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.

The Right Mental Attitude

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goals; nothing on earth can help a man with a wrong mental attitude.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

I was at a job seekers event not long ago and I met two people. There were many people there–over 150–and I bumped into one fellow after a breakout session and before the formal networking tables began. He was preparing to leave and I asked him which networking session he was going to, “Steve, are you going to the Professional table, the Executive table or the open networking table?” He told me he was going to leave, that these networking things don’t work, “No one ever has a contact for me. I’ve been out of work for five years, with a couple of contract jobs in between. And no one ever has a good contact for me.”

He went on to tell me that the economy sucks, life is terrible and he was just getting started telling me everything that was wrong with the world. I interrupted him and asked him if he realized that there are many ways to work a formal networking session. He could practice his elevator speech, offer connections and contacts to others or just meet someone new and follow up for coffee and more practice. Steve just didn’t want to hear that and I stepped back and offered him success in his job search. I’ll pass from documenting his response.

Earlier that day, I met Denise. I’ve known her for a number of years and she was at this event representing a Temp Services business in the area. She stopped me and asked a couple of questions about negotiating for a new opportunity she was considering. She loved the job and the people, but the salary was $5K less than she was currently making. We bounced a couple of options around and role played a little and she left to go networking to see who else she might meet.

Later that same day I was given a book on famous quotations and there was Thomas Jefferson pointing out the moral for me to learn that day. No matter how much you want to help, some people won’t change. It you find yourself in that situation, walk away–no, run away–and focus your time and energy on your goals. Surround yourself with people who possess the right mental attitude. As W. Clement Stone once said, “Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you become like them.”

Stress During Job Search

Some people think that it is merely semantics using the words “Job Transition” as opposed to “Unemployed.”  It is true, however, that there is psychological negative effect that comes with the word “unemployed,” that makes it more than semantics. When a person loses a job, they lose all the aspects of the job and the circumstances associated with the job also changes. Schedules, deadlines, priorities, motivations and purpose all go away or shift. This causes stress in the person and the family--in fact everyone associated with the person who lost their job. Therefore, let’s call the number one stressor from losing a job, “Loss of Structure or Schedule.”

The second and no less of a stressor in the life of a person without a job is, “Loss of Income.” This creates all kinds of fallout from, “How are we going to pay the bills?” to “If I don’t have enough cash to put gas in the car, how will I ever find a job?” Credit Card debt goes up causing more stress and anxiety. Decisions of which bills to pay, “Should I pay the mortgage or buy groceries?” forces some folks to ignore important things because they cannot deal with the stress of not having enough money. This leads to problems growing and not going away until it becomes a legal problem... bankruptcy and home foreclosures are on the rise or at all time highs.

Third in the list of stressors that job seekers must deal with is the “Disruption of the Family.” An amazing statistic we are seeing today is the number of divorces after retirement. I don’t even want to contemplate the number of damaged marriages that have resulted from job loss due to the economy.  Children in school experiencing stress in their family due to job loss find their grades falling or start acting out with negative behavior.  

Today, more than any other time in history we are under attack by stressful things. Not since native peoples struggled against the elements and wild predators have human beings felt the kind of stress we feel today. So the first thing we need to do is see and understand that we are stressed. Then to seek ways to overcome or at least reduce the stress we are under. Communication is a great stress release. Counseling, through your church or a mental health professional, will offer greater relief. Finally, don’t hide your problems, let people know that you are looking for work and you’ll find they don’t think badly of you and in fact may know of something that will lead to a new opportunity.

How to build an Olympic Attitude

What can we learn from watching the Olympics? Especially if you’re a regular person without athletic talent, what do you share with Olympic athletes? You don't have to be an Olympian to have the same kind of attitude, but you do have to work hard, and believe:

Set goals regarding your performance

• Focus on what is doable first. Make phone calls to friends and other job seekers to build your confidence. Then make phone calls to new contacts using what you learned from your practice. Then schedule networking meeting to grow your network into your job.

Plan for the event (The Interview)

• Find triggers or common questions which will help you stay focused on your performance during the interview. Then rehearse and practice. Do what Olympic athletes do and visualize yourself going through the the interview.

Your performance does not define your self-worth  

• Separate your self-worth from your performance. Putting the two together puts enormous pressure on the event and and makes it difficult to do well. You are not your performance; you are always you regardless of the score at the end of the day.

Relive your Successes

• Use your success stories; visualize the events and achievements. Remember how you felt and thought. You have done fantastic things in your career. Refer back to your success stories often so that you relive the experience.

Dump your ego, you’re only human

• If not, you won't allow yourself to do things that make you look bad, and in the end, that avoidance will keep you from getting better. Human beings learn from mistakes by making changes--often little changes which lead to achievements.

Temporary disappointments are normal (Except for Cubs fans; then it’s not temporary)

• Nobody's perfect, stuff happens. Know that you will make mistakes and mess up the interview or meeting, but let them slide, and focus on the next one.

Laugh often and laugh out loud!

• When it gets hard... laugh. Dump the negative and find something to laugh about. As I always tell my clients and audiences: "If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right!"

"How to build an Olympic Attitude" is inspired by Peter Haberl, United States Olympic Committee sports psychologist