4 ways to get the recognition you deserve

Sometimes the hardest working people in the office are also the quietest…

The workplace is becoming more competitive and if you want to get ahead in your career it is imperative to get noticed at work. You can be the hardest working and most competent employee in the company. But if no one knows who you are or what you can do, you’ll be passed up for additional responsibilities, new projects, awards and promotions! Therefore to continue moving forward towards your career goals it is important to be recognised for the great work you do.

Here are our 4 strategies to shine light on your skills, abilities, results and potential:

Develop Specialist Skills. The more knowledgeable and skilful you become in a particular area, the more likely you will be selected for additional responsibilities that require your expertise. To achieve this talk to other employees that work in the area you want to build more skills in and set up a meeting with your manager and discuss what training and skills you need to become more valuable to the company.

Volunteer for Projects. Stay alert for opportunities that will allow you to expand and showcase your best skills, and align your efforts with your boss’s key interests. This will demonstrate your initiative and passion for the company.

Stay Updated and Let It Show. Talk with your colleagues and managers to keep in touch with what is going on in your profession. Ensure that you take the time to share interesting and useful thoughts through conversations, emails and any other work related communications. This will get you noticed because it shows that you are thinking ahead in order to be strategic rather than reactive.

Get Involved and Build a Network. Take the time to build and nurture relationships with managers and other people in the company. These are the people that later down the track may help you get assigned to new projects, training opportunities and recommend you to other openings. It is also a great way to get your name out there and build yourself a positive reputation. 

Twitter – From Learning Basics to Reaping Benefits

It’s easier than it looks fitting your Businesses into the Twitter culture. We show you how.

Where Facebook is the social network, Twitter is the quick information network. People want the catchy and to-the-point information as it’s happening from any and all sources of interest and they don’t want to wait around or spend too long searching to find it. For this reason, you need to be able to position your content and business updates in a user’s field of vision in the language they understand…

Twitter is more than just posting what you had for breakfast and reading about other culinary feats. It is a powerful information tool that is excellent at delivering short, sharp messages. Where Facebook employs its post ranking algorithm EdgeRank that filters out unpopular Facebook posts, Twitter has no filtering mechanism. The catch here is that it is harder to appear in a user’s stream.

 

What does it all mean?

Twitter has its own vocabulary which can be daunting at first, however hopefully we will break it down for you.  Firstly, on your profile page you can see your ‘Tweets’, ‘Following’ and ‘Followers’. A Tweet is essentially a status update. Twitter limits this to just 160 characters and only text, fortunately links are easily shortened. ‘Following’ shows you the activity of other Twitter accounts you have subscribed to i.e. following, whereas ‘followers’ are the people who have subscribed to your twitter account. 

This is Psych Press’ Twitter profile. In a profile you are allowed to have a description of up to 160 characters, a location and a web address.

When looking at your tweet stream you will notice people using @ and # symbols in their tweets. An @ symbol is used to talk to or mention a particular person/profile through using their twitter username. When clicking reply on a tweet, twitter will automatically put who you are replying to as @username at the start of the tweet.

An example of a Tweet by Patrick stokes. NOTE of the use of @ and # symbols in his tweet.

So in this example @latrobe means that Patrick is both mentioning La Trobe as he is speaking there and informing Latrobe that he has mentioned them (you get emailed if someone mentions you in a tweet, unless unchecked in settings). 

As a result La Trobe has “retweeted” his post. A retweet happens when another user likes your post and decides to share it with their twitter followers. This way your post will appear in the feeds of people who are not following you but are following the user that retweeted you. The other users are informed who retweeted the tweet by the note under it.

Using the # hash symbol in a tweet is to hash tag the Tweet. In the above example the hash tag is #seewhatididthere. Hash tags make your tweets searchable, furthermore when clicking on a hash tag Twitter will show you a list of all other recent tweets from anyone in the world who recently used that tag. Using hash tags makes it easy to track and join in conversations, which is a great way to find people to follow who you may be interested in and vice versa!

Here is the Twitter Trend list. This can be changed to show any particular geography. As twitter is used in many different languages, what is trending locally is more useful than global trends

Twitter also trends current topics, and more often than not they are hash tags. An easy way to gain some publicity is to tweet using a hash tag for a trending topic and socialize with others in the trend (as they will with you, if your input is useful).

Your Business and the Twitterverse

The uses of Twitter for business vary dramatically. Some businesses use it to post all the latest current sales and deals. Others use it to post about general business updates. Then there are those who use it to post articles and interesting links. General Twitter guidelines suggest posting from 10 per day to 3 per week. The trick is to find something on a time budget that will work for you. There are services such as Triberr which you can use to automatically retweet other people’s content, however make sure you trust whoever you will be automatically retweeting if this is the avenue you chose, you don’t want to mention an advertiser or completely irrelevant material. 

Twitter Tips and Small Business Examples

Retweeting - You can click ‘retweet’ to repeat someone’s story exactly, although sometimes it can be truncated if it is too long. If someone says something about your business and you’d only like to repeat a part of it, it is widely accepted to tweet “RT” short for ‘retweet’ before their input.

Eg. @James - “My foot is feeling a lot better. @JTPodiatry is the best!”

@JTPodiatry “Thanks James J RT “@JTPodiatry is the best!””

Following - Remember to follow any happy customers and anyone who gives you good publicity. This should be done as soon as possible, that way they are more likely to keep in touch again in the near future, or thank you for following. It is also a good idea to follow anyone that follows you, but avoid any spam looking accounts or adult content profiles. If you are followed by someone who looks like a potential customer, follow them back and thank them e.g. “Hi @Barbara. Thanks for the follow J” Just be sparing with this, as you don’t want to appear desperate. Generally you would not follow competitors - it’s not a good look if people find an alternative service while surfing your profile. Other groups to follow are: opinion leaders relevant to your industry, publishers who make news stories related to your industry, any partners or affiliates of your business, adding staff and having staff add you is also a good idea. The key is to make it a frequent habit!

Tweets – At first, you will be very tempted to tweet content that focuses heavily on gaining attention such as adding on very general questions to the end of each tweet or appearing amazed at the news you’re sharing. Twitter savvy users will catch onto this behaviour immediately, see you as less of a ‘human’ business and ignore you. Instead, put a bit of humour into what you’re posting and only ask questions if there are obvious opinions to be had. You don’t always need to add a link or join a # hashtag, sharing something timely or interesting about the business can be just as good. Remember, many enjoy using shortened slang online but you’re a business so watch your spelling!

Trends – Popular trends will show at the left of your page for the selected country (or you can opt for global). There are many ongoing trends that people often use such as #nowplaying if you’re playing music or #ihateitwhen. Ideally, about half of your tweets will add to or include a # to increase your chances of being exposed to new people. Most trends are about entertainment or sports celebrities, breaking news or the funnies (#foodmovienames types are always fun). If these have little to do with your business you don’t have to avoid them completely but may need to search #yourparticularindustry in the search bar to find something that has been trended at least an hour or two ago that is still relevant. If you’re not sure what trends to join, have a look at what your opinion leaders are using, (shortened terms are common, especially for institutions ie. #MTVawards) look up events that are coming soon or checkout trend sites such as http://trendsmap.com/

Searches – People don’t always use a hashtag for the topic they are Tweeting about, so frequent searching is very important. Be sure to search for your business name (or similar variations that people may write) often, and reply where necessary. Be sure to search for key terms related to your business to see if anyone is looking for your services. Tapping into those “Hey, anyone know where I can find a good xxxxxx?” tweets can be priceless! As long as your tweets are called for you will remain relevant and helpful!

To Do

o    Once your account is setup, explore trends and searches

o    Follow relevant accounts, retweet and respond

o    Utilise hashtags that are in use and add something of interest

o    Fit your Tweets and regular checks into your Social Media schedule

For those in Allied Health + Small Business

For you, joining in on discussions and news updates related to health and then linking it back to your product is quite easy. There are always new findings and updates going on related to your profession that will undoubtedly hit Twitter. If you can get into these updates or trends and add your own expertise you will reach new crowds and hopefully focus on a centralised group closer to your location! 

go back to www.careerexchange.com.au

4 Steps to Impressing Top Talent

While many employers worry about whether or not the right candidate to fill their vacant position will ever walk through the door, they should perhaps be more focused on how to keep them from turning around and walking straight back out! Businesses today are focusing on how to make an attractive first impression on job seekers in order to ensure that when the right candidate does come along, they decide to stay. A bad first impression is difficult to overcome. It has been suggested that it can take up to twelve positive encounters to make up for a bad first impression! But don’t worry; there are ways to ensure you’re not scaring the top talent away when you finally get a potentially perfect fit. 

1: Modernise your website and workspace

These days, most job seekers form their first impression of a business before they even enter the premises. Having an attractive website can give your business an edge, so always make sure it is looking professional and up to date. Don’t forget to keep your offices tidy and open, your candidates will pay close attention to how the environment they could be working in looks and feels.

 

2: Be enthusiastic! Share why you love your job

Applicants want to hear about what is unique and special about the company. Share what separates your business from the next, what kind of events or social activities staff get up to, and why it’s more fun to work for you!

3: Emphasise the long-term benefits

Top performers want to work for a company with strong growth potential. In order to make a fantastic first impression, emphasise the long-term benefits your company offers, and the avenues provided for career advancement related to the goals your candidate has expressed. This is a sure fire way to make sure top talent sticks around for the long-haul!

 

4: Customise the pitch

Not every job seeker is looking for the same thing. Make sure you do your research and emphasise the elements of your company that the candidate you are talking to cares about the most. Change up the message and make the job sound tailor made for them!

How can you check that these steps are working? To stay in touch with your plans and make sure your efforts are paying off, be sure to always check back to your original changes and explore goal-oriented options such as job satisfaction surveys.

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‘I’m bored’ – Getting more responsibility at work

Feeling dissatisfied at work can make an eight hour work day feel like twenty. Too often, employees continue to remain bored at work, or change jobs unnecessarily to avoid a monotonous work day. However, there are ways that your current role can be revitalised. Taking on more responsibility at work can provide workers with the boost they need to turn ‘ok’ jobs into ‘great’ jobs. Nevertheless, many struggle with confronting their employer to tackle these issues.  Here are some simple tips to help you on your way to revamping your role:

• Evaluate your capabilities and be realistic about the extra responsibility you’d like to take on.
• Consider what you really want. Is it more responsibility, more money or more recognition?
• Prepare for a meeting with your supervisor. This includes a list of your accomplishments and what you’d like to achieve with your new responsibilities.
• Prepare an alternative plan. If increasing your responsibility isn’t a possibility, perhaps consider extra projects you could be involved in.
• Have confidence in your abilities.
• Suggest some areas in which you could increase your responsibility.
• Look for a busy, stressed out co-worker and offer to take on some of their workload – make sure no one is getting the credit for your work though.
• Become an expert in an area that you’d like to deliver value to.
• Be proactive!

Using these techniques could be the bridge between dissatisfaction to satisfaction at work.

Have you ever faced the 'boredom challenge'? Let us know!

Facebook – Setting up a Successful Page

With over a billion users, Facebook is not one to ignore. However many fall into a pattern of letting their page get left behind, either by not responding to questions or not updating important features. As a golden rule – to make Social Media work, you must be Social. We look over the basics and important setups that you may have missed even if you do have a page, to make sure you’re on a strong ongoing path of connecting to others!

Create a Facebook page

From an already active account create a new page for your business. Once you have created a page you can access and edit it from the drop down at the top right hand side of the window. To go back to your personal profile just repeat the same process.

 

Get to know the Admin Panel

Facebook provides an admin panel for managing brand pages. It gives you a notification panel which has all the activity that has recently been occurring, and a panel of all your most recent likes. The insights box provides you with a timeline of the effectiveness of your posts and like demographics, this can currently only be accessed after 40 likes. Hovering your mouse over the data will show the numbers of people who are talking about your page and the number of people reached by a particular post, and the dates and times of posts.

Look and Style - Tick all the boxes

If you make sure you’re satisfied with how your page starts you won’t have to constantly worry about and attempt small updates. Ensure that you make your profile look aesthetically pleasing. Ensure you are using high quality pictures for the cover photo and profile picture, Facebook can auto crop these though if it doesn’t fit well be sure to resize the originals. Fill in all the relevant information, especially in the about area and the link to your website.

 

Here is an example of a fantastic facebook brand page.  Notice the likes to talking about this ratio. Roughly half of little cupcakes fans are engaged by their page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why you should do this, vital signs to stay on track

Strategically, Facebook is great for developing your community and forwarding people onto your website and blog in a natural manner. Due to its reach potential it is excellent exposure, and with good content that gets shared it is basically free marketing.  Here are a few insights to think about when monitoring your Facebook numbers:

Likes – The total amount of people who have liked your page. It is just as important to see if this number is dropping, which could mean you have annoyed or misled people with your posts.

Talking About This – The average number of people creating a ‘story’ about your page, meaning they have commented/ liked or otherwise interacted with your posts. This is a good weekly indicator of generally how popular your output is.

Were Here – This is more of an option for those who visit your physical location, some businesses heavily reliant on foot traffic will run promotions to push the use of this so that customer’s friends can see they were there. If it is not relevant or if you don’t think people would like to post that they “Were Here” then it isn’t completely necessary.

Post Likes and comments – Don’t fret, it may take some time for these to reach a higher pattern and develop a healthy number of ‘regulars’ who might always have something to add.