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Archive

Beginner's guide to using social media as a career tool

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Cube Farmer, Kate Southam

news.com.au  

Once upon a time in a land far, far away from the digital world, the career-minded attended conferences, after work drinks and embarked on post graduate study to met people of influence and create a public profile. Social media has changed all that.

As social media blogger and trainer Catriona Pollard says social media is all about “reputation, positioning and profile”. Reputation is the currency used in careerland and social media will help you establish and manage yours.It will take an investment of time more than money but the return on that investment will hopefully be the sort of visibility that means recruiters and employers come to you.

Pollard, who owns PR firm CP Communications, says: “Social media will help you network, establish credibility, build a profile in your sector and share information as well as provide an outlet for your professional passion and purpose.”

“Social media is a set of tools that create conversations, connections and the sharing of information,” she says. Those tools are creating your own blog, establishing a twitter feed and creating a profile on a professional social media platform such as Linked In.

Pollard will be speaking about how to use social media as a career tool at Macquarie University’s 23rd Women, Management and Work Conference in Sydney on July 12 & 13. Yes, that is a plug.

Her tips are unisex and apply equally to those starting out in their career and those already on their way.

Know who you are and what you stand for

Take some time to define your “personal brand” or reputation as it stands. “Ask people around you how they perceive you – are you funny, serious, someone who gets the job done quickly. Once your self impression is the same as your external image then you have a good brand,” says Pollard.

Defining your personal brand will help you develop the type of content you place online and how you place it, she says. Pollard says pick one thing you want to be known for.

“Mine is inspiration – I inspire other people or I act in the way that inspires people to take action,” she says. Okay, mine would be “empowering”. I like to give people information they can use to get ahead. What yours?

Know your topic platform

Pollard says your “platform” is your expertise – the knowledge you want to be known for whether that is a particular aspect of science or media or engineering or public health or whatever.

Choose your social media platforms

The platforms Pollard recommends are Blogger, which is free but there are other free or low cost blogging platforms such as Wordpress. She also recommends Twitter and Linked In. Twitter and Linked In are free but there are premium versions of Linked In available for a fee.

There are free tutorials on how to use all of these platforms available via Google. Read up starting with this article by Karalyn Brown on ‘How to create a killer Linked In profile.

Know your audience

Pollard says take some time to identify your target audience and think about strategies and tactics to use to reach them via a blog, Linked In groups, replying to their tweets and so on. Your audience could be recruiters, peers and senior managers in your sector – keep them in mind when sharing information and choosing the language to use when posting.

Know your purpose

An obvious purpose is to become known in your sector but what else? Pollard recommends setting some specific goals even if they are long term such as becoming a leading subject matter expert in your field, developing a media profile or even being asked to join a board or industry group.

By setting goals you identify people that can help you reach your goal and thus connect with them on Linked In and follow them on Twitter and start to interact via messages and exchanging useful information. Connecting with people of influence is easier online than trying to get face time but like traditional networking, social media will only work if you have something of value to share.

Don’t get fired

Pollard says it might be a good idea to let your manager know about your blog and Twitter stream. Keep in mind you are an employee. Don’t write about your employer and post updates during lunch or out of hours.

Digital footprint

Pollard says you can claim your personal url for as little as $10-$12 a year for your blog. There are also lots of simple tutorials online about claiming your personal url for Linked In and Facebook.

Also, set up a Google alert on your name and set it to comprehensive.

Frequency of activity

Pollard follows the current standard advice in recommending four tweets a day. Check out Tweet Deck to find out how to automate a week’s worth of tweets on a Sunday night. You can send re-tweets while sitting on the bus or train. It doesn’t have to be hard.

She also says posting at least a blog a week is a good idea and ensuring you post these to Linked In and any other professional social media platforms. Even 200 words a post is good. Jot down ideas as you hear interesting info in meetings or spot relevant articles and quotes online. She also recommends spending about 10 minutes a day on Linked In either making comments or updating your activity or posting a blog link.

Proven social media skills

All this effort is actually helping you develop important new skills to include on your CV.

It is also becoming increasingly common for people to provide links to their industry-related blog and include the link on their Linked In profile as well.

Do you use social media to promote your skills?

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Flattering fashion an underground success

Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Steve Meacham, Brisbane Times

 

Gorgeous, elegant, individual. How a handful of Australian designers cornered a global market.

 

Dress from Integrity Boutique.

 

Image: Elegant ... an evening gown from Integrity Boutique.

The women are beautiful, their clothes gorgeous. And if you had to choose another adjective, you might opt for fashionable; elegant; individual; modest. Most of all, Australian.

As we approach the end of Australian Fashion Week, another contemporary fashion show begins today. This time at the Powerhouse Museum, charting an underground success flourishing rapidly but largely unnoticed in Sydney's western suburbs.

The clothes exhibited in Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women's style in Australia come from a handful of Sydney designers. Yet the market they are targeting is global.

''Obviously, Australian Muslim women come from many countries with many different traditions of dress: Moroccan, Malaysian, Indonesian, Afghanistani, Pakistani, not just Saudi Arabian,'' curator Glynis Jones says. ''But the majority of Australian Islamic designers tend to come from Lebanese families.''

Aida Zein - who specialises in denims for mums on the run - is an exception. Her family background is Syrian. A law student, she had just begun to wear the hijab before September 11, 2001. Thereafter, as she explains in her YouTube interview that is part of the exhibition, wearing the hijab wasn't simply a matter of personal choice but a declaration of where she had come from.

Another exception is the founder and chief designer of Hijab House, Tarik Houchar. When he opened his first store in Bankstown Centro in 2010, he says it wasn't just one of the first Islamic women's clothes shops to be found in a mainstream shopping mall in Australia. ''Actually, we were one of the first in the Western world,'' Houchar says. ''You'll find [such stores] in the shopping centres of the Arab countries. But there still aren't very many in the shopping centres of non-Islamic countries.''

For Houchar, who has since opened a second outlet at Stockland Mall, Merrylands, his online store is the way of the future. ''There's been this hijab revival around the world,'' he says. ''Some call it hijabification, when new generations of Islamic women are turning back to wearing the hijab. They want to reconcile [their faith] with living in a non-Arab-centric nation.''

Jones first noticed the trend in 2006, when she saw photos of Mecca Laalaa, Australia's first Muslim female surf life saver, wearing the Burqini invented by Australia's most famous Islamic fashion designer, Aheda Zanetti of Ahiida swimwear and sportswear.

Since then, thousands of Muslim women have adopted the Burqini, allowing them to take part in sports previously off limits - including members of the Auburn Tigers women's AFL team.

Such is the Burqini's global success, it was selected by the Macquarie Dictionary as the 2011 word of the year. Zanetti's story has even been adapted by writer Alana Valentine into a play, The Modest Aussie Cossie, while an Indian baby-name website listed Aheda alongside names of other world-famous female designers, Stella (McCartney) and Gabrielle (Chanel). Like most of the other designers in the exhibition, Zanetti's modest outfits appeal not just to Muslim women but to non-Muslim women looking for garments that protect them from the sun or prying eyes.

''Aheda says that her global reach is now so vast that she sends her clothes to places even TNT doesn't deliver to,'' Jones says, laughing. ''As I researched, I began to realise there was an emerging group of young designers specifically making clothes for the 'modest market'. We've just concentrated on a few to show the range of clothes they are designing.

''There are lots more designers out there in the modest market. And it isn't just happening in Sydney. It's a global thing.''

Nor is it just a Muslim thing. Many of the scarves, dresses and trousers appeal to non-Muslims who don't feel comfortable in the figure-hugging, skin-bearing designs of mainstream Western fashion. ''It was a huge social change when Hijab House and Integrity Boutique [run by sisters Howayda Moussa and Hanadi Chehab] both opened at Bankstown Centro,'' Jones says.

''Previously, Muslim women went to the shopping streets of Lakemba and Auburn, where garments from Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan had been bought in bulk and were being retailed in an unattractive mass.''

Kath Fry, of the label baraka, was raised a Christian but converted to Islam after a life-changing trip to Egypt. She met her business partner Eisha Saleh while studying Islam at the Daar Aisha Shariah College in Lakemba.

In 2009, baraka was named Muslim business of the year. Fry and Saleh say their clothes are aimed at women of various faiths who share a desire for ''flattering clothing that offers more coverage''.

As a man, Houchar faces more challenges in the niche industry than most. A video accompanying the exhibition shows him directing a fashion shoot for his Facebook site. The models are non-Muslims - an Indian, a South African and a Russian. That's partly because he wants to market his designs as widely as possible but also because he would be more restricted with Muslim models.

''For example, I probably wouldn't alter [a Muslim model's] scarf out of respect,'' Houchar says. ''As a man, I obviously have to respect female spirit and identity. In Islam, there are parameters I cannot cross.''

Meanwhile, on the streets ...
What women actually wear on the street is as important as the fashionista commentariat, which these days increasingly means fashion bloggers.

Some of the most striking images on the website version of the exhibition are of real Muslim women who live in Sydney photographed wearing clothes they own and chose to wear themselves.

A separate photo shoot asked Muslim women in Sydney to wear their favourite outfit and write a pithy, three-word encapsulation of their character. Delina Darusman-Gala (muslimstreetfashion.blogspot.com.au) and Mya Arifin (myazfashionspot.blogspot.com.au) are Sydney's first Muslim fashion bloggers. Both are stay-at-home mothers in their 20s who live in Lakemba and Punchbowl, respectively, and share an Indonesian background.

Visitors to the exhibition will be encouraged to have their photo taken carrying a similar card of self-description. As the sign says: ''Are you what you wear? Your style only tells a small part of your story. Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn't know from your appearance.''

Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women's style in Australia is at the Powerhouse Museum until February 2013, powerhousemuseum.com.

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Mind the gadget gap: Aussie gadgets still cost more

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, Gadget Girl

 

image

 

The gap between Australia and the United States is closing.

Not geographically—the Pacific Ocean is still infeasibly large. I’m talking about the gadget gap.

This is the gap between gadget pricing and availability in the United States and our little continent.

Now our dollars are worth the same, gadget prices should also be similar. And measures like grey imports, direct importing and price changes are helping.

But proof that we’re not quite there yet is already sneaking into 2012.

Sony has just slashed the price of its tablet in the States but failed to do so here, meaning Australians are paying significantly more.

It’s 2012. The world may be ending soon. Can we please fix this issue before it does?

Do you think you're getting the most cost friendly gadgets in 2012?

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5 HR Considerations for Hiring Remote Workers

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

, Mashable

 

Having a remote workforce can be a huge benefit to organizations, reducing office space expenses and environmental footprints. Companies can reap the benefits of talented individuals all over the globe who are able to do work that excites and engages them and do it in a place they want to live.

As attractive as this working arrangement sounds, it takes a lot of planning and preparation to implement. Businesses must thoroughly discuss the terms of working remotely before launching such an initiative including work schedules, home offices, secure computer networks and job responsibilities. One thing is for certain: Being able to communicate effectively and efficiently with remote employees is the key to success.

Here are several examples of companies realizing success with their remote work teams and their methods for achieving that success.

 

1. Create Common Goals

In order for employees to feel like part of the organization, they have to feel that they are a part of the company’s goals. Morgan Norman, founder and CEO of social performance management company WorkSimple, says that probably the hardest task for a virtual workforce is making sure everyone is always on the same page. “Whether it’s about new features to the software, a change in the company’s overall direction or just a menial everyday task, keeping everyone appraised and in the loop can become a challenge when everyone is in different places and in different time zones.”


WorkSimple uses its performance management platform for its own workforce. Norman admits that when an employee doesn’t understand an aspect of the company’s direction, he will eventually discover the answer via the WorkSimple platform. “The consequence of this [discovery] is employees can make more decisions on their own, can take more initiative on their own,” Norman explains. “For us internally, it’s inspiring to see ideas and direction come from every employee; this sparks new goals and new projects that help push the envelope of our vision.”


2. Set Individual Goals and Expectations

 

Once an employee understands the goals of the company and how he fita into those goals, it’s essential to establish individual expectations of performance. Linda Pophal, a communications and management consultant with Strategic Communications LLC, says clearly conveying goals and expectations is critical to the success of a remote team. “The way to manage any employee effectively, I believe, is to clearly establish goals and objectives, provide the right tools and resources required to do the job (including communication resources like policies, procedures, etc.), and communicating regularly for updates on progress, to share new information and just to maintain the relationships.”

Pophal explains that you can accomplish this using some of the same methods you would manage any workforce: “Setting up regular processes can help. This might include regular phone/Internet conferences, required reports on a regular basis or the use of project management tools that allow everyone to track and report on activities.”

Pophal points out that the way a manager perceives a remote worker can affect the team overall. “One of the barriers to effective remote working arrangements is this odd ‘mental block’ many managers seem to have that not being able to ‘see’ their employees is somehow different or more challenging than other management scenarios. In truth, this type of relationship exists in many traditional organizational structures.”

3. Develop Trust and Accountability

Daily communication between employees and managers is a critical aspect of success. While remote workers are self-managing, they still require a frequent and consistent connection with supervisors and team members. Allison O’Kelly, CEO of virtual professional staffing firm Mom Corps, focuses on building an environment of trust and accountability as the foundation for communications.

O’Kelly says that MomCorps maintains its culture through a “Results-Only Work Environment,” or ROWE, which allows employees to work flexibly as long as they meet key objectives. “Often when companies hear about ROWE, they worry about losing control,” O’Kelly explains. “Rather, it is a shift in focus from controlling when, where and how people work to hold people accountable for results.”

Providing training to managers and supervisors is another important ingredient to managing remote workers. O’Kelly explains, “Virtual managers likely need training on how to expand their communication skills to include how to keep employees motivated as a team, giving positive and negative feedback over the phone, making sure schedules stay on track without micromanaging and making employees feel appreciated for the work they do.”



Creating a culture of trust has brought rewards to both employees and MomCorps, and O’Kelly says she recognizes employee performance. “I award them professionally with freedom and autonomy,” she says. “I am not tied to the details of how and when they work if they are high performers for Mom Corps.”

4. Overcome Isolation

Dan Silmore, vice president of marketing for online training platform Mindflash.com, says the key to managing remote employees is communication, and a lack of it can result in feelings of isolation. “While most of our team thrives and truly enjoys the remote environment, it is something that needs to be continually monitored. Is the employee staying motivated? Are they happy? Have they been particularly quiet on Yammer or Skype lately?”

Since it’s not as simple as walking over to an individual’s desk for a conversation, Silmore says he keeps his communication channels wide open. “Additionally, we let employees know they can travel to our Palo Alto headquarters, even outside of sprint cycles,” Silmore says. “That’s important and offers a lot of reassurance to some of our most remote workers.”

Tracy McCarthy, senior vice president of human resources at talent management software company SilkRoad technology, adds that laying down a solid schedule and policy for communication keeps collaboration flowing. “First, we have regular virtual team meetings, either conference calls, go-to meetings or use Skype or similar technology for video conferencing. Then, we ensure that each member of the team understands their role and others’ roles so that there is no question about who is doing what and who is a resource.”

5. Plan Regular Communications

Lolo Siderman, founder and CEO of design and marketing agency Gypsywing Media, shared that when dealing with remote employees, communications should be planned and structured to bring a level of consistency and clarity. “Any failure to clearly and thoroughly communicate can lead to a huge number of wasted hours, inaccurate results and ultimately unhappy clients — which all add up to money lost for the business.”

Another consideration in planning communications is the use of written documentation. “When we send a list of changes to one of our web developers, she will go through the list one-by-one and provide a written update on the status of each item before sending back,” says Siderman explains, . It is almost guaranteed that a number of changes would be missed, or misinterpreted, if left to verbal communication only.”

Jillian Snavley, vice president and senior recruiting manager at PNC Financial Services Group, agrees that a direct approach is required when managing employees remotely: “Managers should set expectations and be more intentional with remote employees. And remote employees need to be just as candid.”





Successful organizations communicate well, regardless of where their employees are located. Being able to work through challenges – no matter what kind – is core to having a thriving remote work team.

Series Supported by Elance

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The Perks of Working at Google, Facebook, Twitter and More

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Lauren Drell , Mashable 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you a techie looking for work? We recently offered some tips on landing jobs at Google, Apple and Facebook, but there are more companies in the Valley than those three. And you might be wondering what the culture is like at each of these companies, as well as at LinkedIn, Twitter, Eventbrite, Gaia and Tagged.

Back in August, we brought you word of awesome perks at various startups; now, we bring you perks at a number of Silicon Valley’s largest and finest. From yoga to catered lunches, 401(k)s to dry cleaning, sports teams to vacation days, these tech companies seem to understand that quality of life affects productivity — and that having to run fewer errands after work means you’re more likely to stay at the office.

Check out the infographic below from ResumeBear for a breakdown of who offers what perks. Do you work at any of these companies and take advantage of any of these perks? Let us know in the comments below.

 

 

 

How does this stack up to your workplace? Would these benefits entice you to try your chances overseas for future business?  

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Our love affair with 3D appears to be over

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Three years ago, the 3D movie was heralded as "the next big thing" that would save cinema. Over the years Australian ticket prices had steadily risen as home theatre became a serious threat, leaving cinemas to try and bridge the gap.

 

The 3D juggernaut may be coming to an end.

 

Image: The 3D juggernaut may be coming to an end. Photo: Simon Dawson


The objective was to up the "experience" that the public pay for, enhance the "immersion" for a premium ticket price and offer something that you just can't duplicate at home: enter the third dimension.

3D movies aren't anything new, but they've gone through a renaissance in recent years. When made well and actually filmed in 3D — such as James Cameron's Avatar — movies can be a triumph of cinema and a visual delight.

Advertisement: Story continues below Too often though we're presented with a slapped together conversion of a normal film, much cheaper to produce and resulting in a film a bit more eye-watering to watch, but hey, it was still a new age of cinema, right?

Slowly but surely, we moviegoers began to sort through dimensional shifts and see what was really in front of us. Yes, in some cases, the movie industry used 3D well, and made the few extra bucks worthwhile. But more often than not, we were being distracted. The honeymoon period was over all too quickly and in the past year 3D movies have seen a noticeable decrease in audience.

A factor that just accelerated this drop, in Australia in particular, is the ticket price. The average ticket price in the US in 2010 was $7.89, an extra $4 or so for 3D, with the glasses thrown in.

In Australia you were doing well if you could get a ticket for double that price. With our dollar near parity, we're paying $17 a movie ticket, $20 if you want to see a 3D film, more if you need the glasses. Quite a difference in price there, and it's even more if you have a family in tow.

There's been another wake-up call recently, in the form of a study by L. Mark Carrier of California State University, who found that people watching 3D movies essentially have the same immersion experience as those watching a 2D movie, but with the extra three-fold increase of eyestrain, headache, or trouble with vision.

This year has seen a vast reduction in the worldwide takings for 3D movies and the industry is catching on, as fewer movies are being provided in the medium. Whereas a movie such as Shrek Forever After made 65 per cent of its box office take from 3D screenings a year ago, this year's big summer flicks such as the final Harry Potter and The Green Lantern barely scraped 30 per cent. With the cost of converting a movie to 3D at $80,000 US per minute of footage (let alone going the step further and filming in it) it's fast becoming a reality that it isn't worth the box office take.

Here's where it starts getting a bit sneaky though — many that went to see movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Thor, The Green Lantern or Captain America in an Australian cinema this year would have had little choice but to see it in 3D. Normal 2D screenings were available, but they were few and far between. Have large cinemas like Hoyts and Village become so fond of the increased ticket prices that come with 3D, that they schedule the majority of their big audience screenings in it?

And what's next, you may ask? 4D cinema, that's what (technically the fourth dimension is "time", but this is hardly the moment to insist on scientific correctness). Found in the US, Canada, and now New Zealand (Australia can't be far away), using "d-box" technology your seat will now "pitch, roll and heave" along with the movie. Not immersive enough for you? There's a few cinemas in Asia that spray water and smell at you, with the recent Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon accompanied with the smell of burning rubber. It's taking the cinematic experience one step closer to a car wash.

3D movies aren't going anywhere soon. There's The Adventures of Tintin at the end of the year, The Amazing Spider-Man in July next year, and somewhere in the distant future, the tantalising promise of Avatar 2 and 3. Even with these tentpoles, it's undeniable that 3-D will never be the draw card it once was. Once the saving grace of cinema, the philosophy of making more money off less viewers has just led to less viewers overall.

How do you think 3D movies impact on the film industry? Creative genius or tacky money maker?

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