I recently had the honor of being a panelist at the recent HRP-MN Spring Conference. The conference title was Post Recession Strategies: Regroup – Retain – Recruit. A few days later, I attended the HR Tomorrow Conference and led one of their breakout sessions. The HR Tomorrow Conference theme was The Changing Face of HR: Navigating in the ‘New Normal’.

The Clear Theme

It is obvious that the HR procession, and I dare to say business as a whole, is trying to develop strategies for recovery and sustained positive growth. HR is concerned about keeping their best talent at a time where employees are clearly tired and feeling ‘beat up.’

But social networking?

A topic that was brought up repeatedly at the HRP MN Conference was Social Networking. At the HR Tomorrow Conference, Social Networking was not only brought up but it was also the topic of one of the breakout sessions. There seemed to be two sides to the topic as it was addressed:

• using social networking in recruiting
• watching out for the legal issues surrounding social networking

The OTHER side of the social networking equation

The legal concerns were many. One theme, however, was what some employees were saying about their employer and/or supervisors on their Facebook (or other) page. I submit to you this is something employers should be equally concerned about. There are multiple websites that current and past employees can use to anonymously post comments, reviews and, in some cases, ratings about their current or past workplace. (These were listed in our last Blog entry – but need to be repeated again for what I think are obvious reasons.) Here is a partial but expanded list:

• JobVent.com
• PingMyCompany.com
• Criticat.com
• JobBite.com
• Getunvarnished.com
• Glassdoor.com

Candidates (and current employees) are checking these out. You should be too!

When I was graduating college, my first potential ‘professional’ employer asked me for a letter of recommendation from a long-standing past employer of mine. I asked the business owner to write a letter. His response was to send me to his office to get letterhead so that I could write a letter that he would then sign. I immediately realized (I was about to enter the HR field, by the way) that letters of recommendation had little value.

Why are LinkedIn references so popular?

To complete your profile (to get to that 100% level), you need to really use many or most of your LinkedIn profile’s features. A reference gets you 5% – not a bad thing by itself. There are other reasons besides a goal of profile completion.

• References get noticed when people read your profile
• The first 6 words are visible on the profile page (and usually say wonderful things)
• The addition of a reference gets you listed in the weekly LinkedIn updates e-mail

Are most references a ‘cross-reference’ deal?

My e-mails are archived automatically (all of ours are). I went back to check my weekly LinkedIn updates. It appears that most references are a deal – I’ll write one for you if you write one for me. Can you imagine one of those ‘deal’ e-mails not being extremely positive?

Get to know the people you pursue – or that pursue you

That by itself ends this post. A polished profile and great references (from people that are friends of the person) make up most of today’s active LinkedIn profiles. Simply put, take the time to check out the people you pursue or that pursue you. Reading only the profile will not get you what you need.

Each week, I get my weekly LinkedIn Updates e-mail. I find who my contacts have added as their contacts; I see all status changes. One trend seems to be changing the picture on the top right of the profile (I assume updating). Now one can ask . . . . . why the picture anyway? If we are ‘linked’ together – don’t we know each other well? (That by itself could be a Blog entry – and likely will be in the future.)

Unless your name is John or Jane Smith (my apologies to all John and Jane Smiths), you should Google yourself. And if you have time, google some of your friends/acquaintances.

LinkedIn is yours; Google results happen to you

We control our LinkedIn content; it is clear from the number of status updates that we are all constantly upgrading what we say/write. (I am guilty as well, by the way.)

• Have you ever seen a bad reference?
• Have you ever seen a bad picture?
• Do you find misspellings? (They are corrected quickly; wording is consistently polished.)

Now – and I mean right now (after you read this), google yourself. Start clicking on everything with your name . . . . . and go beyond the first page.

Due diligence goes beyond LinkedIn

It is amazing what can be learned through simply keying in a person’s name.

• Are they as active in their profession as their resume or LinkedIn profile states?
• Are there employer announcements referencing positions that are not on the profile?
• Are there news stories that the typical candidate would prefer did not exist?

LinkedIn is only the beginning

It seems that we are all using LinkedIn in some manner. It is an efficient way to keep up with people that we know somewhat well. It can be a great business community. LinkedIn is not the whole story. It is simply the story we want people to quickly see. Have fun – take the time (sometimes substantial, but well worth it) and see what you (and others) may learn.

Is LinkedIn the NEW monster in the room?

Yes – I have a LinkedIn profile. Yes – I have multiple ‘electronic’ contacts. What is LinkedIn becoming – and is it of value?

Networking is an overused job search term

Networking is, in all studies I have found, the number one way in which people find new positions. When I think of networking, I think of strategically scheduled meetings with key connections. It may be about jobs; it does NOT need to be. It can be about anything – it is simply an exchange of information.

It is an overused term by its current connotation . . . . . the way to find a NEW job.

Is LinkedIn the way to go?

In looking at LinkedIn’s homepage, I discovered that conducting a job search (as a candidate) is not listed among the reasons for having a LinkedIn account. In all honesty, the homepage does list “Post and distribute job listings to find the best talent for your company” as one of its suggestions.

Believing what you read?

I checked the LinkedIn profiles of candidates that, through external verification, we found did not tell us the truth about their credentials. Their profiles contain the same mis-information. I decided to check further – people I know with a short-tenured employment situation or two. Interestingly, some of their past employers were not listed as part of their work history.

Are people more likely to make false statements on LinkedIn or on a resume? In discussing it with my colleagues here, we decided that people would more likely falsify their background on LinkedIn. Why did we come to this (unscientific) conclusion? LinkedIn is a personal ‘advertisement’; a resume is directly submitted to an employer – and has ramifications if it is not correct.

Be careful!

Yes – LinkedIn is one of the tools in use today by retained search firms. It is also in use by many employers as a primary or one of the primary talent acquisition strategies in use. We have found that between 10% and 15% of the people we want to interview have created a degree on their resume that does not exist. We assume the numbers are the same (if not worse) with LinkedIn profiles.