LinkedIn's New Whac-A-Mole Feature

Ever play Whac-a-mole at an arcade or fair? What a fun time, as the little mole pops its head up from any of six or seven different holes on the game, you attempt to smack or whack it down back into it’s hole. In the 90’s it was not uncommon for software companies to have one game available for employees amusement and/or release frustration.

LinkedIn introduced a feature in the last week or so and you may have been seeing it’s effects in your email. LinkedIn Endorsements were announced in late September this year with the tagline, “Give Kudos with Just One Click.” (See LinkedIn Blog)

Scott Kleinberg, of Tribune Newspapers say about LinkedIn Endorsements, “Click. Click. Boom. Show someone you respect them professionally. Endorse them on LinkedIn.” Yet, there has been two side effects I’ve noticed. One, what do you do when you get a notification email? Two, when you endorse someone, a window pops up with other connections’ skill, asking if you would endorse them.

The first is easy, thank the person either on LinkedIn in a message or send them a thank you email. This is a great opportunity to further network with them and see what’s going on in their lives. But the second side effect, well that is something else...

This is the Whac-A-Mole game. As soon as you acknowledge  someone’s endorsement,  a window pops up with four people you are connected to and asks “Now it’s your turn. Endorse your connections:” and you can endorse a skill of theirs from their profile. (I have one client that never added Skills & Expertise to their profile and LinkedIn identifed potential skills within their summary and sent me an inquiry to endorse them - very smart technology.) Here is how it is a Whac-A-Mole game.

When you endorse one person’s skill, another person and skill pops up. If you endorse all four, then four new endorsements pop up. If you are an addictive person you cannot stop, and you click, click & boom, your connections will soon know how much you appreciate their skills and expertise.

LinkedIn has provided a wonderful tool for people to connect and build relationships as well as providing an outlet for random acts of kindness. However, don’t use the endorsements willy-nilly or it will cheapen the endorsements as a whole. We need the to make sure that people, job holders, recruiters and hiring managers understand that when a prospective candidate has a number of endorsements attached to a specific skill, they can expect the candidate to demonstrate expertise in that skill in the interview.

So be considerate when you endorse someone’s skill. It’s quick and it’s easy, but it’s not trivial. It doesn’t take as long to produce as a recommendation, but it can be just as important to that person’s career future.

Networking around the Grille

This is probably my 16th posting on networking since I started blogging. Why? Because it’s very important. So, it’s summertime; people are barbequing in the back yard, picnicking and Networking!!! Let’s look at networking again this time... networking at parties, cookouts and picnics.

   Remember the old Nat King Cole song, Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer... but summer is no time to be lazy when you’re looking for a promotion or a new job. It’s really a great time to connect with new people in a pleasant atmosphere. People are feeling good, having a beverage to drink and some good comfort food.

   It’s a great time to connect, but!!! Yes, what do you say to folks? (Well I’m going out on a limb here, against stuff a lot of people before me have told you.) What do you say, not your elevator speech. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. My friend and management guru Joe Takash is quoted as saying:

   Most 'elevator speeches' make the listener want to take the stairs. If you struggle, (which most of us do), in swiftly describing what you do and the value you provide, practice and get feedback.

    Take the pressure off yourself and go the the party, picnic or cookout to have fun. Instead of looking for opportunities to give your elevator speech, look for opportunities to say hi. I like to hang out near the drink cooler or keg. “Hi, can I buy you a beer? By the way, I’m Thomas, here you go.” (I only offer beer or wine to persons over 21 years of age with appropriate identification.) It’s a great way to meet everyone at a party. And by introducing myself, people tend to introduce themselves.

   At many cookouts the “guys” hang around the grill. It’s a guy thing. My wife says that the only reason why men will cook food on a grill is because there is an element of danger. That may be true, or it may be because our ancient ancestors cooked their fresh kills over an open fire and it is in our DNA and it just feels right. Regardless, it’s a safe place to hangout and listen and talk to the fellas.

   At those parties, the ladies congregate with one another over a number of different activities. Sadly, I really don’t have any idea what the women are doing, because I’m a guy and I’m hanging out near the dangerous Weber Grill. But, this is also a great place to say hi, meet new people and connect. It’s been reported to me that women are far more likely to talk and share than men do and I pretty much believe that to be true.

   It doesn’t matter which group you are in, just meet new people and then connect with them. Ask if they are on LinkedIn or Facebook or Pinterest or Google+ or any social media. Then follow up, invite them to join your network, friends, follow your pins or join your circles. Then follow up again and invite them for coffee and there you can share your elevator speech.

Holiday Parties and Networking

I saw this article and I wanted to share it with you all. I really like it when a fellow professional agrees with me. Click here Please note the first and third bullets. I always say that when you're in a job search you need to, "Be yourself and be prepared."


The final bullet point especially hits the mark. Ivan Mister is the author of this post and he's laid out his points in a simple and easy to do way. Just before Thanksgiving I posted "Football, Turkey & Networking..." that took on the subject from a different perspective.  Take the opportunity to network over the holidays and treat it like a business event. Make connections and follow up.

It's networking so remember to S-E-L-L

Smile, Engage, Listen, LinkedIn

Always smile it make you look confident and intelligent. Engage with the folks at the party or gathering. No one remembers a wall flower. Listen to them and make mental note. It's okay to ask for and offer to exchange business cards. This makes it easy to follow up using LinkedIn. So SELL yourself this holiday season and maybe you'll have a new job for Christmas.

Do Elevator Speeches Work?

Elevator Speeches... The old sales adage says that you should be able to communicate the core message of your product in the time it takes to go up a couple floors in an elevator... You have between 30 and 90 seconds to tell the person locked in the elevator with you why he should buy what you have to offer. Yes, I know what you’re thinking... People don’t talk in elevators. You walk in, turn to face the front of the box and try not to touch anyone who is also in the elevator with you. Saying hello will get you a strange look. When would you ever use an elevator speech? Even if you’re in the middle of a discussion with someone, when you enter an occupied elevator the automatic reflex is to stop talking.

So if you’re in sales or in a job search, when are you going to use an elevator speech if not in the elevator? Some unemployment professionals may disagree with me; I believe that elevator speeches are a tool to help folks prepare what to say when asked questions while networking or interviewing. However, if a person took 60 to 90 seconds to recite a whole elevator speech, it would come off as pretty artificial and contrived.

Picture this: you’re in line at a wedding reception either for the bar or the buffet. A person walks up behind  you--the line isn’t moving all that fast--so you say “hi.” They say ‘hi” in return. “Great wedding,” one of you say. The other says “yes, (as the line moves up a step) they’re a beautiful couple. By the way, (holding out a hand) my name is Jim Jameson.” (Shaking hands) “Hi Jim, I’m Jacqueline Daniels, how do you know the lovely couple?” Sooner or latter as the line get closer to the desired end, someone asks the other, “What do you do?”  So what do you do?... you dive right in with your well practiced elevator speech. And what do you hear next? The guy behind your new friend saying, “Hey buddy, you going to order a drink or what?” Your new friend darts over to the other open bartender and says, “Make it a double!” and you never see them the rest of the night. Why? Because they are there to dance, eat and drink, see friends and remember how wonderful it was when they were married.

If social occasions aren’t the best place to use your elevator speech, where do you use this all important tool that people have been telling you needed or you’d never find a job? Job Clubs, Networking Groups and Professional Networking Events are the best. I go to an early, breakfast networking event where after forty minutes or so of informal networking we circle up and go around the circle giving our elevator speeches. It’s a smashing time, really great fun! Then people mingle some more to exchange cards with those they hadn’t met before the circle. We exchange leads and asks questions and the group slowly dwindles as people go to work.

At the wedding, it’s better to tell them what you do and then ask what they do. Develop a rapport where you can learn something about the person. If you realize that they are someone you can network with, find a means to follow up with them after the wedding. “Well Jim, we need to get back to the party, it was great meeting you. Maybe we can get together sometime for coffee? I’d like to learn more about your company... are you on LinkedIn? Would it be okay if I sent you an invitation to connect? Great! Enjoy the rest of the evening.”  

BTW, next week I’ll not be posting, I’m off to St. Paul, Minnesota to visit with some friends and celebrate our 30 year reunion.

What to do about the numbers?

We have a good-natured competition going on at Harper's Career Stimulus Program. Our Director--or I should say our Dean -- Nancy Wajler has decided to up the number of her contacts in LinkedIn. One of Nancy’s strengths is competition and this is a perfect area to compete in. Very easy to measure and compare the number of our connections.

Whether you have 150 LinkedIn connections or 250 or 500 or over 600 like Nancy, the next questions is, what do you do with them once you get them? Nancy is a LION a “LinkedIn Open Networker.” She sees value in networking or connecting with everyone knowing that at sometime those connections can be utilized to help someone or to connect to someone else who can help her or someone she is connected to.

While I’m not truly a LION, I have many connections, and I will connect with most everyone as long as I know how I may help them and they know how I they can be of assistance to me. If I’ve never met a person asking to connect to me,  I’ll invite them to a 15 to 30 minute meeting or a phone conversation if they are not local. There I find out about them and they learn about me. After all, networking is about relationships.

Sales professionals have an old adage that goes something like this, “Sales is a numbers game.” When I meet a new client, one of the first things I ask them to do is develop a list of contacts. I suggest they start with a list of 150 names. Often I receive a groan of protest, “I don’t know that many people!” they tell me. Some of my clients are on LinkedIn and they say, “Can I start with my LinkedIn contacts?” What’s the difference? LinkedIn has demonstrated to people the power of connecting. Being connected to people gives you a means to finding a solution to a problem.

Lets say you need to talk to (network with) 15 people in order to meet with one hiring manager or decision maker. Now let’s say you need to talk to at least 10 decision makers in order to get one job offer.  The more people you’re connected to the better your chances of landing the next job. But wait!!!! It’s not just about being connected: you need to talk to these folks. Call them up and ask for a meeting so that you can describe what you have to offer them.  So you can ask them who else they know who you can talk to.

It’s an interesting statistic that if you have less than 100 connections on LinkedIn that less than 3% of LinkedIn can find you on LinkedIn. However, if you have over 500 connections more than 90% of LinkedIn members can find you. Like the old saying, there are strength in numbers. Whether you’re a LION or an Alley Cat, the number of people you’re connected with will aid your success in job search or in business. Professional and Social Networking is about helping people find what they need. Connect, Ask, Talk, Succeed!

More: Don’t take things personally

I’ve pointed out many times in talks, coaching session and in this blog that we have control over two things in this world. First, we have control over our attitude--namely, what we want our attitude to be. Second, we have control over our behavior--namely, how we act toward the world around us.

On the job or in a job search this is no less true. When something happens at work, from losing a promotion to getting a notice of termination, you are faced with what famed psychotherapist Albert Ellis, Ph.D. called an “Activating Event.” These events are without emotion, they simply are a fact one has to deal with. How we perceive these events, Ellis would say, is influenced by our “Belief System” which can be either rational or irrational.

I believe that if you get a pink slip at work a rational belief system would hold that your termination isn’t personal. In major lay offs where there is a 10%, 20% or even 30% reduction in force, it’s a numbers game, and your specific case probably has more to do with your salary or where you sit on an Org Chart than it is about who does or doesn’t like you. To quote The Godfather again: (Sonny Corleone to Tom Hagen and his brother Michael) “You're taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very, very personal.”

What if your boss doesn’t respond to an email you sent? Don’t take it personally until he tells you so. For example: A job seeker and LinkedIn user wrote:  I have 55 first-level connections on LinkedIn, but 50 outstanding invitations that I have sent to people whom I have previous connections and relationships with, and yet they don't even bother to reply to my invitation. I am not sure if these folks are just not interested in LinkedIn anymore, or if they aren't interested in me anymore. Any suggestions???

And I responded: Remember not to take this or anything in your job search personally. There could be a 100 different reasons why these folks haven't replied. You've thought of two. Instead of playing a guessing game, follow up with an email or better yet a phone call. Reconnect and find out...

Life is filled with too many situations, events and accidents to believe that they are all focused on you. Give yourself a break, free yourself of the worry and stress of taking things personally. You’ll be happier and you’ll sleep better at night.

Invitations and Social Media

Social Media Etiquette: When sending invitations in social networking add a personal message. Someone wise once said that if you were at a conference you wouldn’t go around handing out your business card without talking to the people. Sending a personal note with the invitation is like talking to people when you pass out your card. 

I get all kinds of invitations to connect with folks. Mostly, I’m an open networker, so I accept most everyone’s invitation. However, I know many open networkers who will ignore an invitation to connect if there isn’t a personalized note attached with the invitation. Just the default message is often considered bad form. 

For me, I like to know how I can help the person I am networking with. So if we’ve not met face to face, or even when we have, I’ll ask for a meeting to get to know them better. Networking is all about relationships and relationships commonly occur through utility. What I mean is this; going back in history to ancient Greece and Aristotle it was understood that friendships often began as two people worked together on a project of some kind. 

Getting to know one another is in part getting to know what the other person is good at and what they are not and how you can be of service to each other. When I “network” with people it’s often about how I can help them and/or can I introduce them to someone who can assist or help them. 

Social Media is a bonanza for helping people connect and keep track of their connections. It helps networkers network better. I appreciate the updates I see about my connections through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  I can drop a quick note to say hi, congratulations or ask what’s up. Easy and quick, and it reminds folks that I’m out in the world especially when I’m not just next door.

I read an article recently that argued against the comment many people make that they aren’t any good at networking. Social networking and networking share this in common, people say they aren’t any good at it. In fact, most people would be fine with social networking if they just applied simple etiquette. Saying “Hi” and “Thank you” and taking a second to acknowledge someone with a smile or status update. Smiles work great in face to face networking and a smiley can makes a person’s day as well. 

Another great tip is to give before you receive. Social networking utilizes the trust economy. Asking for help via a social network like LinkedIn or Facebook, but if you’re always taking and never giving people will see that and identify you as a user and not a giver. Answering people’s questions on LinkedIn is a great way to increase your presence in your network. (Remember these are the people you’re connected to and the groups you are part of.)  And if your answers are good, you’ll rise in people’s esteem and they’ll remember you. 

One last tip is if you want recommendations, give recommendations. In LinkedIn you need three recommendations to have a 100% complete profile. And the easiest way I know to get a recommendation is to write one for someone in your network. When you do that, LinkedIn then points out that it would be nice if they returned the favor by writing you a recommendation. Or you could just ask a person in your network if they would be kind enough to write you a recommendation. Remember someone wise once said, “... ask and you will receive.”

Connecting with folks is as easy as saying hi! Growing your network is as easy as saying, would you like to connect with me? Facebook makes it even easier, there we can be friends. :-)  

Making a Target Company List

Lets begin with some interesting stats*:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, 90% of jobs are filled through networking on one sort or another.
• Historically, men have become more likely to learn about opportunities through networking than women.
• 26.7% of external hires made by organizations came from referrals, making it the number one external source of hiring
• 90% of recruiting firms do a Google search on candidates.
• 85% of hiring managers use social networking sites like LinkedIn to look for potential candidates who’ve been referred by other professionals.

I help job seekers find jobs through networking; by employing two different lists. A contact list and a target company list are both necessary in conducting a job search focused on the 80% of the jobs that are not advertised.

First, assemble a contact list of all the people you know. We’ll discuss this list in another blog posting. The second list that you’ll use is a list of target companies. This list involves a little imagination and research. If one of the people on your contact list is a librarian you’re a winner; if not, you’re about to add a new name to your contact list, because the library is a great place to get company names for your target company list.

Let’s say you are interested in a career in “high performance, high efficiency, home energy.” Ask your librarian how you find the companies in that market segment that are 25, 50 and 100 miles from your zip code. Maybe you are a truck driver want to know who are the 5 best trucking companies in your area to work for. Maybe you’re interested in a bigger paycheck, what are the best paying companies in your industry? Your librarian has that information right there, ready for you to use.

Of course you can use the Internet if you were traumatized when you were a child when you paid an overdue fee to a librarian. But, then you’ll have one less name on your contact list. Most librarians are nice, even if they insist on your speaking in a whisper.

Another way to find companies to put on your target company list is to do a keyword search with any of the job boards, like Monster or CareerBuilder. See what company names come up and then add any onto your list. Whenever anyone tells you about a job, put the company name on your list, even if you already have a contact at that company. You never know who can help and as someone wise once said, “Many hands make for light work.” What companies are in the news? If you like the company or are interested, put their name on the list.

You could have 25 to 50 names on your list of target companies, and that’s okay. Your list should have more than ten companies though. When you print out your list to show people, keep the printout to between 10 to 15 company names so that the reader isn’t overwhelmed. Then ask them if they have any contacts at any of these companies. If they don’t have any contacts at companies on your list, ask them if there are any companies that they could suggest for you to include on your list. This way your list is never stagnant but always growing and changing.

Good Hunting!

* According to career change challenge website

Shameless Endorsement

  Greetings and Salutations... This week I want to offer a shameless endorsement for a small but important effort in the fight for full employment in northern Illinois.  There are two friendly and extremely hard working professionals that staff the Harper College WorkNet Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois. 

 They offer a series of workshops for job seekers that are free and focus on skills that can and do help folks achieve their goal of landing a job. Here is the link  http://bit.ly/f3dlDb to the courses that are offered. For example, here is a sample of what  courses and workshops they offer:

• Workshop - JIST Cards for Networking
• Workshop - First Steps with LinkedIN; Advanced LinkedIN
• Workshop - Goal Setting for Job Seekers
• Training - Career Confidence Gets The Job
• Training - Improving Interview to Interview

 Just click on the link above and register for the class you’re interested in... There is even an information session on Truck Driving. Also, I conduct a four week program which is a Group Outplacement Training. This is for people who didn’t receive professional outplacement when they were laid off, I cover the basics a job seeker needs for a successful job search. 

 The Harper College WorkNet  Center is a little office inside the IDES office in Arlington Heights. It’s a drop-in center where folks are welcome to stop in and ask questions about different programs that are available to everyone at William Rainey Harper College, (In Palatine, Illinois.) Diane and Chris are the two ladies who staff the drop-in center and Diane teaches some of the workshops. I especially recommend her JIST Cards program as a unique tool for job seekers.

Main Campus

 Lastly, here’s the shameless part, I conduct the Goal Setting for Job Seekers workshop every month. It really pushes the importance of focusing on the goal of getting the job offer and how to support the goal and strengthen your resolve in landing the job as quickly as possible. 

 To learn more about all the programs at the Arlington Heights WorkNet center click on: http://ah.worknetncc.com/  The address is:

Harper College Worknet Center

723 W. Algonquin Road

Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Facebook: You looking at me?

I posed this question today during a breakout session... Does the benefits of Facebook and all its power, reach and opportunities out weigh the risks of viruses, scams, and loss of privacy?

In a group of 40 or more job seekers, most were 50 plus in age, we had a spirited debate about the pros and cons of using Facebook as a tool for people in transition doing a serious job search. The title of the breakout session was: "FACEBOOK: You lookin' at me?"

What do you think? How do you use Facebook? Do you use it for marketing yourself? Would you use Facebook for job searching? What about companies vetting candidates, checking out Facebook pages for insight into their candidates; is it fair? Tell me what you think?

What do people see as the risks of using Facebook as social media while conducting a job search, building a business or marketing themselves or their business?


Maybe it's more simple than that... maybe social media is far too open to risk anything as important as finding and landing your next job. Maybe all the noise Facebook presents in terms of people's rants, inane commentary on the world or their lives, makes Facebook not an appropriate professional networking or marketing tool. Is LinkedIn the only professional social networking environment to utilize?

I'd really appreciate any thoughts, suggestions or comments you have on the subject.  Remember that networking is not easy to do well, but it is essential in moving forward in your career.

Transition & Social Networking

   If networking is an active and dynamic process of building mutually beneficial relationships, social networking is a means to growing, maintaining and add to those relationships in an effective and simplified manner. This is true for everyone and even more so for the person in transition.

   Social media tools are meant to aid in your job search and get you through transition more quickly, but they are not meant to waste time, brain power or energy. Warning: Don’t allow your valuable time to be twittered away! That goes for Facebook, LinkedIn and the Internet as a whole. Social networking can be a critical part of your job hunting or marketing strategy. Regardless of which tools you use – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, you need to:

• Connect with other people
• Build relationships 
• Get exposure and provide help to others

   In the spirit of full disclosure, I was not so quick to jump on the Twitter bandwagon and I was reluctant to get a Facebook account. However, I found Facebook invaluable keeping up to date with family and friends when I was travelling 90% of the time. Yet, as a professional tool I was adverse until my clients started finding me and asking to connect on Facebook in addition to LinkedIn.

   On the other hand, I’ve been using LinkedIn for years and know it is a professional tool that works well. What I have learned about Twitter like Facebook: people started connecting to me once I was out there; in fact, Twitters’ whole model is designed to save time and energy. I recommend The Twitter Job Search Guide: Find a Job and Advance Your Career in Just 15 Minutes a Day by Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan & Deb Dib.

   I have a friend and colleague Bruce Bixler  @brucebixler49 or http://www.linkedin.com/in/brucebixler49 who is an expert in using social media for fun and profit. Besides Bruce there are many, many opportunities to attend workshops and webinars that are free or very reasonable.

   Networking is here to stay and hopefully you will continue to network after you’ve landed your next job. Likewise, you’ll want to continue to use social media as a way to save time as you stay connected while on the job.

   If you don’t use Facebook or Twitter I suggest you start looking into their benefits and how they can keep you up to date in your industry as well as posted on important data and breaking news concerning your job search. Get an account and start using the tools and soon you’ll be connected to people you need to know.