Type A job seekers

• Totally unaware of their true gifts and abilities.
• Cannot easily describe why someone should hire them.
• Are fearful that they lack the skills to obtain a good job yet still SPAM out their resumes to any and all job openings.
• Fear that their age will hold them back from getting hired.

Type B job seekers

• Recognize that they lack the education necessary for the jobs that they want, and actively seek out retraining to further their education.
• Often find that they lack the funds to obtain a better education.
• May often shoot for jobs either greatly above their capabilities, or under.
• Often have weak resumes and do not recognize their own worth.

Type C job seekers

• Focus on something that they not only are qualified for, but also are passionate about.
• Are willing to sacrifice salary for job happiness and work/family balance.
• Have a strong, clear and concise resume that demonstrates their value to the position being sought.
• Find value within adversity.

Both Type A and Type B need to receive a transfusion of faith and understanding from those who can provide both. Additionally, Type A and B will never find jobs in the Dayton area without first understanding their predicament and then dealing with each challenge appropriately. Active networkers often lend a committed hand to folks through job shadowing, cross-training, free education resources, free resume review.. the list goes on and on… I am personally taking on the challenges presented by this exercise through my work in the following organizations:

The Northern Miami Valley HYPE organization (Helping Young Professionals Emerge)
Dayton Marketing Community
Linked Dayton
Rain Ohio

All of these organizations provide Dayton professionals with an opportunity to network with their peers and build their “street cred”.  While everyone can agree that networking is an important part of a job search, the members of these organizations actually go a step further to develop the individual into a better and more educated job seeker readying them for the challenges of today’s job market. I have a strong belief that tomorrow’s economy will be driven by those between the ages of 25-45 and also that the positions that these individuals will eventually have are not even currently envisioned. Think all new job titles, new responsibilities and new focus.

So what’s in it for me?
Easy… This business transformation will occur without the understanding, prior-approval or recognition by those currently leading today’s established corporations. The transformation will be driven by the consumer (rather than the producer) who will identify what is most important to them. All new businesses will sprout up to fill the vacuum and accommodate those new consumer wants and needs. As a Community Manager I get a front row seat for the formation of this new economy thanks to my immersion into the social media stream of conversation that both heralds the birth of the new economy as well as the death of the old.

p.s. Thank you Bridget for helping me gain additional clarity on this challenge, and then find the proper insight behind this blog post.

One of the first tables I wanted to hit was the RainMakers out of Indy. I spent all two hours there and were not able to find their table. They must have been cloaked.

What I was pleasantly surprised about was the number of social media folks there, as well as the over-riding buzz about social media within the conversations.

I wanted to give a run down of the folks that I spoke with and received business cards from. You would be surprised about how many people with tables did not have business cards to share.

Tim Wanwick with All-World Travel here in Dayton. I would absolutely love to bring unique and interested would-be travelers to your door.

ChrisChaffin, Rocky (RockOn) VanBrimmer, and Mary Wehrle from Start Engaging Others. A social media company that appears to be out of the Columbus/Lancaster area. I’ll definitely be darkening their URL in days to come to see what goodness they are up to!

Peter Haigh, agency manager with HBW Insurance.

Mya Jackson Brown from Mary Kay. She was so sweet that I couldn’t help but to lay some free tips on how she can build her online network through LinkedIn and Facebook. I also promised her that if she would keep visiting my blog that I will be sure to write up new tips for her.

Nicole Amsler of Keylocke Services. Now Nicole definitely wins the “best business card” award of the evening, even beating my snazzy blue bird. Nicole is a Writer and Marketing Consultant. Nicole’s booth was really well put together and she had near constant foot traffic. Note to self: Nicole is going somewhere!

James Reynolds from Cox Publishing (Dayton Daily News). James introduced me to the new advertising and direct marketing business they have gotten into. While their prices are still high by Social Media standards, they are much more reasonable than I would have thought. They even throw in the use of their address lists which can be premiere since they are delivery machine!

Jon Cowell from Select Signs. I spoke to Jon first this evening and he was a very good ice-breaker. If I had a mind to wrap up my Accord I would definitely be calling Jon.

Julie Chamberlain with Graphic Impact Communications. Julie is the only soul that I recognized there. She has a great heart and I hope to encourage her to grow her business into the “third rail” of marketing. (Social Media) Even just setting up Digital Outposts, Julie could begin to have conversations with potential clients.

Overall no regrets other than I would have loved to have spoken to more of the folks there. I have such a passion for what I do I have a hard time just delivering the elevator speech.

Well.. Off to prepare for the Social Media Breakfast up in Toledo tomorrow EARLY.

Who participates?

By definition, social media is meant to be consumed by choice, not by force. Therefore, your job candidates may participate in one social networking site or many or not at all, The information they post about themselves may be different based on the type of site. For example, LinkedIn participants tend to focus on business and professional networking, while facebook and myspace communities seem to be more focused around getting back in touch and entertainment topics.

Demographics

So is social media really “just for kids”?

From this data you can discern that if you are seeking employees with less than 5-6 years experience that facebook and myspace are great options to explore. Twitter users tend to be a mixture of tech savvy adults around 30 years old and LinkedIn users are on average about 40 years old. If your job search requires 10+ years experience in the field, LinkedIn is a perfect tool to search out and find veteran candidates.

One thing to note in all Social Media sites is a trend towards older users. facebook actually has seen a 276% growth in the 35-54 year-old demographic this year (2009)

Conclusion

• The best candidate for your job opportunity may not even participate in Social Media sites.
• Not every social networking site is equal. Social Media specialists and Community Managers are able to best provide guidance as to which sites to use to maximize your results.
• Social Networking is gaining acceptance and wider use by job seekers with more than 10 years experience. As such, they as a community are demanding better tools and ways to reach employers and further simplifying the recruitment process.

If you are a recruiting firm looking for further guidance on how to use social networking sites to harvest qualified candidates, give me a call. Don’t waste your time trying to do it yourself.

It is 2:22AM EST and Ashton Kutcher hit 1.000,000 Twitter followers before CNN. This competition was tracked live and Twitter even helped by blocking any attempts to “unfollow” either Ashton or CNN as the race to one million got closer. Seriously though, beyond the sort of moronic competition, Ashton actually carried himself well as he described social media networks and the fact that individuals matter now more than ever in this social media context. CNN and Ted Turner with all of their money, resources and power could not beat a single man in an honest contest.I never thought a guy like that would understand the democratization of media. Maybe straight-up guys like P-Diddy are rubbing off on AK..

Tomorrow (today) Oprah will be broadcasting live and will send out her first “tweet” during her show. Ashton as well as Twitter CEO Evan Williams will be there for the “historic” event. I am very glad about the opportunity that this media spotlight will bring, and am hopeful that Twitter and their ilk are emboldened to grow their technologies as well as their dreams as to where this can go.

Social Media Today is a moderated social community that allows you to start building a personal network with your peers, create a profile and promote your business, add content by blogging directly on the site or adding the RSS feed of your current blog, comment and rate posts and have instant access to some of the best minds on issues that concern SM specialists directly.

Bash Foo Social Media has joined Social Media Today in a continued effort to provide the highest level of critical review and consideration of Online Reputation Management solutions.

My second thought for today is in great respect for Community Strategist, Connie Bensen. Up to this point I was busily scurrying amongst several dozen highly rated blogs on Community Leadership and Strategy. One blog may cover SEO tactics, another may focus on Web 2.0 consulting, and a third may deal with the pitfalls and challenges Social Media specialists may encounter. Connie has done a very nice job of consolidating ideas and providing tons of original content on the subject. Kudos Connie! You join the few and the proud members of my Blogroll.

From a commercial sense, advertisers look to drive customers to their content through a few standard vehicles:

1. Stating and Proving that their product is superior to others
2. Pricing their product competitively
3. Promotion and Publicity for their product (radio, internet banners, TV commercials)

Marketing folks have lived with the fact that while their customers may appreciate their product, very few make a purchase decision because of Branding, rather they purchase due to other factors like price, appearance and social factors “my best friend has one!”.
A very personal example of this is my wife’s affinity for Vera Bradley bags. Empirically, the bags are made of inexpensive quilted cloth, are radically colored and patterned and lack today’s “handy places” for cellphones. My wife refers to her bag as her “Vera Bradley” and she always points out other women with their bags, comparing hers to theirs.

Her love for Vera Bradley bags extends well beyond the ability of marketers to promote their product. The key buying decision is being made due to the social repercussions of not participating in life with a “Vera Bradley” slung on one’s shoulder. Essentially the core marketing effort was performed through the creation of a social network of acceptance and reverence for a Brand. Participating with that Brand brought self-satisfaction and envy, non-participation with the Brand brought lowered expectations and social ostracism.

Social Media has a similar capability to drive people around common ideas/beliefs and products. A key additive effect is the uniformity to which Internet participants can and do judge products. With a few keyboard clicks, a customer can find out if a product is a scam or not, how highly it is rated in independent studies and which products are the “top” ones in their segment. Additionally they can introduce other product considerations like “is it eco-friendly?” or “Is it Made in the USA?”

Now, what if Social Media was able to “corral” users with specifically indicated preferences from specifically indicated socio-economic profiles and drive them around products that met and exceeded their expectations? This would greatly reduce the carpet bombing of traditional marketing allowing a marketing team to communicate to self-elected individuals who can already understand and appreciate their products.

Here at Bash-foo, it is becoming more and more apparent that Social Media can pull together groupings of individuals who can be willingly targeted for product marketing campaigns. Instead of being Spammed with products you don’t appreciate, just imagine having product news, updates and coupons coming your way in the same fashion an RSS feed does. You sign up, you get the goods.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a product that needs a gaggle of self-identified, interested customers who can and will buy your product?? Or, are you just a consumer who wants to “shape” the product offerings you view so that you have more time to focus on other things in life like family, entertainment, long walks on the beach??

I am interested in your comments, and hope to share more Foo with you soon!

Either by API call, the rendering of a messaging service (such as XMPP) or even the use of asynchronous email these service providers such as Facebook/LinkedIn, and this WordPress blog all rely on the system independence of each other, as well as the loose coupling of the integration modules that bind them.

So, this is to inform my LinkedIn followers that you will begin to see feeds from my personal blog entitled Bash Foo for the Soul at http://bashfoo.com. I’ll only be throwing over self-authored professional material to LinkedIn while continuing to share my brief rants, even briefer Tweets, and multimedia extravaganzas with my supportive “Foo” audience.