Notes: Triangle Social Media Recap
Are you part of social media? Are you in the Triangle? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then your presence should be mandatory at the Triangle Social Media Club. Just want to start out by saying thanks to @Capstrat for hosting the event. If you have not been there, let me say it is completely AWESOME!!! Another thanks to #ourhashtag for pulling these events together and getting some great speakers and content. So, a small recap for those of you who weren’t there (hit me up on Twitter with your best excuse for why you were not there, and I have 2 free tickets for @zachward performances at DSI Comedy. It’s a show that you can’t miss).
Last night’s main speaker was none other than Laurie Ruettimann who gave a completely awe-inspiring performance. She is an industry vet, well sought after speaker, writer and thought leader. Her topic tonight was on using some of the more well known social media tools to land a job as well as some interesting thoughts on personal branding and a couple of key HR concepts. Couple of key points:
1. The biggest HR secret (and she even said it’s not really a secret) is that people hire you because they like you.
2. Another interesting point, HR people hire you within the first 11 seconds of meeting you, seeing you, talking to you, etc.
3. When looking for jobs online, find people in the company that make the hiring decisions and find out how to get in touch with them. (i.e. Linkedin)
4. Companies would much rather hire people through networking.
5. Twitter Search is a great resource. Look up things like job angels. Also, using a tool like Indeed.com which is a great site that pulls all jobs into one search from a multitude of sites. (Laurie mentioned something here about her brother-in-law maybe needs to use this site, funny!)
6. Job boards are worthless. Don’t use them, they are full of spam and MLM’s.
7. 4 keys to success. Presence, ability, skills, and a way into the company.
8. Laurie says networking should be selfless. If you call into a company, offer something to them, help them with something or give them something that they can use, make sure it’s not one sided.
9. Burning bridges is a thing of the past. If you have a really bad experience with a company or an interviewee, don’t be afraid to put it out to your networks and talk about your experience. (talk about controversial)
10. If a company is checking you out online and judging you for things online that could possibly be incorrect, or worse, not even be you, be ready to move onto the next opportunity.
Some great comments tonight that made everyone laugh.
- I am the @waynesutton of the Kozlowski family (The Winner)
- Nut up and be a man and go home (Very nice Laurie)
- Zach Ward = Astroboy… ( I love it)
- Love what you do (and you too can work 110 hours a week like Zach)
- Brian McDonald you can not wear any more earth tones
- That girl was a HOT MESS!! (My favorite) – Lylian
I have seen tons of resumes over the years and done many interviews. One thing that drives me absolutely crazy is a canned cover letter. One that you see taken right out of a book. @Cord mentioned that he will still receives resumes that have the “insert_company_here” statement in them. I can hardly fathom that someone would do this, but yeah, this is an immediate dismissal right into the digital paper shredder. Be original in your cover letter. Find something to say that no one else does. Tell us why you want to be a part of our team, because our team really becomes our family. I personally would love something like a video resume, (even though Laurie says be-careful with that) but it shows me creativity. Tell us something you saw about us or on our website that you liked or disliked. Grab our attention, show us you care and be memorable.
To end the meeting @dgtlpapercuts gave some great shameless plugs (Wayne said he counted 10) and shared with us some personal branding tips and techniques. Another plug for Jeff, check out his personal blog here. (because I can’t write all the plugs in) Jeff L. Cohen’s Blog Also, you can check out his business card WP theme at www.jeffreylcohen.com. Ryan Boyles also mentioned you can check out Free Digital Business Cards
The night ended with a bang and a video that I will never ever EVER forget. Wayne and Jeff were sitting at the top of Dorton Arena and talking about the October 22nd Deep Fried Tweet up “staring Jeff and Wayne. The event will be held in the Folk Festival Tent from 7 to 9 p.m. on Food Lion Hunger Relief Day. Bring four cans of food for Free entry to the fair. Be sure to take advantage of free registration for the Deep Fried Tweetup here Deep Fried Triangle Tweetup. (I hear that attendees will receive neato badges for the event). The night ended with some good beer, great conversation and flying nerf missile fight. It was awesome. Don’t miss the next one.
