Internet Safety – Protect Yourself

Everyday the lines between personal and professional become all sorts of gray shades.  Who you are becomes much clearer to everyone you interact with, and those you don’t.  Enter the buzz phrase – “Personal Branding”.  What you are in real life and online is your personal brand.  Great, but you already know that, are hearing more about each day and maybe even creating a personal strategy to implement.

In this vein, I thought it is AWESOME that The Disney Channel is putting “Internet Safety” tips out to its viewers and is getting the young kids exposed to being safe online.  Last night I was watching The Disney Channel with my boys and on came a public service announcement from The Disney Channel in the form of Phineas & Ferb to talk to young viewers about internet safety.

I was unable to locate a video from either The Disney Channel web site or through YouTube but I did find this great link: http://disney.go.com/corporate/privacy/safety.html

Keep being safe and smart!

New Recruiting Toys

We seem to talk, read and write every day about something new happening in the world of recruiting and – lately – the conversations have concentrated around social networking, mobile apps and video.  Personally, I think these are fantastic tools and certainly the future of recruitment.

Social networking is an ongoing activity and must be focused on each day in order to reap results.  However, conducting searches and making calls/introductions to new candidates seems to be a topic that is not being focused on as much today as it was as little as one year ago.

Is the recent lack of more traditional recruitment talk due to it not being a “sexy” topic or whether recruiters are actually focusing their time more on these emerging tools other recruitment methodologies.

Have you found your sourcing has changed with these new tools?  Are you spending more time searching social media over the channels you were using not too long ago?  Have you revised your approach to candidates at all as a result of social media?

I look forward to your comments!

Second Prediction for 2010: Video!

No real surprise here:

Also, in follow up to my previous blog entry on mobile… check out Chris Hoyt‘s blog for a great AT&T video called “OMG Mobile?!” – I’m not the only one who feels this way!

First of Two Predictions: 2010 – The Year of Mobile Social Media

Yes, smartphones are already dominating the mobile marketplace and people are flocking to stores to purchase/upgrade iPhone’s, Blackberry’s, Palm’s, Droids and everything else in greedy fashion.  This is not an accident as people want easy access to anything they can imagine in an instant.

I anticipate 2010 to be the year that companies jump into the mobile world.  I expect to turn on my iPhone, click on the “App Store” icon and begin to search for companies who have created their own app to link to potential customers and job candidates.  I expect companies to understand that people will search for them on their phones while they are on the go rather than trying to remember to get online later that night when they get home to begin investigating a new trend or a new position.

Companies are already easily searchable and found but when you make an app available for someone’s smartphone, there is a whole new world and way to link to your target audience.

Face it, you can’t go anywhere without seeing someone texting or searching on their phone.  How exciting is it for a company to push information to you on your phone; could be a coupon, could be a new product launch, or it could be a new job opportunity.

This is an exciting venture and one that also, like all company related social media tools, is filled with legal bumps.  The legal side is an entirely different topic but one that I must stress anyone interested in social media of any nature must explore thoroughly.

Use your mobile devise for your social media activity and to keep networking, just anticipate businesses to join you in the ocean soon enough.