Solution to Introductions gone bad

Solution to Introductions gone bad… Yesterday I presented the problem, today I present a quasi-solution (my life is all about quasi-solutions). Read the problem here (make sure to read the excellent comments) the following is an example (with real people, real stuff this assumes that Carl Chapman introduced me to Susan Strayer). If you are a blogger I invite you to write your own example on your blog and my readers can benefit from your wisdom ?? (heres one from Noah Kagan at OKDork.com (thanks for the link Phil!)) Hi guys, Carl, thanks for the introduction! Susan, I have been following your blogs for a while and have been interested in getting in touch with you. Im glad that Carl hooked us up. Its pretty admirable that you have put out this book while in the middle of an MBA program. When I got my MBA it was really strenuous, so I have a little idea of what you are going through but I didnt write a book during that time! Id like to introduce myself so you can get a better idea of what I do. Id love to know if there is anything that I can help you with. My background is in IT, specifically in internet applications. I have been in this field for about nine years and have programmed for a good portion of that but my love is in business strategy. I have always had a passion for helping solve regular problems for regular people and love to help users do mundane things better. Enough about me I noticed your post today about the Home Depot exit package for the CEO (?). It was a really good post and made me rethink my position on executive compensation. I have a few thoughts for your blog that I think could really improve it. If you are interested just let me know and Ill shoot over a list of things I came up with. Id like to know if there is anything I can help you with, in your book promotion, or your blogging, or whatever. Please let me know what I can do for you I look forward to hearing from you, Jason Some thoughts: Please please please include both people in the e-mail. It does 2 things: First, it lets Carl know that you are acting on the introduction (this is HUGE). Second, it puts a subtle pressure on Susan to respond (not that you are out to pressure people, but its a reality). This may be disjointed I didnt get good grades in English, but it works for me. Im sure it could be better. I dont put Dear and Sincerely. Ive never felt comfortable with that and i wonder if it is a generation thing? Keep the about me rather short this is your only chance for a first impression, and you dont want to impress that you are a blabbering novelist :p In the third paragraph Im trying to be helpful, offering help but not giving it because (a) I dont know if this person is going to care, or be offended and (b) the list could be long and detract from the purpose of this e-mail. If they reply back Ill shoot back a list of things, otherwise Ill let it go at that. Finally a call to action Ive been kind of bad at this in the past where I write an e-mail that basically amounts to cool. Nice to meet you. But it should be something that invites the person to move the relationship forward a bit, one step at a time. So there you go. Perhaps Ill shoot this link to someone the next time I do an introduction Solution to Introductions gone bad… Yesterday I presented the problem, today I present a quasi-solution (my life is all about quasi-solutions). Read the problem here (make sure to read the excellent comments) the following is an example (with real people, real stuff this assumes that Carl Chapman introduced me to Susan Strayer). If you are a blogger I invite you to write your own example on your blog and my readers can benefit from your wisdom ?? (heres one from Noah Kagan at OKDork.com (thanks for the link Phil!)) Hi guys, Carl, thanks for the introduction! Susan, I have been following your blogs for a while and have been interested in getting in touch with you. Im glad that Carl hooked us up. Its pretty admirable that you have put out this book while in the middle of an MBA program. When I got my MBA it was really strenuous, so I have a little idea of what you are going through but I didnt write a book during that time! Id like to introduce myself so you can get a better idea of what I do. Id love to know if there is anything that I can help you with. My background is in IT, specifically in internet applications. I have been in this field for about nine years and have programmed for a good portion of that but my love is in business strategy. I have always had a passion for helping solve regular problems for regular people and love to help users do mundane things better. Enough about me I noticed your post today about the Home Depot exit package for the CEO (?). It was a really good post and made me rethink my position on executive compensation. I have a few thoughts for your blog that I think could really improve it. If you are interested just let me know and Ill shoot over a list of things I came up with. Id like to know if there is anything I can help you with, in your book promotion, or your blogging, or whatever. Please let me know what I can do for you I look forward to hearing from you, Jason Some thoughts: Please please please include both people in the e-mail. It does 2 things: First, it lets Carl know that you are acting on the introduction (this is HUGE). Second, it puts a subtle pressure on Susan to respond (not that you are out to pressure people, but its a reality). This may be disjointed I didnt get good grades in English, but it works for me. Im sure it could be better. I dont put Dear and Sincerely. Ive never felt comfortable with that and i wonder if it is a generation thing? Keep the about me rather short this is your only chance for a first impression, and you dont want to impress that you are a blabbering novelist :p In the third paragraph Im trying to be helpful, offering help but not giving it because (a) I dont know if this person is going to care, or be offended and (b) the list could be long and detract from the purpose of this e-mail. If they reply back Ill shoot back a list of things, otherwise Ill let it go at that. Finally a call to action Ive been kind of bad at this in the past where I write an e-mail that basically amounts to cool. Nice to meet you. But it should be something that invites the person to move the relationship forward a bit, one step at a time. So there you go. Perhaps Ill shoot this link to someone the next time I do an introduction Solution to Introductions gone bad… Yesterday I presented the problem, today I present a quasi-solution (my life is all about quasi-solutions). Read the problem here (make sure to read the excellent comments) the following is an example (with real people, real stuff this assumes that Carl Chapman introduced me to Susan Strayer). If you are a blogger I invite you to write your own example on your blog and my readers can benefit from your wisdom ?? (heres one from Noah Kagan at OKDork.com (thanks for the link Phil!)) Hi guys, Carl, thanks for the introduction! Susan, I have been following your blogs for a while and have been interested in getting in touch with you. Im glad that Carl hooked us up. Its pretty admirable that you have put out this book while in the middle of an MBA program. When I got my MBA it was really strenuous, so I have a little idea of what you are going through but I didnt write a book during that time! Id like to introduce myself so you can get a better idea of what I do. Id love to know if there is anything that I can help you with. My background is in IT, specifically in internet applications. I have been in this field for about nine years and have programmed for a good portion of that but my love is in business strategy. I have always had a passion for helping solve regular problems for regular people and love to help users do mundane things better. Enough about me I noticed your post today about the Home Depot exit package for the CEO (?). It was a really good post and made me rethink my position on executive compensation. I have a few thoughts for your blog that I think could really improve it. If you are interested just let me know and Ill shoot over a list of things I came up with. Id like to know if there is anything I can help you with, in your book promotion, or your blogging, or whatever. Please let me know what I can do for you I look forward to hearing from you, Jason Some thoughts: Please please please include both people in the e-mail. It does 2 things: First, it lets Carl know that you are acting on the introduction (this is HUGE). Second, it puts a subtle pressure on Susan to respond (not that you are out to pressure people, but its a reality). This may be disjointed I didnt get good grades in English, but it works for me. Im sure it could be better. I dont put Dear and Sincerely. Ive never felt comfortable with that and i wonder if it is a generation thing? Keep the about me rather short this is your only chance for a first impression, and you dont want to impress that you are a blabbering novelist :p In the third paragraph Im trying to be helpful, offering help but not giving it because (a) I dont know if this person is going to care, or be offended and (b) the list could be long and detract from the purpose of this e-mail. If they reply back Ill shoot back a list of things, otherwise Ill let it go at that. Finally a call to action Ive been kind of bad at this in the past where I write an e-mail that basically amounts to cool. Nice to meet you. But it should be something that invites the person to move the relationship forward a bit, one step at a time. So there you go. Perhaps Ill shoot this link to someone the next time I do an introduction Solution to Introductions gone bad… Yesterday I presented the problem, today I present a quasi-solution (my life is all about quasi-solutions). Read the problem here (make sure to read the excellent comments) the following is an example (with real people, real stuff this assumes that Carl Chapman introduced me to Susan Strayer). If you are a blogger I invite you to write your own example on your blog and my readers can benefit from your wisdom ?? (heres one from Noah Kagan at OKDork.com (thanks for the link Phil!)) Hi guys, Carl, thanks for the introduction! Susan, I have been following your blogs for a while and have been interested in getting in touch with you. Im glad that Carl hooked us up. Its pretty admirable that you have put out this book while in the middle of an MBA program. When I got my MBA it was really strenuous, so I have a little idea of what you are going through but I didnt write a book during that time! Id like to introduce myself so you can get a better idea of what I do. Id love to know if there is anything that I can help you with. My background is in IT, specifically in internet applications. I have been in this field for about nine years and have programmed for a good portion of that but my love is in business strategy. I have always had a passion for helping solve regular problems for regular people and love to help users do mundane things better. Enough about me I noticed your post today about the Home Depot exit package for the CEO (?). It was a really good post and made me rethink my position on executive compensation. I have a few thoughts for your blog that I think could really improve it. If you are interested just let me know and Ill shoot over a list of things I came up with. Id like to know if there is anything I can help you with, in your book promotion, or your blogging, or whatever. Please let me know what I can do for you I look forward to hearing from you, Jason Some thoughts: Please please please include both people in the e-mail. It does 2 things: First, it lets Carl know that you are acting on the introduction (this is HUGE). Second, it puts a subtle pressure on Susan to respond (not that you are out to pressure people, but its a reality). This may be disjointed I didnt get good grades in English, but it works for me. Im sure it could be better. I dont put Dear and Sincerely. Ive never felt comfortable with that and i wonder if it is a generation thing? Keep the about me rather short this is your only chance for a first impression, and you dont want to impress that you are a blabbering novelist :p In the third paragraph Im trying to be helpful, offering help but not giving it because (a) I dont know if this person is going to care, or be offended and (b) the list could be long and detract from the purpose of this e-mail. If they reply back Ill shoot back a list of things, otherwise Ill let it go at that. Finally a call to action Ive been kind of bad at this in the past where I write an e-mail that basically amounts to cool. Nice to meet you. But it should be something that invites the person to move the relationship forward a bit, one step at a time. So there you go. Perhaps Ill shoot this link to someone the next time I do an introduction

3 Ways to Make Your IT Team More Productive

3 Ways to Make Your IT Team More Productive “How do you make your IT teams more productive?” is a question that companies tackle daily. High productivity often translates to better business outcomes. But what can you do to make your team more productive? You can use video systems to make that possible. Here’s how: Streamline Operations The American Institute of Stress says that the workplace continues to be one of the leading sources of stress, with 28 percent of people citing people issues and 46 percent citing workload pressure as the most prevalent types. Video conferencing solutions can help you cut down on both. People issues: When you deal with people, you might take into account what they look or feel at the moment. Do they look stressed, tired, or out of it? You can rely on non-verbal cues on what to say or do when you reach out to your team mates. You get none of that through chats or emails. A short email might seem impossibly curt or impolite. With video, context cues provide both sides with greater insight into what their team mates are feeling. This helps eliminate conflicts and misunderstandings at work, ensuring better teamwork and operations. Workload issues: Video systems also help you streamline your operations, especially if you have more than one branch or site. Since video removes the need to travel, you won’t have to send your IT teams to other sites or branches just to provide training or troubleshooting assistance. Your IT teams from all over can coordinate through video so that your IT experts can spend less time on the road and more time working on resolving system issues and reports. Give Them Better Work-Life Balance Video solutions also make it possible for you to provide your employees with better-work life balance. With video systems, your employees can report to work wherever they are. Working in the field, at the office or home, isn’t going to be an issue. With so much of the workforce clamoring for greater flexibility at their jobs, you can easily provide your team with telecommuting opportunities or work from home solutions to address their need for flexibility. This is especially beneficial for employees who are raising families because they get to spend more time at home instead of being tied to their desks from nine to five. By providing your employees with better work-life balance, they’re more likely to perform and give their best to their jobs. Also, by working from home, employees have greater control over their schedules, so they have much more leeway over their daily tasks and can run errands or meet friends in between meeting their deadlines. But the best advantage of the best video meeting for IT from BlueJeans is employee retention. When your team believes you’re invested in ensuring their happiness and wellbeing, when they feel like management is taking steps to find ways to make the work better and easier for them, then they’re more likely to stay. And those long-time employees are the backbone of your company. Increase Employee Engagement   FastCompany says that low employee engagement costs the U.S. economy about $370 billion a year. Employees who aren’t engaged are less likely to be productive. High turnover rates, more quality issues, low customer satisfaction, and low profitability are just among the many other signs that employees aren’t engaged in an organization. And when you’re dealing with remote and offsite teams, there’s a bigger chance that employees would feel more isolated from the company and the rest of their team mates. One way to ensure your remote IT teams don’t feel that way is to provide them with video systems that allow them to stay in touch with their team mates. It makes a difference when they can see and hear the people they work with, as opposed to emails, calls, and chats. People feel they know someone when they can visually identify a person. This helps build trust and camaraderie, which is a crucial part to building a strong and united team. When people feel like they’re a part of the team, they more engaged. They’re more willing to work harder or render long hours just to get the job done and done right. An engaged team performs above and beyond expectations because they feel valued and appreciated. They believe their contribution means a lot to the growth and success of the company. That’s the kind of engagement you want your IT staff to feel. By using tools to get in touch with them, you can easily inspire and motivate your people to do their best. It may not happen all of the time, because that would be impossible, but for most days, that’s going to make a massive difference in your productivity and bottom line. The Solution If you’re looking for a way to improve productivity levels of your IT staff, then look no further than a good video conferencing tool to help you out.

Keep Christmas Festive, Not Stress-tive

Keep Christmas Festive, Not Stress-tive Christmas may be ‘the most wonderful time of the year’, but for workers, the festive period can mean longer hours, busier shifts and more pressure. December can leave workers feeling drained, unmotivated and unable to perform to the best of their abilities. This is bad news for the businesses that rely so heavily on keeping customers happy at this time of year. So, with Christmas around the corner, Erik  Fjellborg, CEO and Founder of  Quinyx, the market leader in workforce management, shares five top tips to ensure companies look after their elves this season. He says: Christmas is without a doubt the busiest time of year. The extra pressure can be stressful not only for workers, but also for those trying to schedule the right people to be in the right place at the right time. With your workers turning into Santa’s elves in December, helping everything run like clockwork and ensuring everyone has a fantastic time, it is only right we give them a festive season to look forward to, and look after their time as best we can. 1. Don’t be a Grinch! Our recent study, ‘’Work That Keeps the UK Working’’, found that more than 1 in 5 UK workers feel that their schedules don’t allow them to spend enough time with family, and a further 17% say their schedules mean they have to miss important family occasions. Christmas is all about spending time with those closest to you, and many workers will be counting down the hours left on their shifts before they can join their families and friends for the celebrations. At Quinyx, we know that happier employees are more productive ones. By giving workers the flexibility to pick and change their shifts over the festive period â€" so they don’t have to miss those all-important carol concerts or get-togethers â€" businesses can create a more motivated workforce. 2. Create realistic targets and incentives Workers are often set increased targets over Christmas to handle and make the most of the busy period. But if these targets are unrealistic, morale can drop, and workers can feel set up to fail. If you are increasing your targets over Christmas, collaborate with workers to ensure that they are feasible, and plan to reward them with positive incentives if they succeed. These could include finishing work early, time in lieu, or a bonus. 3. Don’t allow for surprises An unexpected gift under the tree is a far more welcome surprise than last minute calls in sick or a family emergency. Meeting customer demand at Christmas can be difficult, but it is much harder if you are under-staffed. Consider creating a short-notice cover rota for the Christmas period, where staff can choose to be contacted if someone is needed to step in and lend a hand. For those that agree to be on the rota, ensure that you keep their contact details to hand so they can be contacted quickly and easily during a staffing emergency. 4. Split night-work evenly As Christmas gets closer, many businesses turn to operating 24 hours a day in a bid to keep up with demand.  Night shift work is increasing, and our research shows it grew by 31% between 2011 and 2017. However, it is important that the burden of extra overnight shifts is shared evenly among your workforce. I recommend double-checking your scheduling to make sure no one becomes nocturnal in the run-up to Christmas. 5. Keep an eye on awkward days Christmas Eve falls on a Monday this year, making it an awkward working day between the weekend and the Christmas bank holiday. This could mean workers are more tempted to move shifts in order to secure a clean sweep of time off. Acknowledge awkward days early and have honest conversations with staff about resourcing plans and expectations. About the author:  Quinyx was founded in 2005 by  CEO Erik Fjellborg  after a summer spent working at McDonald’s. After witnessing how difficult it can be for managers to sort shifts manually, Erik built one of the world’s first  fully web-based Workforce Management solutions to do the heavy lifting.  McDonald’s loved Erik’s solution and became Quinyx’s first customer.

Loungewear Cracked for This Spring

Loungewear Cracked for This Spring Winter may make you feel like hibernating, especially when the chilly temperatures seem to be running all the way up to Easter time and you’re still wearing your tatty old Rudolph onesie (because, you know, it’s comfy…), but try and update your loungewear with something fresh (and not from your Christmas wardrobe) to beat the winter blues. Stay Comfy this Spring You might be saving money for the imminent summer or still playing catch up from New Year, and you’re starting to feel like staying in is the new going out. Most of the fun of going out is the getting ready, am I right? Well, get ready to stay in and luxuriate in comfort and style. Bring yourself out of your winter hibernation mode and keep warm with some more wearable looks than your beloved onesies â€" they may be cosy, but their time is up and you need an update. Loungewear Trend 2016 The trend for loungewear is a big one this season carried over from the first throes of winter last year- we just can’t get enough of being comfy it seems! More and more shops on the high street taking note of our collective desire for ultimate cosiness and stocking stylish and soft looks for the spring. Keeping Cosy in Awkward In-Between Weather We all get that don’t-know-what-to-wear days when it’s raining one minute, sunny the next. It’s a tricky time of year to dress for the changeable weather and layering is certainly the way around it. The intermediate layer is key here. Hoodies are your best bet â€" a zip for when you’re cold, and a hood to hide your just-got-out-of-bed hair. You can get some lovely ones here at MandM Direct from the comfort of your own home. Colour Up for Spring Fresh pastel colours are the name of the game â€" leave the dark behind, and brighten your outfit and your outlook. Did you know colours have a proven impact on our moods? Lighter pinks and fresh greens are a good bet for a spring-like feel this season to achieve gentle splashes of colour and updating your look. If you like a bit of pattern and print, try out a floral look and partner it with some comfy jogger â€" a sure-fire springtime look nailed! So treat yourself to a nice hot bevvy, a hot water bottle, grab the snacks and make a start on that TV box set you were always planning on: it’s time to snuggle up and take some you-time. Image Source; Image Source; Image Source; Image Source

How to get employers to target you on social media - Debut

How to get employers to target you on social media - Debut This article is written by external contributor, Jem Collins. She  is a digital journalist and editor who focuses on human rights and careers. She’s the founding director of Journo Resources, a non-profit which helps people get into the media industry, and the strategic impact director of RightsInfo. You can also follow her on Twitter, she’d like that. Until last week I’d never even heard of the term ‘war for talent’. I have, however, applied for a lot of jobs. Some I’ve got interviews for, some I haven’t, and sometimes I even clinched the gig â€" but linking them all there’s always been a strong feeling of competition; a sense of hundreds, if not thousands, of graduates applying for the same jobs. And it’s a sense backed up statistics â€" on average there are  75 people  applying for each vacancy, but in some sectors (and for the most prestigious employers) this can be much, much higher. Last year almost 50,000 people applied to PwC’s graduate, apprentice and school leaver positions, all of them competing for just 2,285 jobs. It’s a similar story for those trying to get a law training contract, with just 5,000 places annually, but an estimated 17,500 law students as reported by The Guardian.   This might seem at odds with the notion of the ‘war for talent’, a term frequently thrown around by those working in recruitment and first coined in a 1997 book about the company’s hiring practices. The basic idea is that finding, recruiting, and keeping the best people can ‘make or break’ firms, leading them to an ever increasing desire to find the very best people. New research from The Knowledge Academy also suggests employers are looking for new ways to reach the best people. Not only is employment at top firms set to rise by 3.6 per cent this year, but social media advertising is quickly becoming the most popular way of reaching new talent. 97 per cent of companies surveyed said they were using social media to reach candidates, and 63 per cent said they were doing more than ever before. So, if there is increasing competition, but employers are looking for the best talent on social media, how do you make sure they’re targeting you? Understanding how employers use social media is crucial Getting employers to come to you might sound like a dream scenario â€" but it’s actually not that far fetched. “Recruiters spend half their lives on LinkedIn,” says Kate Allen, the managing director of Allen Associates, which has been placing people in graduate jobs for 20 years. The challenge is to be the person she and her team find â€" whether that’s through them searching manually for prospective candidates, or ticking the right boxes to receive a targeted ad. It might sound like a lot to think about, but a few tweaks go a long way. “More and more employers are crawling over social media as part of their pre-screening,” Kate continues. “They’re expecting people who are entering the job market to have thought very carefully about their LinkedIn profile, and to have optimised it.” Again, it comes back to making sure people can find you â€" and that they like what they find. And then there’s the tech side of things. Social media sites themselves have sophisticated algorithms designed to show you more of what you’re interested in and suitable for, as well as offering employers easy ways to target the right people through advertising.   “We have seen a significant shift in the tools potential applicants use to find jobs,” says Jennie Wiseman, a senior resourcing manager at accountancy and business advisory firm  BDO. As a result social media has become an “integral part” of their recruitment strategy, with the team investing in both advertising and sponsored posts, “which can be extremely targeted.” “It’s almost like SEO for social media” But, what does this actually mean for your online profile? Well, according Kelly Grainger, the founder of career advice service Hudia, pretty basic things can make all the difference. “What I try and do is say here’s a checklist and here are the things you need to get right. It’s very simple things that actually help you. Moving forward just one per cent at a time, all these little things add up,” he explains. Some of those things are pretty self explanatory â€" having a good profile picture, and filling out all the sections you can. According to LinkedIn’s own guide for students, members with a school tagged in their profile get 10 times more views than people that don’t, those with skills tagged get 13 times more people looking at them, and one in five hiring managers say they’ve selected candidates because of their volunteer experience. Basically, those people filled in all the boxes. Both when recruiters are searching for you and when companies are paying to advertise, it’s about thinking what the key characteristics they’re looking for are â€" and the kind of background that person has. For example, if you’re looking to work in marketing, make sure your LinkedIn heading mentions marketing. Think about the key skills required for the sector you want to go into and litter your profile with them. Take a look at employers in your field and see how they sell themselves â€" then make sure your profile reflects their values. “It’s almost like SEO,” says Kelly, referencing the process by which websites make their pages more findable. “If you think from a job seekers point of view, you are putting keywords in to find a job. If that employer hasn’t put the relevant title for the role of some of the key words you might not come across that job yourself.” Flip that idea in reverse, and not using the keywords used within a graduate job description might mean people can’t find you. But, as with everything, make sure you create some balance. No one wants to read something that’s essentially just a list of buzzwords, so take your time to craft detailed descriptions of the impact you’ve made by what you do. LinkedIn themselves say their key difference to a CV is the opportunity to put forward your own personality and explain your roles in greater detail, adding that 56 per cent of employers don’t think students describe their job roles in enough detail online. Sure, I might sometimes get paid to sit in offices and tweet all day (yes, that really is as great as it sounds), but employers will be much more interested in how much I’ve driven up the traffic and engagement, as well as some examples of my finest Twitter work. Fill everything out. Yes, everything Social media targeting offers employers an incredibly detailed way to reach people â€" so it pays to both keep your profile up to date and focused. As a general rule, if there’s a box, fill it. Facebook, for example, allows advertisers to target based on things like your age, the school you went to, the area you live in, stuff you’ve looked at or the people you follow. The more information you pour in, the more sophisticated it gets. So, even if you have locked off your Facebook and shut down the privacy settings (which, let’s face it, is probably wise), you can still be served up really relevant ads by making sure you’ve listed your university, places you’ve worked, and are following key companies in the sector. To be honest, this makes me feel slightly better about the fact my Facebook page is a graveyard of everywhere I’ve ever worked since I was 15. Even if you’re not following every company that works in pharmaceuticals (to be quite honest, that timeline would be dull), businesses will often advertise to people who like their competitors pages. Basically, a little effort goes a long way. The same ethos works across all the key networks. Make sure you’ve turned on the career interests tab on LinkedIn to show you’re open for offers, and have filled out all the industries you’re interested in working for and the type of job titles you’re scouting. Make use of native job advert systems as a priority when you search through LinkedIn it will keep a tab of the roles you’re interested in and apply to, so there’s more chance you’ll be shown more of the same. You’ve got them on the page now to keep them there You’ve got them on your page, now the task is to keep them there. “It takes something like 12 seconds for an experienced recruiter to scan your CV and your LinkedIn profile,” warns Kate. “So you really need to be making sure you’ve got everything looking tip-top and that you are being very concise.” “There’s a small window of opportunity to grab that hiring manager’s attention,” agrees Kelly. “Having a section at the top which pulls out your key skills, literally bullet pointed, means I see straight away ‘great they’ve got this skill, this skill and this skill, those are three things I need for this job.’ They’re now worth bringing in for an interview and digging a little bit deeper.” He highlights Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as the crucial three for job seekers, saying the key question is around consistency. “Is the message and your profile the same across all three?” he asks. “This might sound really basic, but having a really good profile picture, because this needs to portray the right image about who you are and what you do, making sure you’re highlighting all of your achievements and skills, and â€" like your CV â€" it’s got to be relevant and engaging.” However, it’s also worth bearing in mind the universal nature of social media you might be applying to three different jobs in three different sectors, but they’ll all be seeing the same LinkedIn or Twitter page. “A lot of people use the short profiles at the top of LinkedIn, and that’s all very good, but it needs to be generic enough,” explains Kate. While it’s important to keep a focus and a personality, “if you’re applying for a job in PR and have a profile which says you only want to do a job in HR then that recruiter is going to be put off immediately. It’s the CV which needs to be changed for each role.” Social media is just the beginning A well-put together social media footprint is an essential part of any 21st century job hunt (and a great excuse to get a fancy new headshot), but in reality it’s just the beginning of the process. Your online presence needs to be coupled with a well designed and tailored CV and a cliché free, genuine cover letter â€" all of which simply opens the window to a face to face interview. “One of the things I’ve found with this generation is that they can hide behind email a little bit,” warns Kate. In other words, it’s all well and good looking snazzy on screen, but you need to actually live up to your own hype. The good news though, is that preparation uses exactly the same skills as jazzing up your social media. According to Kelly, the key is “preparation and research”. Whatever industry you’re looking to work in, you’re always going to be competing against other people. However, with just a little bit of research and some simple tweaks, it’s easy to rise up the rankings â€" or even become the focus of someone’s war for talent. I may have only heard of the term last week, but I must admit, the thought does sound pretty cool. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.