Social Networks and me and Bill Gates

Lots of stories lately, warning about the dangers of social networks such as Facebook and Myspace, and the need to increase your awareness of who might be reading – especially potential employers. I promise, this is not one of those stories.

Social networks – even the more professional ones -- are terrific fun, and they’re everywhere, I’m in a network comprising hundreds of people laid off by a large corporation. And we all love catching up, getting a little gossipy sometimes, maybe even sharing news about job openings.

AN ASIDE: Soon you may find it’s even more fun as all of us start influencing what companies do, using the power of social networks. More and more, companies that want to click with their customers are tapping into their ideas and preferences (and marketing sense) via these networks. As an article this week noted, communication – especially two-way communication/preferences/ratings – has become a part of the way we live.

For the companies that get it, really get it, these networks spread the word. And sometimes the word is all about how good or bad a product is, what it looks like, and how it compares.

BACK TO US: For many of us (and it is all about us, right?), it means spreading or sharing work experiences – what it’s like to work for a particular company, or manager, or place?

Even Bill Gates just posted his profile this week on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/billgates, and posted the question: what are your suggestions on the best way to encourage more people to pursue careers in science and technology?

I’m not Bill Gates, (not even on his connections list) but I’m interested in the same question – what would help you, or someone you know, in your pursuit of a career. Let me know (and I’ll pass it along to Bill).

Don't Need No Books 'Round Here

The New York Times reported recently that teenagers are ignorant on basic history and literature questions.

No surprise there--we've all seen Miss South Carolina expound on geography, we've all heard of TV's Are You Smarter Than a 5th grader?, and most of us have probably been aware of the increasing chatter surrounding "the dumbing-down of America."

But one comment in response to the Times article on ignorant teenagers did surprise me.

Ffrank of Columbus, OH wrote in to say, "The sad truth is you don't need a knowledge of history or literature to succeed in almost all jobs. Haven't noticed any discussions about the Treaty of Westphalia at my workplace lately, and I work for a university."

Okay, true, no one at my job talks about the Treaty of Westphalia either. But to say that you don't need a knowledge of history or literature to succeed in most jobs seems a little extreme. And if it's true, why do we (many of us, anyway) learn those things in school?

Could it be that the tiny particulars of both subjects (what the Treaty of Westphalia said, in which year Shakespeare wrote Hamlet) mean less than the broader perspective (ideally) afforded by book-learning?

And what about you? When's the last time something academic came up at your workplace?

Photo by _sarchi.

Information Overload?

Feeling inundated with information these days? If so, you are not alone.

The 2008 Workplace Productivity Survey, commissioned by LexisNexis, reports that more than seven in ten American white collar workers, representing nearly every industry, feel overwhelmed with information at their workplace.

Other findings include:

-White collar professions spend an average of 2.3 hours per day conducting online research.
-More than 40% of respondents indicated an inability to handle future increases in information flow.
-The majority of employees in the professional and legal fields feel they are close to a breaking point in terms of information.

What do you think? Are you overwhelmed with information?

Photo by sweatpea.loty30

Hollywood recognizes young entrepreneur

Among the names called out at last night's Oscar ceremonies, Sarah Polley’s film Away From Her was nominated for two Academy Awards: best actress for Julie Christie and best adapted screenplay, Sarah Polley herself. And why do you know that name?

Why indeed! Sarah Polley is one of the young entrepreneurs who told her story to experience.com, our mother ship. She started out with a love of acting, then moved toward politics, then came back to the entertainment world as an actor, then eventually a filmmaker, with the help of a series of mentors.

Now she's getting the kind of recognition even seasoned Hollywood veterans can only dream of.

Career Comedy: What Not to Do at Work

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Greening the Workplace

As we look for ways to conserve and improve the natural environment, we may not realize that our green habits can extend beyond our homes. Regardless of your job position, or the size of your company, there are several ways to go green at work.

From re-using paper to changing the energy settings on your computers, every little step helps. And by taking these steps, co-workers may notice and hop on board.

Looking for ways to green your office? I looked into it for you, and turns out there are several resources for doing just that.

• National Geographic offers The Green Guide, which features blogs, tips and buying guides.
• True Green at Work gives 100 ways to make the environment your business.
• The Los Angeles Times blog “Emerald City” follows the road to green living, and last week’s topic was the green workplace.
• The Green at Work Magazine is a premiere corporate sustainability publication.
• Treehugger has a “How to green your work” guide.

How green is your workplace? Have you noticed a change in office culture in light of the green movement? Let’s hear about them!

Photo by Eleda.

Diversity -- Has it become OLD news?

Anyone ever feel that Diversity in the workplace is old news? Then you’re obviously not paying attention to the presidential campaign.

No, not what you think. We’ve read tons about voters weighing the differences between a black candidate (male) and a female (white) candidate. Yes, it’s for a job, a very important job, to be sure, but it’s still all about two candidates vying for a job.

But wait, there’s more! There’s another likely candidate for the job – older (white male). And here’s how that type of diversity plays on the TV and radio talk shows:

“Maybe John McCain would only be a one-term president. After all he’s 71 or 72 or 73—who knows?”

“If McCain wins, it’ll be a great opportunity for Romney or Huckabee to run for president in four years.”

Four years? What are these people thinking?

More on diversity and the election: We ran a survey on Experience recently that dealt with the election, and reported the results as showing Barack Obama being more popular among students than Hillary Clinton.

We soon received an email protesting the trivialization of these contests as a popularity contest:

“Since Mr. Obama has taken the delegate lead in the race for the democratic presidential nominee, the press's true colors have begun to show and experience.com appears to be no exception. If Mrs. Clinton was ahead, she would undoubtedly have earned true voters as opposed to being reduced to the winner of a popularity contest.

“That is not only offensive and demeaning, but it speaks volumes as to your opinion one of the most important races EVER to face our country and certainly the most important race in the lives of current college students.”

While that was certainly not our intent, it does speak to the danger of media attitudes that oversimplify. And these same attitudes can easily (and unintentionally) surface in the workplace – attitudes regarding minorities of any type, whether by race, gender or age.

Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that the three leading candidates are routinely referred to on TV news shows as Sen. McCain, Sen. Clinton, and Barack?

Reminds me of the last state elections in Massachusetts where Gov. Deval Patrick was routinely referred to for months by the media as “Deval”, unlike his predecessor who was referred to (from Day One) as Gov. Romney.

Do you see these workplace problems? Is it any different where you work? Let us know.

What Does Castro's Resignation Mean for Your Career?

Nothing, you say?

Think again.

Political events do affect the course of your career.

Picture a huge funnel, the top of which is the whole wide world and all the events that happen within it--be they military coups, or hunger strikes, the Olympics, Britney Spears' latest crises, hurricanes, or civil war. At the bottom of the funnel is you--your singular life, your individual career.

When things happen up there--at the top of the funnel--they eventually trickle all the way down to you (okay, maybe not so much the Britney Spears crises) and impact the way you live your life. Not true, you say? Well, what about conflict in the Middle East, which lead to higher gas prices, which made it twice as expensive to fill your tank?

Same holds true for other changes to our social, political and economic climate. So let's brainstorm for a minute the ways in which the end of the Castro era might affect your career. What if our trade embargo on Cuba comes to an end, opening up a new market for US goods? What if American citizens are eventually allowed to travel freely to Cuba? What if the cap on the number of Cubans allowed to seek exile in the US is lifted? Any one of these events might have ramifications for the jobs available the next time you're looking, or for marketplace trends that could directly affect your career path.

Can you think of a world event that has specifically influenced your own career path?

Check out the results of our political survey of college students.

Photo by ilkerender.

It’s FREEZING in here! (Not what you think)

Thanks to Remote Access, I worked from home yesterday along with many others in the area – missing (well, not really MISSING) much of an ice/snow/sleet/rain storm.

Unlike other remote sessions, the response was slow (too many people working from home, perhaps?) and way too often, the connection would freeze up. Which brings up two questions:

1. Are remote connections completely ready for prime time if more and more people start working remotely (see also STORMS, $5 per gallon GAS PRICES)?

2. Are we ready to move to the Remote Workplace on a large-scale basis?

The first answer is probably, possibly yes, or at least very soon. My faith in high-tech solutions is not easily dampened by torrential downpours.

Second answer is more complicated. I learned all about work in a group environment – whether an office, a warehouse, an ice cream shop, whatever.

It wasn’t just about learning the job skills, but also about co-existence. It’s not that much of a stretch between cooperating on the temperature of the heating/AC and cooperating on a project.

Change the scene to people – many people – working from home much of the time. Not getting into the day-to-day interactions, the smiles at seeing somebody receive flowers on Valentine’s Day or the shared sadness of somebody leaving. Will people learn all they need about “the way we’ve always done it here”?

I’m trying to get a mindpicture of what the workplace will look and feel like in 10 years. The warmth of an office atmosphere gets replaced by the coolness of long-distance. And I’m not quite figuring it out – how it will work, will it work?

Will we all be OK as essentially independent contractors? Some thrive, some don’t. Some (who happen to be in the office that day) will love having the whole place to themselves.

Or will the entire office disappear? Will it even be necessary?

What do you think – what’s your vision?

photo by Mr. Tu

Is Your Valentine Sitting in the Next Cube?

According to our recent survey of young professionals, inter-office dating is pretty commonplace. The best example I know of a romance that began at work was recently cemented with a marriage proposal at a little ski lodge in Vermont. But not all office romances go so smoothly.

What are the biggest risks of kissing the cutie in the next cube?

Experience readers reported these:

1. Gossip. Oh yeah. If people at work know you are dating, you can bet they're going to talk about it.

2. Awkwardness. As one respondent from Bradley U. said, "I've seen many people date within the workplace and more often than not, it turns into an awkward situation for not only those two people, but their other work friends who are thrown into the middle of their tension."

2. Accusations of favoritism. If your office crush is your manager (or your direct report), don't even think about it.

3. Accusations of (post-break up) prejudice. "Whether it goes well or badly, it will impact office politics," one alum of Tampa U. told us.

5. Getting fired. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes, especially if you act in direct defiance of a workplace policy on dating, it could cost you your job.

Got any tales of your own true-life office romance? Any sordid stories of break-up fall-out, or careers turned upside down by love? On the flip side, can you think of any *good* reasons to date someone you work with, or tips for success if you happen to be hit by Cupid's arrow at an 8am meeting?

~Happy Valentine's Day~

Clinton and Obama Reaching Out to a 21-year-old College Student?

As a junior in college, I studied abroad in Australia, sat through numerous classes and lectures, searched for internships, and prepared for my senior year and post-grad life. Sounds pretty typical, right?

Not for Jason Rae. He is spending his junior year answering phone calls from John Kerry and Bill Clinton and having breakfast with Chelsea Clinton. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin's Marquette University is the youngest member of the Democratic National Committee. As one of the 796 "super delegates," Rae is essentially a free agent and can back anyone in the race for the Democratic nomination.



Rae is not only a unique super delegate because of his age. Being 21 he has never voted in a presidential election, turning 18 after Election Day in 2004. Since the race for the Democratic nomination is so tight, Rae's first vote matters a great deal.

In an interview with Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel, Rae talks about his life as a super delegate:

Bill Clinton called last Friday, just as Rae was headed to dinner with friends, hoping he'd back Hillary. When John Kerry called, suggesting Obama, Rae was driving to the grocery store with a friend.

"I said, 'Hi, Senator Kerry, how are you?' " said Rae, noting his friend "looked at me, like, 'Are you for real?' "

Yes. And for real when former (and possibly future) first daughter Chelsea called. And former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. Both were backing Clinton.

"It's not a huge deal on campus," said Rae, active in student government. "I'm just a normal student like everyone else. In my private life, I'm a super delegate."

Crisis Management: What to Do When You've Committed an Email Faux Pas

It's happened to all of us: we've hit "send" on the wrong email to the wrong colleague, and then experienced that sinking feeling that our misdirected message is right-this-minute being opened and read by its un-intended recipient.

The worst part is knowing there's no way to fix it. Or is there? Though an email faux pas is often irreperable, you can take steps toward damage control.

1. Recall the message. Some email services (Outlook is one) have a "recall" capability. You can recall or replace a message only if its recipient is logged on and using Microsoft Outlook and has not read the message or moved it from their Inbox. In Mail, in the Navigation Pane, click Sent Items. Open the message you want to recall or replace. In the message window, on the Actions menu, click Recall This Message.
Caveat: The recipient of the message you want to recall must also be using an Exchange server e-mail account. For example, you cannot recall a message sent to someone's personal Internet service provider POP3 e-mail account.
When in doubt, call your office IT person.

2. Apologize. If the offense is minor, send a quick follow-up email that says, "Please disregard my previous message--it was intended for someone else. My apologies for the confusion."
If the offense is great, however, it's best to deal with the problem directly by approaching the recipient in person and offering your most humble mea culpa.
If, in the worst case scenario, you have sent an inappropriate email to the entire company, your best course of action might be to go to your immediate superior to confess your misdeed and work out a strategy for saving face. But get used to the idea that people are going to be gossiping about this one for a while.

Are there any other strategies for managing the crisis of the mis-sent email? Please share your advice (& humorous horror stories!). In this age of constant communication, some mistakes are simply inevitable--but handling them well is a sign of professional grace and maturity.

Meet the Millennial Manager

Millennials – meet your makers.

What makes a Millennial? According to recent studies, seven descriptive terms most widely used for “categorizing” Millennials include:
Special, Sheltered, Confident, Team-oriented, Achieving, Pressured, Conventional.

The conclusion? Employers – particularly Baby Boom managers – need to learn to adapt, understand millennials’ needs, and help coax these new employees to perform at high levels.

But read the fine print: If you need special treatment, you’ll also need to develop business communication skills to work cross-functionally and cross-generationally -- to convey and convince. Is this radically different from what your parents had to learn to do after they graduated? Nope. Will your new manager treat you the way your best friend’s parents do? Unlikely.

Which leads to the millennial-dollar question – how will you get the skills to become a manager, and how well will you manage? (I know, that’s technically two questions.) One business school study looked at this issue, but left only questions, not answers.

Realistically though, the answers seem pretty clear-cut. Look at the list of characteristics a few paragraphs up – particularly “Confident, Team-oriented, Achieving” -- that’s your starting point. Then look at your mentors: teachers, professors, coaches, managers – look and learn. Think about what they say and what they do, things that really impress you. And think about why some managers do things in other ways. These are the challenges you’ll face – to watch, to learn, to make it part of who you are.

Photo by jessiebarber

The Not So Apathetic Young Voters

We've all heard it...young people don't vote. Young people, ages 18-29, represent roughly 50 million of the population, and have a reputation for not exercising their right to vote. However, this trend may be changing, if this primary season is any indication.

Marc Morgenstern, who heads Declare Yourself- an organization that urges young people to vote, thinks young people are turning out this year because of the compelling candidates and the exciting campaign.

Other people attribute the change to the candidates making a deliberate effort to reach out to young voters. To reach young voters, candidates have used Facebook and YouTube as campaign tools.

What do you think? What makes this presidential election different? Why are young people voting in record numbers this primary season?

5 Tips for Foiling the Phish

My alumni office sent out a note today, warning of a new email phishing scheme targeting alumni. Maybe you got one too.

I didn’t catch the phish this time, but have received tons of them in the last few months in the form of random job offers, eBay or PayPal notices, bank and credit card things.

This circles back to Jenna’s post about Facebook privacy policies -- it’s exactly the potential outcome of lenient privacy on sites or emails from sites we tend to trust (especially our schools or social networking sites). You’ve seen some of these before, but here’s a quick updated list of what you can do:

1. Never Verify. Don’t respond to an email that requests that you “verify” any private information – this includes not just bank or credit card info, but even university email account info – password or pin numbers.
2. Dear Member. If it’s all non-specific (Dear Member), but is still asking for private info, be very suspicious. A legitimate communication from an organization that maintains some of your private information will often contain a piece of that private info (special login name, etc.)
3. Don’t Reply. If you’re interested in an unusual offer from what should be a trusted source, don’t reply to any links in the email. Instead, go to the main page of the site as you normally would, and see if you can navigate to the offer. If you can’t verify that an email is legitimate, report it to the website using their contact us link off their homepage (again, don’t click on any links in the email).
4. Use Closed Systems. Try to restrict the places where you store private data to more secure, closed systems such as the Experience Portfolio that require you to login and don’t grant widespread access to user info.
5. Be Positive. Take advantage of the anti-phishing filters in your email or IM, as well as the positive identification steps that sites like PayPal have taken to help.

Have you been phished? Let us know what happened at contribute@experience.com


Photo by Doubting Augustinus

Super Tuesday--a reason to leave work early?

In my state (Massachusetts), the polls open at 7am and close at 8pm, so anyone working a regular 9-5 job could reasonably expect to vote before or after work. But what about an employee scheduled for a double shift? Or someone whose commute was such that he'd miss voting hours?

Turns out there are rules in place to ensure that employees can vote. This excerpt from Inc.com explains how it works:

While there are no federal laws requiring companies to give time off from work to vote, a majority of states do have rules designed to ensure employees can make it to the polls on Election Day.

Laws vary by state, but if polls are not open two or three hours outside employees' regular shifts, employers are generally required to provide them with reasonable time off to vote. Lunch and other rest periods may not be included as part of the time off for voting.

The state laws are designed to ensure employees are not disciplined or retaliated against for taking time off to vote. Many states also require that companies pay employees for time they are absent while voting.

Regardless of the rules governing your state (you can find them, by the way, through your state's Election Division website), it's always a good idea to check with your employer if you're going to need time off to vote.

It might not be okay to talk about politics at work, but don't let your time card stop you from doing your civic duty!

Second-hand success

Success -- sports and politics thrive on it, and so can you.

If you’re concerned about government and politics, you probably have a favorite candidate. If your favorite sports team does well, you can be the ultimate fan – cheer them on.

Then, if your favorite candidate does well, you can be really proud. If your team is successful – maybe advances through the NCAA playoffs, then you can be really proud.

But wait, that’s second-hand success. You’re pouring your passion into rooting somebody on from the sidelines when you can do more. You can dive in, become an active fan, part of an active fan club. You can volunteer to campaign for a candidate – make calls, distribute information, go door-to-door.

Why would you want to do these things? First, to play a part – doing something first hand, rather than sitting back and watching. And second, to help you develop the “soft skills” that you’ll need to keep your career moving.

Employers talk about soft skills all the time, and expect job-seekers to have them, and to grow them as time goes along. Soft skills can encompass a lot of things, but the basics include:

• Communication skills (both written and verbal)
• Teamwork
• Organized, able to manage projects
• Problem solvers
• Willing to show initiative and take risks

Sports and politics can be the perfect settings to develop these – to try them out, learn from others -- you could call it not-on-the-job training.



Photo by csitscenter

It’s time for a Facebook lift

This past May I saw my classmates make the transition from college to the working world. They traded in their sweatshirts for business suits, swapped their flip-flops for more appropriate shoes, and replaced their backpacks with chic totes. Their voicemail messages started sounding more professional and less like my friends. They did all of this to look more appealing to employers. However, most of them forgot that employers may be looking somewhere else to differentiate their potential employees—online.

It’s true. Employers are increasingly using internet sites such as Facebook and MySpace to conduct background checks on their job prospects.

According to a New York Times article, many users see their social networking profile as a relatively private form of self expression, a place for them to post often risqué photographs and provocative comments about drinking and recreational drug use.

Many social networkers think that what happens in these social networking sites stays there. However, a lot of these sites have become more lenient in their privacy policies. Take Facebook for example. It started as an exclusive social networking site for college students (a college e-mail address was required), and has since opened its doors to the rest of the world (well, anyone with some type of e-mail address). Furthermore, as CNN reported, Facebook announced last fall that users’ public profiles will find their way into search engine indexes (Google, Yahoo, etc.).

So before you work on brushing up your resume and practicing those interview questions, you may want to take a look at your MySpace profile. If your mom wouldn’t like it, there’s a good chance a hiring manager wouldn’t either.

Set the Alarm--Your Avatar Has an Interview at 9am!

There’s not much you can’t do on Second Life these days—“residents” buy and trade stocks, build houses, make friends and even conduct extra-marital affairs. But what about getting a job?

Some job-seekers love the idea of suiting up their avatars and sending them off to interviews.

But do recruiters love it too? In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Karen Calo, IBM's vice president for global talent, says no.

"I'm not sure Second Life and other new technologies will ever totally replace traditional recruiting," Ms. Calo says. "You can only see students' intellectual curiosity, excitement and body language in a face-to-face situation."

In May, Sodexho, Verizon, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard became the first companies to host a virtual career fair on SL. It didn’t exactly come off without a hitch. Users new to SL had trouble controlling their avatars and dressing them correctly (some “interviewee” avatars showed up naked)—and so did the execs conducting the interviews. Reportedly, one job-seeker, intending to hand over his resume, offered up a beer instead.

Which brings me to the question: is virtual interviewing really a good thing for the job-seeker or the recruiter? Leave us a comment to let us know what you think.

Simpsons avatar by dipfan.