, where the users are generally white and age 20 to 40. We’ll see lawsuits.

“Employers don’t want to pay recruiters, so they take the path of least resistance, but they have to look very carefully at the applicant pool and cast a much broader net. Recruiters are often swept up by the latest process. Minor decisions lead to major consequences.”

Using networks for recruiting is ripe with risk for future discrimination claims, says Pamela Devata, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.

“Sourcing from professional network sites such as LinkedIn carries a risk that the method could be challenged on discrimination grounds,” Devata says. “It represents a hiring pool that is not open to the general population. Using a limited network may have a disparate impact. If hiring through these networks can be challenged, it will be.”

Employers should consider the risk of litigation arising from disparate impact claims.

“If the business practice is to use Twitter and the existing pool is 50 percent female and 20 percent minority, but you’re down to zero for both groups because your digital network is heavily male and non-minority, then you must establish that there is a business necessity for the practice,” says Paul Mollica, partner at Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink in Chicago. “The first company that gets sued for this will have to be very resourceful because it will be very difficult to establish a reason for relying exclusively on Twitter.”

Some employers are integrating Twitter into their employee referral programs to help employees connect with possible job candidates.

“Combining Twitter with employee referral programs could turn out to be a digitalized version of word-of-mouth hiring methods because you are simply using referrals and employees’ online acquaintances,” Mollica says. “If you combine these methods and use networks to expand the applicant pool, that’s a valid method, provided that you are also reaching candidates through broader means.”"


To Read this story go to: http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/68/67/index.html
Fay Hansen is a contributing editor for Workforce Management.


Learn How To Prepare For Your Interview 

¶ Should Older Job Hunters Use Facebook?

By ELIZABETH GARONE
Q: How important is it for educated, laid-off professionals over the age of 50 to join networking sites? I am very Web and computer savvy, but do not really care to get involved with Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  
                                                      

A: You would be doing yourself a disservice not to have a profile on a networking site in the current job market, career experts say. It's becoming increasingly common for recruiters to use these as their first point of contact with potential employees. Without one, you could be in danger of being overlooked.

"First, it shows you're relevant," says Diane Darling, founder and chief executive officer of Effective Networking Inc. in Boston. "And, two, it gives you a very easy Web link that anybody can go to get your data points, from a resume to awards you might have received or anything along those lines."

It would be a mistake to think that networking sites are only for "a younger crowd," adds Jason Alba, author of "I'm on LinkedIn – Now What???" "There are a lot of jobs getting filled from these social networks, and I'd hate to think they are all going to younger professionals simply because you aren't there," he says.

Some networking sites are even exclusive to high-level professionals, such as ExecuNet (http://www.execunet.com/) and The Financial Executives Network group (http://www.thefeng.org/).

When 50-year-old Chuck Hester started a job search in 2006, he let 50 or so of his LinkedIn connections in the Raleigh, N.C., area know he was open to new opportunities in marketing or public relations. One of them -- someone he'd never met -- was Ryan Allis, CEO of iContact Corp., an email-marketing company. Mr. Allis responded with an offer to get together in person and Mr. Hester accepted. During the meeting, the executive invited Mr. Hester to interview for a newly created position as director of public relations at his firm. Mr. Hester agreed and was subsequently hired. "I truly believe I got my job through LinkedIn," he says. "In today's world, it is through social-media sites you are going to get the next position."

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Would You Like A Facebook Page That Attracts Hiring Managers?
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5 Tips & Tools for Recruiting with Social Media

More and more headhunters and companies are tapping social media channels to recruit jobseekers. Especially in a recession, companies know their ultimate success depends on the quality of human capital they can reel into their organization. Leveraging social media plays an increasingly key role in making sure your company finds its widest array of candidate choices.

1. Start with the usual suspects.

Candidates have been given the secrets to pass the social media recruitment test. Since recruiters tend to check an applicant’s personal blog, Facebook profile, Twitter feed, LinkedIn recommendations, Flickr portfolio, SlideShare presentations or even YouTube resume, establish the same transparency for your company with these tools. Creating your firm’s online character attracts the best pool of applicants and indicates to potentials how they stack up to your ideals, culture and caliber.

To keep costs down, companies should start by posting their own creative job description on a company site or blog and then use email, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to pass around the URL. Nine times out of 10, the best candidates are already in your employees’ networks.

2. Avoid CraigsList, Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs and other major database sites for one of two reasons.

If you’re looking to fill a professional position these sites do not filter resumes enough to make the search worth the time. “Employers” on these sites are often temp or placement agencies or even spammers — not actual employers — and good applicants know this. As a real employer, know that talent is available in excess, but your ideal applicants generally try to target their job search by looking at sites catered to their specific industry and skill set. They’re not spending much time on the large database sites.

Second, the cost of posting jobs on these sites can grow very quickly based on the number of people you’re looking to hire. If you’re a small firm, there’s no reason to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to recruit a few people. If you’re a large organization, your own infrastructure is more suitable for recruiting internally on your own site. Google does this especially well.

3. Recognize that paying for recruitment services is almost always a poor decision.

In recruitment, your fixed costs of recruiter salary is a given, so your end goal should be to eliminate all other variable costs like job posting fees. Again, big sites are not the way to go.

CareerBuilder starts at $419 to post for one month for one job position. A bevy of emails and socially networked messages might not get you as many responses in volume, but rest assured candidates who do respond will on average be more qualified, know more about your specific company and industry, and will possess more genuine interest in being an asset to your firm. In this game Quality: 1, Quantity: 0.

The exception to this rule is niche recruitment. From healthcare to tech, smaller job sites are generally cheaper and viewed by a more industry-savvy audience, so bets are if you’re going open the purse strings, smaller sites are a smarter move in your recruitment strategy. Mashable, for instance, offers a gamut of social media positions. For recruiters using Mashable, the $50 price tag is justified by the hours your HR manager won’t have to spend combing through unqualified candidates who‘ve been spamming their resumes around.

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How to Use Social Media to Land a Job

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Job Hunter's Guide to Networking with LinkedIn - pt. 2

5. Answer Questions: This is something I unfortunately do not spend enough time doing, but it is on my list. Make sure to read the status updates of your friends, and answer any question you can. Look at relevant groups, read what people are asking, and if you have the knowledge, share it and answer questions. Not only does this help promote your name as an expert, all your answers appear on your connections’ home page. Answering questions on LinkedIn is a very effective tool to promote yourself and enhance your network.

6. Ask Questions: Do not be afraid to ask questions. A real expert knows his limits, no one will judge you if you do not know something. Asking questions also enables people to answer them, another useful tool for connecting with smart and experienced people in your field. Questions also appear on the home page, and keep your name in the mind of your connections.

7. Connect, connect, connect: OK, now this bullet is up for debate and I know many people are going to disagree with the way I use LinkedIn. I am a strong believer in the first half of the buzz phrase “Social Media”, i.e Social. Social networks, whether Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn are all about connecting, communicating, and interacting. They are not a popularity content (ahem Twitter), a simple tool to view friends’ pictures (Facebook), or another form of communication with your co worker who sits two feet away from you. The point of LinkedIn, in my opinion, is to connect with people who work in your industry, people who can potentially help and enhance your professional network, and people you might be able to help in one way or another. If you are connected to someone on LinkedIn, it does NOT mean you have worked with them for 5 years in the same office, I do not need a social network to connect with such a person. LinkedIn is for connecting with professionals that share a common ground and interest with your and your profession. So connect, connect, connect, and when in doubt, connect.

8. Get it Out There: Similar to Twitter and possibly Facebook, depending on how you use it, you should link to your LinkedIn profile any chance you get. This is of course assuming you completed the above steps and your profile is something you want people seeing. Add it in your email signature, add it in your Facebook and Twitter bio or profile, send it to your friends, invite people to connect with you, make sure people know you are now on LinkedIn. Get it out there!

9. Join Groups by The Dozens: This is the one step that has brought me more results than any other. Whatever field you are in, chances are there is a relevant group on LinkedIn. Use the advanced search feature, and join any group you think might be somewhat relevant for you and your professional goals.If you do not want to receive daily or weekly emails, you can disable them, but the very presence in a relevant group is sure to get your name out there. I would not stop with just joining the group, I would share insights on the wall, but more about that in the next bullet. LinkedIn is a very effective networking tool that is magnified significantly with its implementation of the groups feature. After joining a group, browse its members, consider connecting with some, and communicate with as many as possible. Just remember, as opposed to possibly Twitter and definitely Facebook, when you participate in the dialogue of a LinkedIn group, the kind of people who will see that are just the people you want to, and not irrelevant friends who just read your content as a personal favor, or Twitter bots who are not reading anything. It is the most effective tool to reach a highly relevant and targeted audience.

Start off by joining the Interns Over 40 LinkedIn Group!

10. Show your Expertise: This is something I have a hard time with, if I am being honest. I am so traumatized by the phrase “Social Media Expert” that I do not like calling or marketing myself as an expert (not that I am one). However, many people, who are a lot smarter than me, have told me that if you have what to offer others, it is not the time for humility. No one says to go showing off how popular you are (ahem Twitter spammers), but make sure to share your expertise with others. Share your knowledge across the LinkedIn platform, whether on your status, others’ statuses, groups, or discussions. Market yourself as an expert in whatever field you are in and make sure the next time a friend is looking for someone who “knows his stuff” in your field, they will immediately remember how you just displayed a deep understanding of the subject matter that afternoon. I do not need to tell you how that will help you and your professional goals.

As I mentioned in the intro, I only recently discovered and began to unleash the real potential LinkedIn has to offer. I am learning new things every day, but the bottom line is, if you follow the ten steps above, you will see quicker results than you will see using any other traditional marketing tool, and more targeted and immediate results than other social networks, including Twitter.

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Posted on 16. Sep, 2009 by hilzfuld
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