Social Media Stats
A recent article by
Talent HQ indicates the following social media statistics from Spring 2012:
Users
- Facebook – 850 million
- Twitter – 500 million
- LinkedIn – 161 million
- Google+ – 90 million
- Foursquare – 23 million
- Pinterest – 10.4 million
Daily Stats
- Facebook – 31% of users check-in daily for an average of 20 minutes
- Twitter – 175 million tweets per day
- LinkedIn – 11.5 million searches per day
- Google+ – 5 billion g+ buttons served each day (served, not clicked)
- YouTube – 4 billion video views per day
Personal Branding: Why These Stats Make It Relevant
“So what,” you say? “What do these social media statistics have to do with my personal brand, my IT resume or technical resume, and my job search?” It’s simple. Companies are going to expect to find you on one or more of these sites when considering you as a candidate for a job opening. As such, it opens the door for opportunity.
I suppose you could try to be like everybody else out there is SoMe (social media) land. That’s easy enough. Just sign up for a few of these services and write the standard description of yourself that makes people reading it fall asleep within 3 seconds.
The alternative is to craft a strong, compelling personal brand statement that is real to who you are, what you do, and what you want to do. Then put some creative messaging in place to effectively communicate this brand across all of the social media forums you’re a part of. Just keep in mind that these forums are all different, and the demographics are distinct for each…so the style you use to communicate your brand message should correlate with the site you’re on.
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A May 5th article in
TechRepublic.com (
10 Reasons IT Pros Get a Bad Rap) provides a list of reasons why there is such a negative perception of the IT department in general and IT workers specifically.
Three of the ten reasons listed I don’t agree with whole-heartedly. #1 :”We’re considered too well-paid;” #8: “We suffer from the Golden Boy syndrome;” and #9: “We are indispensable” are not really true anymore…although they were about a decade ago.
With all of the IT outsourcing happening, IT is no longer the hot and happening place it used to be. It’s more of a commodity field now, and nearly any IT job is “dispensable”…meaning it can be outsourced.
The rest of the items on the list can be solved and remedied with the right touch. All it takes is a dedication and focus in one particular area to turn the tide. That area is “Engagement.” Of course, to make the transition complete, the IT group has to effectively execute on the promises it makes. But it all starts with engagement.
Last month, we posted a blog focused on the IT group and how they struggle effectively engaging the rest of the business. You can read that post
here...
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Posted on May 08, 2012 under
Technology
by
Stephen Van Vreede.
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Guest Post by Perry N.*
In IT, "old" is yesterday. So, let's just say, then, that I'm really "old". What I mean by that is that I've been around long enough to experience a few migrations, either in a hands-on role or in a management capacity....all things that I thought would make me more "experienced" and therefore more "valued".
However, as I sit here trying to decide whether (at 45....so old, I know) I should take the plunge and enter into this insane job market, I have been faced with the realization that not all employers might see
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Stephen Van Vreede (
http://www.ittechexec.com/) and Jennifer Hay (
http://www.itresumeservice.com/) have joined forces to launch Tech Career Forum.
Tech Career Forum is designed to provide advice to IT and technical professionals in all career areas, particularly those related to personal branding, the technical resume, and the job search process. Tech Career Forum also assists resume writers and career services professionals in expanding their knowledge base to enhance their engagements with IT and technical clients.
Tech Career Forum has initiated a LinkedIn group (
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Tech-Career-Forum-4395590) with interactive discussions, which is available for all members. Tech Career Forum will be hosting live Twitter chats on Wednesdays at 3pm Eastern, with the first in the series beginning Wednesday 5/2. To view or join in the discussion, follow or post tweets at #TCFchat.
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Reblog from Ezine Article by
Stephen Van Vreede
IT Resumes for Project Managers
As I speak with IT project managers, IT program managers, and even PMO directors, I am amazed by how many think or know they do a great job but are unable to communicate it effectively. This is true with their resume, on their LinkedIn profile, in their cover letter, and in their face-to-face interviewing skills. Why is it such a struggle for PMs to talk about their successes?
Personal Branding for the IT Project Manager
The main reason that most PMs are unable to articulate why a company should hire them is that they lack a focused brand message. Wait! I know what you're probably thinking now. And, no, this doesn't need to be some highly complex process in which you need to do focus groups or polls to gain "customer insights." Creating a personal brand is relatively simple when approached with the proper mindset.
Think Business Value
What you want to do is consider how your actions as an IT project manager impact the business...
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IT Resume: IT Infrastructure Manager
Technical resumes can be a challenge to write effectively. For IT infrastructure managers, this problem is compounded immensely. You have a specific skill set that is difficult to communicate. If you elect to seek a professional resume writer, you will quickly realize that most do not have a technical foundation. As a result, they typically don't know where to begin and which questions to ask. So what do you do?
Read more to find out specific strategies for an IT Infrastructure Management resume, including what infrastructure technologies to discuss and how to make the resume focus on creating value from infrastructure solutions.
The "Go To" Expert for all things related to resumes, cover letters, online profiles and bios, interviewing, and the job search for executives and professionals in the IT, engineering, manufacturing, telecommunications, call center, and other technical specialty areas. The difference? We Speak Geek! We understand how to translate your technical activities and achievements into information that's meaningful to the business and to recruiters and HR reps. We help you generate a 5x return on your investment or more! Contact us today at (866) 755-9800, visit us at
http://www.ittechexec.com, or email me at stephen@ittechexec.com.
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A recent poll of CIOs conducted by
Gartner has identified revenue growth as the primary driver of the technology organization. This represents a noticeable shift from the past several years in which cost containment or cost reduction has been the main goal.
See the full post by me here (
ITtechExec) to learn more about it and to understand how this trend impacts communication of the CIO or CTO personal brand and their resume documents.
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ExecuNet recently released some excerpts from their upcoming Job Market Intelligence Report for 2012. With a 14% increase in job placements (assignments) expected throughout 2012, the Top 3 growth industries or sectors are projected to be 1) Healthcare, 2) Technology, and 3) Manufacturing. Of course, the number of technology-related positions in the healthcare and manufacturing segments has grown tremendously. So, for IT and technical candidates, this is a good sign for the upcoming year.
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So many career services and resume writing professionals talk about "personal branding" today. It is so overused and cliche at this point...I must rebel. I understand the thrust of the argument and, at a certain level, agree. However, the advice regarding personal branding within a resume typically results in a sanitized version or account that doesn't depict the true nature of the individual.
Think about it! We all have unique strengths, flaws, passions, drivers, attitudes, and motives. Your "personal brand" needs to include these elements. Most do not...they simply state how you are just like everyone else. To successfully engage your audience, you must tap into these critical areas and harness them to help communicate how you are distinguished from all others.
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Posted on Feb 28, 2012 under
Branding,
Job Search
Tags,
IT resume. by
Stephen Van Vreede.
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So many career professionals today spout across social media networks about their formula of Do's and Don'ts, Must's and Mustn'ts. Many are even able to convey their "rules" in 140 characters or less. All of this information and the average job seeker who is reviewing the material is saying, "What? Are you kidding me? Is this really what I need to do to get a job?"
The answer, in essence, is "No!" I am full agreement that there are essential elements in the resume that employers will focus on. What gets lost in translation is that these elements take on greater weight the more a job seeker goes through the traditional channels...
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Posted on Feb 27, 2012 under
Job Search,
Resume Writing
Tags,
IT resume. by
Stephen Van Vreede.
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