Entries Tagged 'Uncategorized' ↓

I know very little about MetLife.

But after this spot, they are my new favorite company:

*Other factors and work experience contributed to ultimately getting hired, but the tweet got me noticed.

Guest Post by Jenny Weigle

When you find a job opportunity you’re truly excited about, it’s almost like the butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling on a first date. You’re hoping to impress somebody and that they’ll want to see you again, or in this case, hire you. That’s how I felt in October 2010. I was looking for a job in social media marketing or communications. At the time, I was lucky to find a number of these openings and had even lined up some interviews. A friend of mine emailed me a link to the listing for social media manager at CareerBuilder, and the butterflies grew as I read each bullet point in the description. “I can do all of this!” I said aloud in my apartment (alone).

Immediately, I started to work on my cover letter, which was my least favorite part of being a job seeker. My cover letters had never been my strong suit. I knew I needed an intro that would truly stand out. I decided to hold off on writing the intro and focus on the rest of the letter, discussing why I was qualified for the position and what I could bring to the table. In a few short hours, after many revisions, the letter was complete, minus the intro.

Since I wanted to work in social media, I considered that perhaps posting about my excitement on social media would work to my advantage. Or would that be considered tacky? Is it even appropriate to tweet about a job you’re applying for? Would the hiring manager even see it? And if so, would he/she be impressed or annoyed? I decided to go for it anyway. I posted the tweet below:

Then, I suddenly had a brilliant idea for the intro to my cover letter:

Dear Hiring Manager,

When my friend emailed me a link to the job description for Social Media Manager, I was so excited to read over it that I immediately tweeted “I have found the PERFECT job opportunity! Oh @CareerBuilder, I hope you like my resume and cover letter! #HopingtoImpressHiringManager.”  As someone with a great passion for all-things-digital, I believe I would be an excellent candidate for this opportunity and could execute a brilliant social media strategy for CareerBuilder across multiple platforms and audiences.

I reviewed the cover letter and resume one last time and then submitted it to CareerBuilder. Less than two hours later, I received a tweet from the hiring manager:

The next morning, I had an email from the hiring manager, asking to set up a phone interview. After two more in-person interviews, I was offered my dream job! The most interesting aspect of all of this is that I didn’t even think to tweet about any of the other social media jobs I was interviewing for. (I guess none of them excited me in the way this one did.)

Lessons learned from this experience:

• Don’t be afraid to connect with an employer’s public social media accounts (or send them a tweet)! Facebook and LinkedIn may be a bit too personal to connect on, but Twitter and Google+ would be fine.
• Find a way to make your cover letter stand out from others.
• Don’t rely on social media alone. I still had to make a good impression – in person – at every interview that followed.
• Social media rocks.

Jenny Weigle is the social media manager for CareerBuilder. She shares her job seeker tips and social media marketing advice on Twitter and Google+.

I’ve seen many things in my days. But this may be the greatest.

[Over the years, I've referenced Rick Astley a lot here. Take a look here, too.]

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your god’s name
I’m every person you need to be
I’m the cult of personality

- Living Colour “Cult of Personality”

I think we messed up.

For years, social media analysts and pundits have talked about the power of connectivity laying with ideas and concepts, not people.

While that provides good, Tweetable soundbytes for conferences and events, is that really true?

Yesterday, I was honored to moderate a panel on the future of social media featuring Ricky Choi from Living Social and Andrew Noyes from Facebook. They brought it strong, giving tremendous insight into social network beyond just the platforms they work for.

One question really stood out to me, though.

Someone asked, “Who are the social media experts we should be following?”

Bam.

The audience did want to know about the ideas. In fact, we spent most of the 90 minutes discussing social media on a theoretical level.

But one of the major topics was about the people to follow. Who are the thought-leaders? Who should we listen to? Who should we follow?

The “cult of personality” term came to define totalitarian regimes, dictatorships and other propaganda-driven reigns. Now, what we have right now in social media is NOT quite the same.

However, social media events around the world are packed. “I can’t wait to hear what [Person A] has to say today!”

It’s not just the content, it’s seeing THAT person and hearing THEM say it. These are the people that are linked, Tweeted, blog-rolled and more. Or, just someone you enjoy following or reading.

This is in no way, shape or form a bad thing at all. Groups need leaders.

It’s just that we, as an industry, have to realize that the people are important, too.

I’m guilty of this mistake as much as anyone.

Ideas may be the currency of social media, but the people are the banks.

I’m an absolute sucker for reality singing competitions. I think they are the perfect showpiece of the social media era.

On these shows, contestants try to sing their way to fame and fortune; in social media, users try to Tweet their way to fame and fortune.

The decisions are made by judges…and then the public…on the shows. Aren’t we all judging each other in social media?

Naturally, I’ve been drawn to FOX’s “The X Factor.”

There are three contestants that have completely stood out to me as ones that have a true story to tell.

One is so young and so talented, turning a Justin Bieber anthem into a longing ballad.

One is trying to get his break to jumpstart his life, shocking everyone with how his voice didn’t match his body.

One is looking to realize her stalled potential and prove it’s never too late to be a diva.

The spectrum here is enormous. It’s real people trying to something extraordinary.

And you…we…get the chance to help take them from where they are to where they want their lives to go.

Such competitions exemplify the social sphere we live in. We’re connected, not just by WiFi, but by the actions we take. As such, social media is nothing new; it’s what we’ve been doing forever.

Here are my contestants to follow in the competition:

Drew Ryniewicz, Age 14

Josh Krajcik, Age 30

Stacy Francis, Age 42

Sad news today, as professional wrestler, spokesperson and actor Randy “Macho Man” Savage died today after suffering a heart attack that caused him to lose control of the car he was driving.

He was only 58.

In 2009 when I first launched this blog, I had an occasional series called “Great Moments in Wrestling History.”

One of the moments discussed was one of my favorites of all-time, as bad guy Savage lost a career-ending match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania VII.  Sensational Queen Sheri Martel, his manager at the time, attacked him after the loss.  As he was defenseless and shattered, Savage’s on-screen former manager (and real-life wife) Miss Elizabeth, who had been watching from the crowd, ran into the ring and saved her love, even though he had turned his back on her previously.

Savage was touched by her gesture.  You see, he had kicked her to the curb years before as he sank into paranoia and jealousy over her friendship with Hulk Hogan.  She had no reason to help him,  save for love.

What played out in the ring was the best redemption story in WWE history. Savage went from being the baddest of the bad guys to being embraced by the fans again instantly, as he lifted Elizabeth onto his shoulder and disappeared off into retirement.

Of course, it wasn’t an actual retirement.  But the moment felt so real.

He came from a family of professional wrestlers and became the greatest of them all.

His match with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat at Wrestlemania III was long considered to be the greatest match of all time.  His feuds with Hulk Hogan, Sgt Slaughter, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior provided some of the most iconic moments in WWE history.

He became a pop culture mainstay as the celebrity endorser behind Slim Jim (“Snap into a Slim Jim…OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH” is a classic tagline.)

Over the past decade, he had quietly disappeared from the public eye.  He remarried just last year (Savage and the late Elizabeth divorced in the mid-1990s) and stood a good chance of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next year, according to rumors.

He leaves behind a wife and decades of memories.