Social Media: Professional Courtesy & Forethought Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry

Social Media:  It was the Recruiter Rudeness, heard round the nation.  Cleveland Jobs Bank founder, Kelly Blazek apologized for her rude and unprofessional reply to a jobseeker who reached out to her on LinkedIn.   We all have bad days, and most of us from time to time will say things we regret, but some level of preparedness and professional courtesy means never having to say you are sorry.  It is an honor for Kelly Blazek to be regarded as "Communicator of the Year.   To whom much is given, much is also expected, and asked, as it relates to social media. Where the need is great, in areas such as job search, where the finding of a job, is sometimes the difference between having a home and healthcare for your family, the demand, and value for a good communicator, is worth more than gold.  

There are MANY good recruiters AND job seekers out there.  I have had the pleasure of knowing many of both. Many recruiters that have helped put thousands to work, and even when it was not their job,  making referrals or introductions that help others find work.

The MISTAKE too easy to make is thinking because we are "sharing" its about "Social MEdia" - "My job"  or "My talent" or "My business", it is our media.  It IS your job, talent, network, brand or image, but its also relationships and connections to others.  It is the subtle connection, continued professional relationships, interest, hearing, sharing, and the "collaboration" that creates the magic. Whether Business Development, Job Seeker, or Recruiter, being a good citizen who connects, hears, gives, and collaborates, is connectable, and referable,  that creates value for all involved.  (link to how to network effectively)

As a former recruiter and job seeker in the Ohio area, I could see both sides of this story and why it is a such a challenge, for recruiter and jobseeker.  Professional courtesy is classic elegance that means never saying or doing something that you have to say you are sorry to.

Social Media creates opportunity, connection, and business good if you keep it real, authentic, reciprocal, and realistic.

• Job Seekers CAN and DO find jobs, and 90% of jobs are found through personal networks or connections.  
• Recruiters CAN AND DO place candidates by being great communicators, who care about creating the right pools of talent and business, and bringing them together in an orchestra of grand proportion. 

Here is the CNN story:




In all times, Recruiters are in the business of "talking" to strangers, they have to talk to new Business Managers about Job Requirements.  They have to talk to candidates in the talent pool about assessing their match, to their client's requirements.   When unemployment is high, and pressures are high, people will look to jobs networks and good communicator's and connected leaders. Ohio’s average annual unemployment rate remained unchanged from 2012 to 2013 at 7.4%, but truthfully, "sufficient" employment is not a topic that is trended, and in Ohio, lack of quality jobs for the past years, puts a very high demand on a product with very low supply".

When demand is high, and supplies are low, regardless of how connected you are, a conscientious community minded professional cares. They have a responsibility to maintain their positive business connections, and naturally might want to protect a "firestorm" of people knocking and demanding things that can simply not be delivered. THIS story went viral because of it's particularly nasty "breaking point" tone. I wonder how many only sensationalized the "badness" of this one story? The morale of the story should not be missed however and there are a few. Having lived and worked "BOTH" sides of the experience in Ohio while Ohio was in the USA top 10 worst economies in the nation, a few things come to mind.

1. BUSINESS NETWORK LEADERS: Explain your business social media networks name, purpose, and network rules- upfront.  Most good social media citizens will follow them, and reduce the position of "assumed guilt until proven innocent".  Social Media oriented network names and brands convey "function". IF you name your jobs board "Cleveland Jobs Board" and don't have published rules for membership, MORE people will break your rules, simply for lack of knowledge.  MOST people will try to join "Cleveland Jobs Board" if they are looking for jobs in Cleveland.  MOST are not trying to get all of the contacts to SPAM them. MOST are looking to truly network, and win win business networking is good for all involved.

2. BUSINESS LEADERS: If you are a recognized professional in your industry, you WILL attract attention and requests to connect.  How you manage that is yours, but like a business network, if you have established a standard set of rules for how you will communicate how you want people to work with you most will follow it.  A well created template for the frequent challenges, customized to the person will help, provided you read the issue and respond accordingly. When you are the founder of a network that is not working as expected, some will try to reach out to you personally.  If the group rules are published, this is reduced, but how you respond sets the pace.

Some things Business Leaders that seems frustrating to jobseekers.  These issues often stem from overwhelm or forgetting how important their role is in "leadership"

• If you"say" things like "I am never too busy for your referrals", but you never respond, you seem insincere. 
• Professionals face hard times too, not getting a job that a recruiter suggests is going forward DOES have impact. "Suggesting" job seekers need to be more positive when recruiters fail to follow up for weeks on a job that they represented as moving towards, leave jobseekers sometimes in very serious situations.  SOME of those people that recruiters judged "negative" when the recruiter failed to follow up or communicate to, may have become homeless, or had to find a food kitchen to feed their family for another week, etc. 
• If recruiters create a "don't call us, we'll call you" attitude around communicating on your posted jobs for them, but you ask for referrals for jobseeker friends that are not a match, you seem uncaring. 

3. JOB SEEKERS: Social Media works, if you work it thoughtfully. Networking in communities, job boards, and reaching out to professionals works if you work it but there are some basic ground rules.  In this example the professional did try to join a local job leads network that was in practice, that is good and practical.  She reached out to professionals in the area she wished to live, and explained her objectives and why she was reaching out.  Be clear on the ask, most very well connected professionals run a very busy schedule and have lots of demands for service, their time is valuable, so treat it as such.   (link to tips for getting started on LinkedIn for positive business)

Here are some things Job Seekers can do that are counterproductive to their job search.

• Misrepresent their profile, experience, education, resume, or contacts
• Accept an exchange, or offer to trade or "buy" professional written endorsements (would you REALLY want an endorsement from someone that turns up on America's Most Wanted"?) 
• Assume that everyone is an Open Networker that will accept a connection from you, and allow you to begin connecting to all their contacts
• Open the request with a demand for help because if they don't they are "not humanitarian" 
• Suggest a Business Leader introduce, recommend or refer you to all of their contacts
• Ask a Business Leader to give you all their contacts in a given industry

Social Media can HELP your jobsearch.  All it takes is connection and caring about one another. (link to tip on connected caring)

Dawn C Khan: ~ about.me | twitter | linkedin |