The Election and the Job Search: Button Down Your Social Media Accounts

What a week! Political pundits are calling the 2016 Presidential Race one for the record books. The displeasure or pleasure with President-elect Trump’s win continues to be splashed all over social media and polite and impolite conversations are still going on days later.

As a job coach I thought I’d pass along this bit of advice. If you are looking for a job or if you are currently in a position that you love and have no intention of leaving, you might want to check your social media security; especially on LinkedIn and Facebook. Why take a chance on messing up your chances for receiving or even keeping a great job?

Here are a few steps to button up your accounts if using a laptop. If you are using the app the steps are similar.

Facebook

1. Go to your named page (the one with your name on it) and click the three buttons next to the words Activity Log.

2. Click “View As”

3. Go towards the top of the page, right above your photo to see, “This is what your Timeline looks like to: Public or View as Specific Person

4. Click Public to see how you would look to a potential hiring manager.

5. Correct your security measures by clicking the lock icon on the top right of your page where it says, “Who can see my Stuff”

6. Where it says “Who can see my future posts”, click friends.

LinkedIn

Stop posting political or personal things. If you insist on using this forum for personal messages do the following.

1. Go to your Profile page and by your photo, click View Profile As

2. Up on the top, under the banner you will see, “This is what your profile looks like to:” and a box with a drop down menu.

3. Click Public

4. If you don’t like what you see, click Return to Your Page

5. Click the little gear icon under your photograph and LinkedIn URL. This takes you to your Public Profile page.

6. On the top right it will Your Public Profile URL. Change your settings by checking or unchecking what you would like the public to see and hitting Save..

Check your Instagram account too and any others that might be iffy. Remember, a hiring manager may Google you after receiving your resume. Make it easier on both of you by buttoning up your profiles. This goes for anything; not just politics. Why take unnecessary chances? 

There are a number of articles on the legality of hiring or firing based upon political beliefs. Please take a look at these for additional information.

Protests, Safe Rooms, Scooters, and the Job Search

The protests last night about President–Elect Trump and the high schools and universities exempting their students from class or mid-terms or allowing them some respite in a safe place have been on my mind all day. It’s interrupting my work so I have to put this out there and then move on.

A few years ago I wrote an article for LinkedIn named, “If Everyone is a Winner, Why Can’t I Find a Job?” It dealt with a generation of Millennials who in part want something for nothing. Now before you jump down my throat, let me state the obvious. Not every Millennial is like this and there are examples of this behavior in every generation.

True Story

When I was a high school sophomore I wanted nothing more than to be a cheerleader. I practiced jumping, yelling, clapping, cartwheels and donkey flips until I collapsed. I was pretty confident that I would make one of the squads; at least the JV team. The day before tryouts we were playing a game in gym class called crab ball. In the game you used scooters to roll around the gym floor kicking a huge ball. It was like soccer and normally I loved the game. One this particular day I gave the ball a kick and when I did, the scooter went out from under me and I landed on my tail bone; my coccyx. I bruised it so badly that I could barely sit or stand and was in severe pain.. It would take time to heal on its own, probably a few weeks.

Obviously this screw up totally blew my chances to make a cheerleading squad.  The night of tryouts I showed up and when I did the routine I looked like a total idiot. The faces of the “judges” could barely contain their smiles. I could read their faces, “Why is she even here?” “She is an embarrassment.”

I never told them I was injured. 

The next day the list of the new teams was posted on the gym door. At a distance I could see the smiles and delight from the girls who made it and the disappointment in the eyes of those who didn’t. I knew that I didn’t even need to look at the list because of my disastrous tryout but I did when no one was looking. Obviously I didn’t make any squad.

I went home in tears that afternoon. I asked my mother if I should have said something about my injury when I tried out. She said that I could have but that might not have made a difference. She also said that I shouldn’t assume that my injury would halt the entire selection process. There were other girls who worked just as hard as me and my problem was not their problem. She told me that there was always next year and another tryout. While that’s not exactly what I wanted to hear, she was right. 

That year my desire to work harder at cheerleading stuck its face at me every time I attended any football or basketball games. At home I practiced jumping, yelling, clapping doing cartwheels and donkey flips and when the tryouts were announced in the Spring I was there and better than before.

So what does this have to do with the job search, the President Elect Trump protests or even life in general? 

When bad things (what you consider to be disasters) happen, work harder on making yourself better. Stand taller, learn something new, learn from your mistakes, practice something, help someone, or volunteer somewhere.  Don’t throw things around, light things on fire or use crude language to get your point across. It only lessens you.

Take time to be sad or even angry but study, learn and practice for the next time. Don’t put your head under a safe pillow; do something that you are proud of and make a difference.

Defining Resume Requirements Through Performance Management

For many years I worked in the Human Resources and Learning & Development departments for a very prominent pharmaceutical corporation. One of my tasks was designing, training and implementing a performance management program. A performance management program is the annual cycle of an employee’s performance to include goal setting, coaching, performance appraisal and career development. I loved designing that program and felt that it was very beneficial to both the staff and the management team.

Today I no longer work in that field but realize that many of the components of that program fit into the job search arena; specifically for resume design and interviewing. Think of these steps for both your former jobs, volunteering or other outside professional activities.

1.    Goals Setting: In Performance Management we used the SMART acronym to write out goals that were Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. SMART goals were never vague and were very easy to measure. You could “see” someone managing a project but you could never “see” someone understanding the steps involved in project management. In relation to job search, specifically resume writing, it’s important to look at the accomplishments within your job. What were they specifically? How did you measure or define success? Think of the SMART acronym to define your accomplishments.

2.    Coaching: If you were ever lucky enough to receive feedback from your manager, you learned about the tasks you were doing right and those that could use some improvement. What were you doing right? Why? What made it great? Use these as accomplishments for your resume. 

3.    Performance Appraisals. I used to tell people to keep a “Me File”; a file that contained thank you notes, letters of recommendations, awards, etc. that you could use and share with your manager in preparation for the appraisal. Getting back to the job search, keep a similar file and use this data to help populate your accomplishment-rich resume. If you can, gather your past appraisals to refresh your memory about all of your accomplishments.

4.    Career Development: Career development wasn’t just about sending someone to a course. It was also giving someone an opportunity to cross train or mentor someone or even lead a project of group. These are areas that can be applied to your resume as well. What classes can you add to your resume? What developmental activities can you apply to your resume? Were you a mentor? 

I mentioned that the steps to performance management are beneficial to resume writing and interviewing. The preparation that you take to write your resume is also preparing you to participate in an interview. You will notice real life examples of your accomplishments as you go through these notes.

What if your company didn’t use a performance management program? While unfortunate and harder to dig up data, try to remember your accomplishments and think of the impact these made on the business. In the meantime, if you are currently employed, keep a “Me File” and keep it filled with your accolades, kudos, thanks, training or development activities. Thinking like this will help keep you from getting stuck coming up with accomplishments.