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Make Social Media Work for You

My normally cheerful client Brian* was aggravated. He’d been assigned to find productive work for Jason*, a new hire. The problem, he said, is that “we can’t give Jason a project because he doesn’t know how to do anything at all.”

Jason had polished manners, an Ivy League education, and a distant family connection to the CEO. Brian’s boss had recruited Jason from his last job, where he’d maintained a fairly high profile as a “senior policy advisor.”

“Does he really not understand those policy issues?” I asked.

“Oh, he knows the issues alright,” Brian said. “But that’s irrelevant because he can’t do anything. We’re going to have to find a way to let him go.”

It turned out that Jason had enjoyed one of the last remaining old-school jobs, where he wrote all his papers on a legal pad. “He doesn’t even know how to use e-mail,” Brian said. “In this company, not even the CEO writes longhand drafts for some secretary to type up. I don’t care how smart or connected he is. There’s no room here for a guy without basic skills.”

The fact is that there’s no room in most corporations for a professional without basic communication skills. But the definition of those skills can vary widely. During the interview process, nobody at Brian’s company asked Jason whether he could use a laptop because it seemed inconceivable that an expert could operate in the policy arena without the “basic skill” of turning out quick drafts and distributing them electronically to the world.

In regard to communications, “basic skills” may seem to include whatever technologies you happen to be using now, but not much more. Too many professionals seem to share the view of my client who said, “I have all the communication skills I need and I’m not going to go messing around with a time sink like social media.”

Consider this statement as a SHOUT: Understanding social media is now a basic skill in the world of business, academia, or government. That doesn’t mean that you have to know how to do everything. But you absolutely must understand the fundamental concept and potential power of these rapidly evolving media. Even if you’re in your 20s, you’ll sound like a dinosaur if you make derisive comments like, “Oh, I just think Twitter is silly. Why would I want to see what some stranger has for lunch?”

Every professional needs a social media strategy

In Chapter 4 we talked about how—whether you know it or not—you have a personal brand that is impacting the opportunities that come along in your career. One factor shaping your brand is the way you show up online. And—whether you know it or not—you do have an online image. If there isn’t much information online about you, you may come across as someone not well connected in the world of work.

You are in charge of your career, and it’s your responsibility to think about how the Internet and social networking may impact your professional brand. If you are just starting to think about your social media strategy, consider these four tips:

1) Know who’s using it. Most businesses and large organizations now have some kind of social media presence. It’s smart to know how your employer, your customers, and your competitors are showing up. If you do nothing else, remain aware of messages flowing from the organizations that matter to your work life.

2) Set up a profile. LinkedIn.com, by definition, is a professional networking tool, and many people now use it as a digital address book. It’s a great way to gather data and keep track of most of your business associates in one place. But it’s become much more than that. Hiring organizations and executive search firms use it on a regular basis to locate talent. And there’s a good chance that anyone you meet will use LinkedIn to quickly check you out. So here’s a chance to tweak your brand: Create a LinkedIn profile that at least describes your current professional persona.

3) Get news. Until you get the hang of it, Twitter feels like a large, random crowd of people shouting about trivia. But once you understand how to organize the flow, it’s a tool for connecting with people all over the world in real time. If you want instant feedback from an audience or customer group, Twitter works as well as anything out there. And if you want to know what people are talking about right now, Twitter is your tool.

Many users never Tweet a word, but they manage Twitter as their primary source of incoming news. Twitter allows you to organize reports from all the major media companies, as well as the specialized journals and commentators you most respect. And it brings fast access to crowdsourced reporting when there’s breaking news like an earthquake or security breach. If you’d rather use Facebook or other social options for getting the news, that’s fine. But when there’s a crisis it helps to be plugged in to some kind of social media stream.

And if you want to give Twitter a try, please follow me at: @beverlyejones.

4) Don’t mock what you don’t understand. There are so many new channels that it’s easy to become bored or confused. Don’t think you have to understand it all or feel pressure to sign up for everything from Facebook and Pinterest to Scoop.it and Academia.edu. If you’re just starting out, a smart goal is to try one or two tools immediately, and gradually learn more about some of the other options. What you don’t want to do is self-righteously refuse to try the tools that your colleagues are using, or make fun of media that you’re unwilling to use.

Social media can help you put your best foot forward and stay abreast of developments that are critical to your professional life. If you refuse to even try them, you may find yourself on the wrong side of a great divide. Like today’s elderly who don’t hear from grandkids because they can’t text or e-mail, you might eventually be cut off from your younger or sharper friends and colleagues. The challenge is to understand what is technically possible, and what avenues are your best choice for staying in touch with the people and activities you care about.