INFOGRAPHIC: How Your Facebook Picture Can Damage Your Personal Brand


Can a good picture help your personal brand? Maybe. Can a bad photo on Facebook ruin your brand? Absolutely.

Here’s a nifty infographic from LinkingR about the level of damage your image can make to your online identity on Facebook and other places.

Minor damage is incurred by using a default picture (imagine the egg on Twitter). A little more damage is done by using a low-res photo or something blurry altogether (so forget those holiday snaps please).

Dual damage is when you use someone elses photo, especially if that photo is bad as well. In the graphic below they’ve used Brad Pitt which probably mitigates that damage just a tad. Severe damage is caused by using an offensive image that will shock your grandma.

The highest level of damage is apparently the use of pornographic imagery. Funny that, I see lots of these images on Twitter by spammers and it seems to work for them, mind you they’re not looking to boost their online personal brand of course.

Related: 7 Pictures You Should Never Use on Your LinkedIn Profile.


Image credit JD Hancock

Filed Under: Facebook, Infographic, Personal Branding, Picture Tagged With: , ,

INFOGRAPHIC: Does Facebook Have a Better Employer Brand than Google?


It’s a fact that Facebook and Google often compete for the same talent. If you’re looking at job opportunities at these two hugely successful tech companies, it can be tough to decide which employer will be the right fit for you from a culture and compensation perspective.

On one side, Facebook is currently leading the way in terms of social networking and has its much anticipated IPO coming up. But, on the other side, Google has solidified its place in Silicon Valley as the leading search engine and perhaps has gone through many of the growing pains of going public that Facebook has yet to go through.

To help shine a light on which company may be right for you, who better to turn to than the employees who work at these companies, along with recent job candidates who can dish on the interview process? In this Glassdoor infographic, see how Facebook and Google compare from an insider’s perspective.

A couple of key takeaways are that 92% of Facebook employees give the thumbs up to Mark Zuckerberg leadership of the company, while 94% of Google employees are happy with their CEO Larry Page. As for salaries, Facebook pay a little better base salaries but Google is more generous with bonuses.

Related: Global Employer Branding Stats and Facts (Infographic).

Filed Under: Employer Branding, Facebook, Google, Hiring, Infographic Tagged With: , , , , ,

What if an Employer Requests My Facebook Password?


There have been several stories in the news recently about employers requesting the Facebook passwords of employees and job applicants. Should employers have access to our most private details? What rights do employees have in this situation? Is this even legal?

Why would an employer want my Facebook password?

Employers would probably be hard-pressed to come up with a legitimate business reason for requiring full access to an employee’s private social networking profiles. It seems as though employers are taking advantage of desperate job seekers who would rather surrender their rights to privacy than miss out on a job opportunity.

Should employers have access to my private information?

With today’s technology and increasing connectedness, there is a very fine line between our professional and personal lives. This is why we go through the painstaking process of perfecting our privacy settings on our social networking profiles. We know that current and potential employers are likely to research our online presence, but there is a difference between viewing our publicly available information and having full access to our most personal details.

While it might be uncomfortable to allow an employer to read your private messages and scan through your personal photos, this unrestricted access can actually be harmful for employers as well.

Employers are at risk for discrimination claims if:

- the employer asks some, but not all, individuals for certain information (ie, Facebook passwords),
- the employer discovers bits of personal information (e.g. race, religion, sexual orientation, medical conditions or political views) that are typically made available on protected Facebook profiles or in personal conversations.

What should I expect from an employer regarding social networking privacy?

Some companies that have been pressured to cease requesting employees’ Facebook passwords have resorted to “shoulder surfing,” or having an individual log in to their account and click through messages, photos and wall posts while the employer watches. In some cases, student athletes have been required to “friend” a coach or other authority figure as a means of monitoring activity.

Basic background checks are a standard practice in recruitment, and every company should have a formal social media policy that includes guidelines for conducting social networking screening. Ideally, these checks should be carried out by a third party, and certainly not by the individual in charge of making the hiring decision. All employers should reveal their social media monitoring policy to employees, including the use of software that takes screen snapshots of login information.

Is it legal for an employer to ask for my Facebook password?

There are no specific laws to protect the social networking privacy of employees and job applicants, though lawmakers in some US states have introduced bills to prohibit employers from requesting Facebook passwords. In the UK, the Computer Misuse Act 1990 offers some protection to employees. According to the Act, it is an offence to use a computer to gain access to data you are not authorised to use.

Unfortunately, many employees are willing to fork over their passwords in order to keep their jobs, thus “authorising” the employer to access their personal information. However, this practice still constitutes a direct violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. According to Section 4.8 of Facebook’s policy, “You will not share your password…let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.”

What can I do if I’m asked to give up my password?

Do not be afraid to defend your rights to personal social networking privacy. Ask about the company’s social media policy. Express your concerns about your legal rights, quote Facebook’s official policy, or just say no. If all else fails, ask yourself: do you really want to work for a company that doesn’t respect your right to privacy?

Related: How To Protect Your Online Reputation (Infographic).

Adriana Costello is an MSc Management and HR student at the London School of Economics. She blogs regularly for Link Humans and Jumpstart:HR as a HR and Social Media Intern. Follow Adriana on Twitter @AdrianaTereza.

Filed Under: Facebook, Privacy Tagged With: , ,

How To Use Facebook for Professional Networking [10 Useful Tips]


Facebook is a place to interact with friends and family online. It’s great for sharing sharing holiday snaps and video clips from your iPhone with your social circle. But there is more to Facebook, everyone from Goldman Sachs to Aaron Sorkin have realized this already.

Why use Facebook for professional networking?

Facebook has grown rapidly and now boasts some 900 million users globally. It has become a perfect platform for B2C (business to consumer) marketing, providing very targeted advertising opportunities based on user’s likes and associations.

Facebook is slowly moving towards a more professional and more career oriented service. They have recently introduced changes to personal profiles, giving more space to work and education information. Employers have checked applicants on Facebook for years, and most people Google you before meetings and your Facebook profile is likely to come up in searches.

The way people use Facebook is different to that of two years ago. As you get friend requests from colleagues, customers and managers it’s no longer strictly that social network. This means there is a case for branding oneself on Facebook just like we have always been doing on LinkedIn.

So let’s cut to the chase, how do you use Facebook for professional networking?

1. Set your vanity URL

This is the first thing you will want to do to brand yourself, a vanity URL is basically your customized domain on Facebook. Instead of facebook.com/e2434h394oij you can get facebook.com/joeshmoe. Note that this new vanity URL will double as your Facebook email address, it will become joeshmoe (at) facebook.com. Go to the Customized URL page on Facebook and set yours now.

2. Check your privacy settings

 

You will inevitably get friend requests from people you know professionally. Do you want these to see all your pictures and videos? If not, you can either choose to hide them from all users but a list that you set up. Or you can create different groups of friends which will have different access to your full profile.

3. Get a professional picture

 

Will your Facebook picture pass the granny test? If not, upload the same one you use on LinkedIn. Some people will disagree with me on this and say that you should give visitors a unique Facebook experience – this is fine, just as long as it’s not harmful to your brand.

As a rule I would say the picture should be related to what type of person you are, being an authentic representation of your personal brand. If you are on the summit of Kilimanjaro in your profile picture, you had better be into your mountaineering in other words.

4. Fill in professional details

You may have noticed that Facebook have ‘promoted’ professional information on personal profiles. The first text after your name is now about what you do for a living, perhaps because Facebook is gearing up to lock horns with its smaller professional rival LinkedIn.

Put your company’s name in the box and also try to state what you do (and not what you are). This means don’t use a title like ‘consultant’ when you could say “managing large scale IT projects in the public sector” – which is a great deal clearer. And don’t forget to put your schools and university on there as well as you can be found through these by old class mates (and that’s hopefully a good thing).

5. Use BranchOut as the LinkedIn of Facebook

Just to confuse you further, Facebook has a decent third part application called BranchOut which is all about professional networking on the Facebook platform. The benefit of BranchOut is that it allows you to search your contacts and their contacts based on company. Let’s say you want to apply for a job at IBM, if you search for people in your network working for IBM they might be able to introduce you to the hiring manager. You can also recommend people on BranchOut and it’s really like a Mini-Me version of LinkedIn.

It’s easy to get set up on BranchOut, all you do is importing the details of your CV, bio and LinkedIn profile and job’s a good’n as they say. BranchOut hasn’t really taken off yet but I notice more and more of my Facebook friends joining up.

6. Add your Blog RSS

Nowadays every man and his dog have are blogging so I will assume you have a blog somewhere on the interwebs. This could be your own blog or one that you contribute to. To ensure that your friends and network see your updates you can plug in the Social RSS feed straight to your profile wall. This saves time having to share things manually and most people really enjoy reading your blog posts.

7. Useful status updates please

Instead of sharing pictures of lol-cats, try to update your status with something useful and informative. This could be an article about your industry or business in general or a quote from Richard Branson. You are really then showcasing what you read and where your interests lie; exactly what a potential customer or employer wants to see. Yes it could possibly bore your friends but they will forgive you for wanting to be a personal brand success.

8. Time to quit the games

I would advise you drop Farmville, Mafia Wars and any other games you are active in on Facebook. The fact that you have time to play games every day on Facebook reflects poorly on your brand, you don’t want a potential customer, employer, investor or partner to see this. Keep your games off Facebook to be safe.

9. Look into Groups and Pages

Facebook Groups have fewer commercial features than Facebook Pages, but they are still very useful especially for online communities. Use a Facebook group to bring people together in your field, become a valuable contributor to that community and promote yourself and your company. Facebook Groups let you share pictures, video and links just like a normal account but it’s all within the group. Another benefit of groups is that they allow you to email all group members very easily (this is not the case for Pages).

Facebook Pages are for brands, ranging from Coca Cola to Rolls-Royce and even Brand You. These pages are similar to your normal profile but slightly less personal and better suited for a public persona and indeed a job seeker. You get full access to analytics tools on your Page, allowing you to see what people click on and how they interact. Another benefit is that your page will rank high for your name in search engines like Bing and Google and you can use it for your professional career, keeping your personal profile locked down.

10. Use Facebook events

Just like LinkedIn, Facebook has a good events engine allowing you to write up and invite people. This means you can put on an industry event, how about a networking evening relevant to your field? Open it up to the public and you will find that new people join up and help out with the organization of things. By running events you will be positioned as a leader in your field which is obviously handy for your personal brand success. Check out Facebook Events for more.

Your turn

What is your best networking tip on Facebook? Please share your experience!

Related: How To Find Graduate Jobs on Facebook’s BeKnown Application.

Filed Under: Facebook, Networking, Professional Tagged With: , ,

How To Find Graduate Jobs and Internships on Facebook’s BeKnown

I believe we’ve all heard about BeKnown by now. It’s a Facebook application, which allows users to connect with their Facebook friends in a professional way. The functionalities are very similar to Linkedin but the interface is much more similar to Facebook, combining aspects from both networks.

The app is powered by Monster.com, one of the largest employment websites in the world. They advert BeKnown as a network that provides users with more convenience, control and connections. It all makes sense, at least in theory.

Increasing your network

 

Once you install BeKnown one of the first things it asks you to do is to invite your Facebook friends to join your network. I started BeKnown with zero connections. One day after it launched I received two invites from Facebook friends. A couple of days passed and my network did not increase, which made me realise I had to start inviting people. After one day, only one person accepted my invite to join BeKnown. Which makes me wonder, how much potential does this network within a network concept will work?

Comparing with LinkedIn, which currently has more than 150 million users and a good number of monthly visitors, Facebook is still the winner with more than 800 million and very high usage. So it might be that Facebook has more potential? Not sure, since the audience is not exactly the same. Remember, we still believe Linkedin is the most important social network.

Profile

BeKnown imports information about your experience and education from your Facebook profile, that’s how I instantly won two badges. Rookie, which everyone gets once you install BeKnown. And the other was Loyal, which I got because I have a 2+ year experience at one single company. I thought it was a fun and clever use of badges, but not sure how professional you can say that is.

The fact you’re able to add a profile picture for BeKnown only is great. It’s an essential feature that allows you to have the looking and feel of a more professional network.

 

See examples and skip tasks

 

BeKnown wants you to be up and running in their network, so it keeps showing you messages when parts of your profile are not complete. I simply loved the way they did it! Linkedin could learn some lessons here. To complete the remaining fields in my CV it shows me a specific task, which I can decide to skip and another task will show up. Very clever!

 

I also liked how BeKnown shows examples for the different fields in the profile. When you decide to write your summary you can click on “see examples” and it will explain what it expects you to write giving you an actual example. Genius. Very helpful.

Job Search

 

This feature is not very different from Monster.com does.

But there is one feature I really liked – Jobs for Friends. This shows what jobs match your connections. At first, this doesn’t sound very interesting and it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But when you see the reward icon, you get excited. You’re able to make money by recommending your friends. Right now in my network there’s a job matching one of my connections, this specific job would pay me $369 for a recommendation. How cool is that?

The conclusions

 

It is hard to get connections. You or your friends might not be interested in maintaining a professional relationship, specially through Facebook. Professional networks are not like Facebook networks. It not only about who you know. It’s about who you know and will add value to you, either now or in the future. And let’s be honest, I don’t think 80% of my Facebook friends would.

It is more playful. I don’t say that only because of the badges, even though they are a very different element from other professional networks. It’s about the language and features such as skiping tasks and see examples. I like that, it makes it more fun.

A network within a network won’t work. I don’t think this concept will work. We’ve seen some other apps doing that on Facebook, but most of them were games. Even though BeKnown and Facebook have totally different purposes, I don’t believe someone can maintain two different networks in one single space (with the same friends!). It gets confusing. People quit MySpace to go to Facebook in the US, in Brazil people are quitting Orkut to go to Facebook. I believe you can only maintain two when you have a different and more segmented group of people, like Linkedin is for me.

And how about you, did you have a chance to play around with BeKnown? Please share your thoughts, I’d love to know whether I’m the only one who doesn’t see a long future for this application.

Further reading at: How Generation Y Use Facebook for Professional Networking (Infographic).

Cristina Dresch is part of the social recruiting training team at Link Humans in London.

Filed Under: Facebook, Graduate, Intern, Job Board, Job Search, Monster Tagged With: , , ,

INFOGRAPHIC: How Generation Y Use Facebook for Professional Networking

A new study shows us that Generation Y members on Facebook have on average 16 colleagues as friends. The fact that 18 to 29-year olds use Facebook both socially and professionally is hardly surprising but it does give HR departments and recruiters a great way to leverage Facebook as a platform to hire new talent.

Dan Schawbel of Milennial Branding says “When they go home [generation Y], they are still connected to the workplace… Their co-workers are their friends. And because people change jobs so often and have so many friends, their friends become co-workers.” (Quote from ERE.net.)

Some interesting stats from this study are that most Generation Y members on Facebook list their education (80%), whilst only about a third (36%) list their current job on their profile. The fifth most common job title happens to be “owner” – perhaps a sign of the current economic climate where many people are freelancing or managing a portfolio career.

In terms of friend count, yes the Gen Y users on Facebook are friends with an average of 16 work mates but that is a very little number in proportion to their total number of friends which is a staggering 696 on average. If anything, this proves that young professionals are ‘open networkers’ on Facebook and connect with most people they know, not just friends. The question is really: Will they connect with recruiters?

More on Facebook at How To Search for Jobs on Facebook (Infographic).

    

Source: Millennial Branding

Filed Under: Facebook, Graduate, Infographic, Networking Tagged With: , ,

INFOGRAPHIC: How To Search for Jobs on Facebook


The eternal task of finding a job has undergone a couple of huge transformations in the past few years. Around the turn of the millenium, Craigslist revolutionized the job hunt by taking a city’s worth of classified sections and condensing them into a single, easy-to-navigate web page. Now job hunting is undergoing another big shift – this time into the world of social media.

A new breed of work searchers – call them ‘social job seekers’ – are utilizing the big social networks in ingenious ways in order to find their dream jobs, and so far they’re having great success. It turns out, the more you use a social network, the more likely you are to find a job through the service: 1 in 4 ‘super social seekers’ successfully network through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. This infographic from MBAOnline.com clarifies how you can search for jobs on Facebook and other social media tools.

Be sure to check out 5 Ways To Use Facebook for Job Search as well.

Image credit MBAOnline.com

Filed Under: Facebook, Infographic, Job Search Tagged With: , ,

INFOGRAPHIC: How To Get a Job at Google, Facebook or Apple


Jobs at Google, Facebook and Apple are the most sought-after careers in the Silicon Valley. 1 in 4 young professionals want to work at Google, but fewer than 1 in 250 applicants will ever work at the company. Knowing what types of skills and expertise these companies are looking for will somehow give you an idea whether you stand a chance to enjoy the perks that these companies provide to its employees.

In an infographic published by Masters Degree, aspiring applicants may now have an idea on how to land a job at these tech giants. It also highlights the best paying tech jobs, the biggest tech hotspots in the US, the top in demand developer skills, and reveals the current openings. Furthermore, it provides jobseekers tips on what some subjects you can study to help you land a job with one of them. Since Google, Facebook and Apple use recruiters, the infographic also shows how you can better optimize your resume.

See more at How Employers Use Social Media to Screen Candidates Infographic.

With the country still deep in recession, the jobs situation seems to be worsening with each passing day. Americans are seriously hurting, and with through-the-roof unemployment combined with stagnant wages, large-scale economic recovery seems a long ways off. A few industries, however, seem impervious to decline, and tech is one of those industries.

For a UK perspective, check out the UK Tech and Startup Job Trends 2011 Infographic.


Source: MastersDegree.net

Filed Under: Apple, Facebook, Google, Infographic, Job Search Tagged With: ,

How To Use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to Find a Job


Social media has is playing a vital role in boosting job search. Are you too benefiting from the popular social networking tools that have become a rage these days? Well, not only jobseekers but employers as well are garnering the benefits of social media for finding suitable candidates. Among other social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the three most popular social networking websites that you can use to boost your job searching process. To make the most of these social networking tools, you need to be informed of the strategic ways for networking your way into a job or career of your interest.

Given below are some important tips on how to use social media for maximum benefit in your job search. Have a look.

Let People Know You Are Searching for a Job

It is a good idea to keep people in your network informed that you are looking for a job. It’s even better to let them know what type of job you are looking for. Whether you are using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, tell people that you in search of a job position. If you keep them informed, they will keep you in mind and tell you as soon as a new position opens up. The job information that you get from your contacts can really boost your job search.

Don’t Be Afraid of Networking with Friends on Facebook

As compared to social media websites like Twitter and LinkedIn, Facebook happens to be more powerful when it comes to connecting with friends, co-workers and colleagues. Friends that know you on Facebook will be more helpful in finding you a job you are looking for or providing you with some valuable job related information. Spend some good networking with friends on Facebook.
See more at 5 Ways to use Facebook for Your Job Search

Make Your Facebook Profile Private

The profile information that you fill out on Facebook is visible to everyone by default. If you don’t want employers to see your personal updates, you can set your profile to private. All you need to do is go to ‘Account’, click Privacy Settings and choose ‘Friends Only’. In this way, only those with who you are friends on Facebook will be able to see your personal updates and profile information.
Also check out 10 Useful Tips to Branding Yourself on Facebook

Search for Information about Hiring Managers

These days almost every large employer is on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. To boost your job hunting, you can first find information about the employers you have targeted. Smart employers will certainly keep their Facebook profile private. However, you can search for the information on other social networking websites and be informed about the new job openings coming up. In addition, you can dig out more valuable details about your targeted employers.

Hyperlink Your Resume

Also remember to add the link to your personal profile on Twitter and LinkedIn. This helps employers to find your contact information if they are willing to get in touch with you. Don’t add a link to your Facebook profile, as it is private available only to your friends. Keeping profile information on Facebook private also shows employers that you are internet savvy. Many employers appreciate this skill.
More CV tips at How To Make a Resume that Gets You the Job

Create Facebook Lists

Facebook allows users to create multiple lists, according to individual requirements. So you can create separate lists for friends and professional contacts. In this way, your professional contacts will have access to only that information that you want them to see. To create a new list on Facebook, you can go to Account, then Friends and then click Create a New List. Facebook allows you to set your privacy settings according to your requirements. This is a good strategy to be adopted by jobseekers in search of jobs.

Get Found on Google

If you want employers to find relevant information when they Google your name, you need to be active on all the above mentioned social media websites including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Fill out your profile information on all these sites carefully including the industry-related keywords as well. If you have a completely filled out job profile on these sites, employers will find your profile information in the top Google rankings.

So, if you haven’t yet created your profiles on popular social media sites, go and create the same now. At the same time be active on the networks and spend some good time connecting with your network of friends for maximum job search benefits.
James Tomerson writes regularly on career, education and latest job trends. To read more from him, you can visit Jobdiagnosis.com, which also offers jobseekers a free career aptitude test to choose a career which is in tune with their career, aptitude and skills.

Filed Under: Facebook, Job Search, LinkedIn, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

Top 10 Facebook Fan Pages for Job Seekers

I don’t know about you, but I get Fan Page suggestions sent to me on Facebook every day. From Cheryl Cole to sausage rolls, everyone’s got one nowadays. If you are a job seeker or just take an active interest in your career there are a few good Pages you should consider joining. I have listed what I think is the top 10 in careerland, the titles are hyperlinked to the respective Fan Pages on Facebook.

1. Career Savvy

Heather E. Coleman keeps us posted on career trends via networking, personal branding and social media. Lots of articles from different sources to sink your teeth into.

2. About.com Job Searching

Alison Doyle writes and compiles interesting articles on job search. Don’t miss the wall photo of her dog Ollie with no less than 3 tennis balls in his mouth.

3. Tim’s Strategy

Tim Tyrell-Smith shares his great ideas on job search, career and life. Good level of interaction between Tim and his loyal subjects here.

4. Expat Coach Megan

Megan is an American in Italy and unlike the Talented Mr. Ripley, she helps expats with personal branding, careers and chasing their dreams worldwide.

5. Punk Rock HR

Laurie Ruettimann describes herself as a self-deprecating Human Resources professional and this Page is for anyone interested in the intricacies behind the iron curtain that is HR (recruiters pay attention!).

6. Personal Branding Guy

The personal branding guru of the Middle East, Mohammed Al-Taee keeps us all very up to date on any Personal Branding, Career and Social Media news out there.

7. Keppie Careers

Miriam Salpeter shares her insights on important and timely career search strategies. Why it’s called Keppie I don’t know but I am sure she will enlighten us one day.

8. Windmill Networking

Neal Schaffer is a networking guru based in California. His Windmill Networking strategies are very applicable to careers and other aspects of your professional life.

9. Wise Man Say

Hung Lee is a fellow Englishman as well as the Wise Man of careers. His Page is a job search guide for the Web 2.0 era.

10. The Undercover Recruiter

This is what you call a shameless self plug. If you are joining the others, you have to join this as well according to international law.

Final words

If you choose to join all of these Fan Pages, be prepared for a barrage of articles coming up on your home feed on Facebook. If you are not comfortable with this, you can always hide the feed from the Pages you don’t think are that relevant or you can easily unsubscribe.

Here’s more on how to use Facebook for your job networking.

What great Fan Pages in the career space should be included for the update?

Filed Under: Facebook, Job Search Tagged With: ,
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