Posts tagged with “career”

If you're a millennial than you have to start figuring out how you want to position yourself at work. Don't think for a minute that everyone that's older than you doesn't understand technology. Although the younger generations are typically more savvy and adept at utilizing social media, there is still a signifcant amount of "seasoned" professionals on the web.

There's five generations in the workforce, and although millennials will be the majority in the year 2020 (HBS), older workers still have senior positions. Instead of trying to be superior than them, which can get you fired or put you in a corner, try and be helpful by supporting their projects with your tech expertise. Think about how you can use your knowledge of social media or web 2.0 technology to your benefit and teach them, instead of trying to outsmart them. Remember, a built bridge is stronger than a burnt bridge.

<< Social Media Mistakes Part Five: Tweeting Too Early

Your colleagues are following you on Twitter, trust me. If you're looking for a career move right now or in the future and you want to promote it, wait till after you've moved from your company.

Supervisor references are always important because endorsements rule the world, so if you want to burn your previous employer by not being transparent offline, then you're in trouble. You can tell your friends and family, but once you announce it to the world, it's fair game and you'll be laid off immediately without the chance to ever return to that company. A lot of people don't realize that once you establish a reputation and a network at a company, it can be your safety net in the future if you desperately need a job.

<< Social Media Mistakes Part 4

Brand association isn't just for advertising and public relations nowadays, even the common worker is effected by this. As such, please don't say that a blog disclaimer is going to disassociate your brand with your company's because it's not and when you get fired your boss won't accept that excuse either!

Brand association is powerful and cannot be undone, which means you have to be smart about what kind of attention you want to draw to yourself. A reporter, journalist, producer or blogger can easily scrape your content and quote it in a story, without your permission. Not only should you be careful about your presence on your blogs but be careful about any attention you draw to your social media outlets including answering linkedin questions, status comments on facebook or myspace, etc. They can link you to your company, even if the blog topic isn't related to your current work position. If news breaks out because of this visibility, your company can fire you for carelessness and for harming the corporate brand. Its called conduct detrimental to the company outside of work. Again, our lives are different now, so you better be safe than sorry (and that sounds like something my parents would say).

Next: Social Media Mistakes Part 5: Tweeting Too Early >>

Previous: Social Media Mistakes Part 3: Corporate Policy >>

Company cultures are always different and have policies (some have social media policies for workers too). Some block social networking sites, while others refrain because they know that people are doing work at home, so their employment contract is different. Robert Half International found that 54% of companies prohibit use of social networking Web sites during work hours, including popular sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Another survey by ScanSafe, indicates that 20% more companies are blocking social networking sites and that 76% currently block them, which is much more than the Robert half survey. Don't complain that your company blocks these sites. If you're truly obsessed, why not access them from your mobile phone? Otherwise, get fired or quit and go somewhere else (though that is not a great idea in todays economy)!

Other companies realize the potential in good corporate web-citizens. For example, eBillme offers training on how to use social networking sites to spread company information.

Next: Social Media Mistakes Part Four: Brand Association >>

Previous: Social Media Mistakes Part Two: Me Before We >>

For those looking to make big money in their careers there are some jobs that always come to mind when thinking of who makes the big bucks: brain surgeons, rocket scientists, and (until recently) Wall Street executives to name a few. But are you out of luck if you faint at the sight of blood or suck at working with numbers? According to Forbes there are several six-figure careers out there that you may have never even considered: