With the rapid growth of online social media networks, most people are drawn to share info / photos because it is convenient and kind of fun. Many even voice their strong opinion & make comment on matters & issues in there, good and/or nasty. It is either these people are truly ignorant of the fact that these portals are all being watched & monitored or one is just totally naive that this disclosure is permanently recorded, searchable & may come back to haunt them later.

Check it out, latest survey published by CareerBuilder.

Forty-five Percent of Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates, CareerBuilder Survey Finds

Career Expert Provides DOs and DON’Ts for Job Seekers on Social Networking

As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential employees. Forty-five percent of employers reported in a recent CareerBuilder survey that they use social networking sites to research job candidates, a big jump from 22 percent last year. Another 11 percent plan to start using social networking sites for screening. More than 2,600 hiring managers participated in the survey, which was completed in June 2009.
Of those who conduct online searches/background checks of job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace. One-in-ten (11 percent) search blogs while 7 percent follow candidates on Twitter.

The top industries most likely to screen job candidates via social networking sites or online search engines include those that specialize in technology and sensitive information: Information Technology (63 percent) and Professional & Business Services (53 percent).

Why Employers Disregarded Candidates After Screening Online

Job seekers are cautioned to be mindful of the information they post online and how they communicate directly with employers. Thirty-five percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them not to hire the candidate. The top examples cited include:

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information - 53 percent
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs - 44 percent
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients - 35 percent
• Candidate showed poor communication skills - 29 percent
• Candidate made discriminatory comments - 26 percent
• Candidate lied about qualifications - 24 percent
• Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer - 20 percent

Fourteen percent of employers have disregarded a candidate because the candidate sent a message using an emoticon such as a smiley face while 16 percent dismissed a candidate for using text language such as GR8 (great) in an e-mail or job application.

Why Employers Hired Candidates After Screening Online

Job seekers are also encouraged to leverage social media whenadvertising their skills and experience.Eighteen percent of employers reported they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate. The top examples include:

• Profile provided a good feel for the candidate’s personality and fit - 50 percent
• Profile supported candidate’s professional qualifications - 39 percent
• Candidate was creative - 38 percent
• Candidate showed solid communication skills - 35 percent
• Candidate was well-rounded - 33 percent
• Other people posted good references about the candidate - 19 percent
• Candidate received awards and accolades - 15 percent

“Social networking is a great way to make connections with potential job opportunities and promote your personal brand across the Internet,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. “Make sure you are using this resource to your advantage by conveying a professional image and underscoring your qualifications.”

Haefner recommends the following DOs and DON’Ts to keep a positive image online:

1)DO clean up digital dirt BEFORE you begin your job search. Remove any photos, content and links that can work against you in an employer’s eyes.

2)DO consider creating your own professional group on sites like Facebook or BrightFuse.com to establish relationships with thought leaders, recruiters and potential referrals.

3)DO keep gripes offline. Keep the content focused on the positive, whether that relates to professional or personal information. Makes sure to highlight specific accomplishments inside and outside of work.

4)DON’T forget others can see your friends, so be selective about who you accept as friends. Monitor comments made by others. Consider using the “block comments” feature or setting your profile to “private” so only designated friends can view it.

5)DON’T mention your job search if you’re still employed.

Me first, I am right, It has to be my way; You must give way to me;I must have it NOW; I must reach there NOW;

It must be done NOW, doesn’t matter if it’s urgent or important;

You cannot laugh at what I do no matter how silly else I sue you;

It’s ok to take from you but you cannot take from me;

It’s my road, I want to move first;

It’s my right to demand even it’s only my privileged;

I can do better than anyone;

You must help me, else I will throw my tantrum & hate you for life;

It is a matter of you or me, yes or no, right or wrong, there is no in between;

It is sbsolute, there is no room for fluidity & change;

There is no middle ground;………

Haven’t we seen these notion every day, if not every minute & second, in our life ? Didn’t  we see it very apparently especially on the road ? How people will use emergency lane and cut queue instead for the queue ? How we will cut in front of others instead of give way ? Didn’t we all attempt to jump queue instead of lining up & respecting other people’s turn ?  How we insist on our opinion ? How we claim to be advocate of a certain good course yet taking to the street in the name of that course which ended up in violent ?

Wait become quite a taboo attitude & word. Patient is no long a virtue. Secretly but obviously, we become people who admire material gain & achievement despite how it is obtained. It’s no long about reach depth & width.

As a result we drive ourselves nuts with all the stress created through it. Then we drives our love ones nuts in turn. We become a shallow people who act upon impulse, easily enraged, we react instead of response, we forgot to be courteou &  smile. We forgot it is a journey, not a destiny, we missed the scenary, we forgot to smell the flowers along the way.

Gawd, what has world development, improved knowledge & technology, advanced society done to us & our soul ?

Today, by a simple stone throw, one can easily have dozens of degree graduates. It is a good thing that higher education is now easily accessible to all. However, now arises the question about the quality of the graduates produced by all this higher education institutions.

As I was screening candidates to add to my team, I had this particular dude’s CV came through to me. He has been interviewed by my fellow colleagues of other divisions. Their recommendation was : “good candidate but too junior for the position we have but we thought he may be good for you. Check him out.”

Picking up his CV, I gave this dude a call with an intention to qualify him for the various positions I have. 1st off from the tele-conversation, this dude’s spoken English needs some improvement. Common in most of my interview, I like to see what a candidate is made off in terms of holistic substance & maturity, apart from his formal education. One good way is to size what he / she has in mind for his career in the medium term. Straight up, this dude is lack of it. Despite my colleague having explained to him my division’s business, he has no grasp of it. With the wide availability of information on the internet today, he didn’t take the initiative to research himself. Instead, he waited for me to call & explain. After my lengthy explanation, instead of taking that & go on to do his own research, he still say, “if there is any more information you have that can help me to make my decision ?” Duhhh…..It is one’s own responsibility & accountability to seek & learn. It is not another person’s responsibility to provide the info / to educate. This is where the skill of asking questions comes in.

After 2 days, the dude came back & requested for an exploring meet. I usually do not accomodate such request. It’s going to take away my productive time without serving any of my objectives. However, I knew this dude will not satisfy or rest if I do not grant his wish as he was pretty persistent in following up with my colleagues, back ground checking with some of the people I know with regards to the positions I have in hand. For that plus point, I decided to have 2 hours of my Christmas eve for him.

Eager as he is, he came with a notebook, ready to take note. LOL. What is there to take notes in point form ?

Well, the conversation went off by me asking him to really explain why he’s so eager to leave his current employment which he has just been there for just over 3 months. What I collected was the reason was nothing more than an impatient young man who wants to get it quick, do not understand the need to invest in the foundational substance of his career but want to earn more earn big soon & quick,  think what he has in the limited 2+  working experience in a segment of the industry defines the industry, a single track factual mind lack of ability to grasp multi matrix big picture, also lack the EQ tenacious capacity  to manage & maneuver coz he see thing as destiny instead of journey, absolute instead of fluidity and constant change, able only to pick & receipt the selective words known to him instead of digesting complex total meaning. Hungry & driven indeed but still very much lack of what it takes to be where he wish he would be.

2 hours, if I were to be any productive & achieving any of my objective is he helps me to see very clearly how unsuitable he is for the role because a different intelligent needed in the job.

One of the evening as I was going home from work, 94.5 was playing Rihana’s “Take a Bow” For the 1st time, I hear the lyrics & realized it was for her ex. Call me slow if you want. And ever since then, it has been playing in my mind because it’s very applicable, very appropriate for someone’s situation and a particular person, this song is so appropriate. With a little tweak to the lyrics, although it may not fit into the song, but it fits perfectly to her situation:

Certainly a round of applause with standing ovation
Acting dumb right now, trying to apologize
You look so ugly, please, just cut it out

Don’t tell me you’re sorry ’cause you’re not
You’re only sorry you got caught

You put on quite a show, really had me going for a really long time

But now, time for curtain to finally closing ?

It is quite a show, but it is not longer entertaining
Go on and please take a bow

Talking ’bout, Girl, I love you, “You’re the one”
This just looks like a rerun, Please, what else is on?

Don’t tell me you’re sorry ’cause you’re not;

Don’t tell me you love me ’cause you’re not

Oh, and the award for the best liar goes to you
For making me believe in you, No I don’t wanna hear another rerun speech

Go on and please take a bow

Let the curtain close.

In all business dealings, we expect people whom we are dealing with are professional, matured, well educated, competent & capable, reasonable…etc. However, pretty frequently, our encounter tell us otherwise, shockingly otherwise. The 3rd week into the new charter, I had this issue came to me from one of our client who outsourced their front office operation to us.

Here goes the entertaining storyline

In a packed & busy lobby, a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered to the front office. Before the officer is able to decifer the info on the DN, a manager, K, who happened to be around at the lobby stepped in, acknowledged the DN and told the officer to call A to collect the flowers. The young officer was in an utter confusion because she did see a different name in the DN. It was for L not A. Since she was still a junior in that role, she asked the opinion of her more senior colleague. However, her senior colleage was busy attending to phone inquiries and didn’t pay attention to the happening, thus can’t advice her. The young officer figure, maybe A = L, maybe A is the English name & L is the chinese name. So, she called A to inform her of the flowers for collection.

With the flowers, there is a little card that says, “Happy anniversary. Your Hubby”. No name was mentioned.

A came to lobby, picked up the flowers, went back to her office, rang the husband and a furious fight ensued. Following that a serious complaint was lodged by A to K about the young officer for the “error”. K, instead of taking ownership of her part contributing to the situation, stormed to our service coordinator and demanded the young officer be fired right away. Not only that, even threaten should we failed to do that, she will withold our service fee payment.

As part of any account &  service management, the vendor’s senior management representative will have to stepped in what a havoc happened. And there I was, in the client’s office, attempting to calm the situation & restore truth. To do so, I had the officer run through the sequence of happening in front of K, the service coordinator & myself. What amazed me most was, after the young officer finish her story, K, in a desperate attempt to shift responsibility, said she stepped in to acknowledge the floral DN because she saw the young officer was struggling to figure it out.  She claimed that by way of telling the young offier to inform A to pick up the flower was not an instruction but an advice. She further state that if the young officer were act purely on her advice instead of seeking clarity, then she’s stupid.

I was utterly dumb founded, inside. I almost fell of my chair. I felt like my inner systems was in a confusion of not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. ”WHAT ? DUHH !!!” was the word that almost got out of my mouth. Thank God it didn’t.

But, I was there for a purpose. an objective. I was there to dissolve the tension not to make it worse. So, intead of telling her, “Duh, who is the no brainer here?”. I took the longer route, exercise my patient, use the approach of questions asking and shift the blame to no man’s land but a series of unfortunate coincident happening. It works. We left the meeting having peace. Bravo to the young officer who knows it was not her error to bravely offered to apologize. Sxxxxx to an educated, supposedly more experience, incompetent, immature & coward  manager.