by Brandy Nagel

Technical job seekers often have the most complete and most impressive LinkedIn profiles. While other job seekers struggle to identify measurable results, most technical job seekers express their accomplishments and capabilities with ease. How else can you use LinkedIn to advance your job search? By showing off your expertise.

LinkedIn Answers is an ingenious system where you can ask and answer questions submitted by the LinkedIn community. This is an opportunity to show off your smarts in your area of specialty. Answering questions on LinkedIn is a savvy way to be positioned as the obvious expert without being pushy or annoying.

Access the LinkedIn Answers forum by:

1. Clicking the “More” menu from the navigation toolbar.
2. Select “Answers” from the drop-down menu.

Questions are kept open for seven days. Many LinkedIn members may respond with an Answer to the Question. The creator of the question picks who he/she thinks shared the best response. If your response is chosen as the “Best,” a green box with a star is posted on your profile page, and attached to your name in the Answer area, indicating you’re a proven expert.

All Answers are Valuable

The brilliant aspect of the process is that all answers are saved within the LinkedIn® database. So if at a later point in time a member decides he would rather search through previous answers instead of submitting a new question, those responses are available.

With this capability, there’s no need to worry if your answer is not picked as the “Best” all the time. All answers are logged and have the potential to generate interest and drive traffic to your profile.

How to Answer LinkedIn Questions

To answer a question:

1. Click the question.
2. Select the “Answer” button on the next page.
3. Input all details necessary into the entry form to thoroughly respond to the question.

Question:

Answer:

Take advantage of this opportunity to chime in on the relevant questions of the day and position yourself as an expert.

Brandy Nagel, author of Digitally Famous: Visibility Campaigns for Job Seekers, is a social media coach and LinkedIn trainer. She has trained hundreds of professionals on the technical and practical aspects of social media, as well as providing protocol and productivity advice. She volunteers with MicroMentor, helping entrepreneurs develop social media marketing plans to grow their business. A frequent speaker, Brandy regularly presents on social media and personal branding. She received her B.A. in business from Brenau University and earned her MBA at Mercer University. To read more, check out her blog at www.DigitallyFamousTheBook.com.

When it comes to developing Future Leaders, it’s imperative not to wait!

Why is it important to develop future leaders within your company? Continuity of company culture, labor shortages, and an unexpected death of a senior manager are just a few important reasons.

In his book, Built to Last, Jim Collins describes the very successful succession planning process that GE’s CEO, Reginald Jones, took to find a new CEO. The process involved 96 candidates over seven years before Jones narrowed the candidates down to a single successor: Jack Welsh.

GE’s commitment to the succession process not only identified Jack Welsh, but all of his predecessors as well. These leaders were visionaries and change agents – an important, ongoing part of GE’s culture.

While you may not currently be in need of a successor, have you at least identified some potential candidates? Who within your organization has the potential to succeed you? And how long will it take before they are prepared to take your seat?

Challenges for Mid-Market Companies

Unlike GE, mid-market companies generally don’t have 96 candidates in the succession planning process queue, and a seven year process may be overkill. At the same time, many mid-market companies often wait until it is too late to successfully identify and develop their next CEO.

Potential candidates may leave their current company to grow with another company before they are formally identified for succession opportunities. The very worst scenario involves a candidate leaving for a competitor who promises them increased responsibilities and leadership development opportunities that their current company failed to provide.

Another challenge for mid-market companies is their lack of a structured management training program for current and future leaders as found in many Fortune 500 companies.

Redefining Succession Planning for Mid-Market Companies

The succession planning process should start with you, your organization’s leader, and your talent management or human resources department. Work with this department to create a list of critical success factors and specific job requirements. Identify all must-have experience and skill sets as well as the nice-to-haves. If you don’t have people internally with these skills set, bring in a consultant to assist in the succession planning process.

Once the job profile is complete, compare it to your candidates. Identify the top candidates and determine what leadership development skills they will require. Some of your leadership development process can be addressed through internal resources, while some may require external resources.

When your leadership development plan is finished, you should not wait to execute your plan as waiting can greatly impact your company’s future! The story below tells why it is imperative that you not wait to begin developing your future leader.

Start Now

I have had the unfortunate experience of working with a company whose leader did not act with a sense of urgency when it came to leadership development and he died unexpectedly. The company was left to a family member who wasn’t prepared to take control and lead the company. As a result, this past year has been a very difficult time for the new leader as well as for the employees.

Grooming future leaders is one of the most critical tasks for an organization’s leader. Without well-prepared future leaders, there is no future for the company. A good leadership development process will take time and commitment from you, and must be a high priority. Therefore, don’t let the company that you have spent so many years building, stagnate or fall apart because you didn’t properly prepare new leadership to run it for many years into the future.

Image by Victor1558

The IT talent shortage is getting a lot of attention these days—and rightly so. While some jobs are open due to employee departures, many exist to fill growth needs. According to Barry Asin, President of Staffing Industry Analysts, “80% of CEO’s are concerned with uncertain or volatile growth of the economy – 50% will grow but only 30% say they have the talent they need.”

This gap presents a huge challenge for organizations. Companies dealing with a tech talent shortage are experiencing high turnover, lost revenue, and low productivity. Georgia employers are no exception. According to a Dice.com analysis, the state of Georgia ranks just short of the top 10 (ranked #11) in states that rank from shortage to surplus.

According to this Bureau of Labor Statistics projection, a huge percentage of newly created and vacant jobs are, and will be, in computing:

Source: http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2011/05/17/red-hot-the-computer-science-job-market/

Skill is King

Why does it seem that every company is chasing the same pool of experienced workers? The possible answer to that is because employers all want the same thing. These days, employers are looking for talent who already have the skills needed. Listen to what some of these specialists had to say:

• According to one industry expert quoted in this Information Week article, companies are “seeking experienced business technology pros who can drive and manage IT projects in highly matrixed work environments.”

• Freelance programmer George Fanhbulleh states in a Dice Tech Talent Crunch report, “if you aren’t cutting edge, you aren’t marketable.”

• James Burgess, a serial entrepreneur, reports that he searches out technical team members who combine an impressive resume with diverse and complementary skills.

• Seth Williams, Google’s Sourcing Manager, says “experience is critical …provided it’s matched by burning desire. We look for people who are passionate about coding in general, rather than merely those with a niche skill-set,” Williams explains.

• Rod Favaron, CEO of startup Spredfast, mentioned at the CEO Summit 2011 that “the shortage is being exacerbated by companies hiring employees from each other, rather than bringing in talent from elsewhere. That only gets you so far,” Favaron said. “We need to import top people, not hire them away from each other. In the past, we’ve had companies like Tivoli and Trilogy that brought in hundreds and hundreds of highly talented people. Nobody’s doing that right now. Instead, we’re recycling people.”

• Tech executive Larry Warnock stated in a Market Watch article, “We need people who’ve been there, done that. It may sound like whining when unemployment is this high, but there is a shortage of talent. We can’t find enough people.”

What Organizations and Companies Are Doing About the IT Talent Shortage

One innovative solution to the shortage of in-demand tech jobs is being developed by a group of influencers in New York City. Mayor Bloomberg’s education team, along with a top-tier venture capitalist, are opening The Academy for Software Engineering. The school will enroll 400-500 students who will get trained in technical skills along with rigorous academic education to prepare them for college.

A local Atlanta program, WIT’s Get IT, sponsored by Women in Technology (WIT) is focused on developing women for technology careers. The program fosters collaboration with the Georgia business community to inspire girls in middle and high school to choose careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Additional ideas organizations are implementing include:

• Forge partnerships and engage with local high schools, technical schools, junior colleges, and universities to help refine their technical curricula
• Create more attractive, comprehensive internship programs
• Enhance company loyalty programs and workplace desirability environments
• Invest in talent acquisition the way a company invests in customer acquisition
• Create training and development programs to fill in the technical skills gap
• Wide their search outside the local region
• Hire candidates who lack the job skills but have potential to develop them (for more on this keep an eye out for our new white paper coming soon)

The common message regarding the tech shortage? It’s not going away anytime soon.

Photo thanks to bgottsab

Want to Retain Your Best Employees? Keep Them Happy and Engaged at Work

According to economist David Birch, “the average college graduate will have 12 jobs by the time they are 50.” That equates to employees changing jobs every 2.5 years.

That’s a sobering statistic for IT managers. Turnover costs you time and money, not to mention the hassle of recruiting, interviewing and hiring. If job-hopping has become the new norm for employees, what can you do to keep your best team members happy and engaged? While some job moves may be out of your control, below are techniques and tactics you can use to increase employee retention and reduce the chance of your star employee flying the coup.

Understand Why Great Employees Leave
There are many reasons why employees leave. But two reasons you may not have given enough weight to include:

1. They feel unappreciated

According to a Yahoo! Small Business Advisor article, employees feel unappreciated when management:

• Never acknowledges the work done or says thank you
• Consistently criticizes work without any compliments to add motivation
• Praises other employees on a regular basis
• Yells at or otherwise mistreats the employee

2. The employee holds unrealistic expectations

Did you paint too rosy of a picture during the interviewing process? While you don’t want to scare away potential employees, it’s important to be up front about the job and the company to give a realistic 360-degree view of the position.

Improve Employee-Manager Relations
There’s a saying that goes, “employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” Ouch. Whether you know it or not, you play an integral role in creating and establishing healthy work relationships. A simple compliment—“thank you,” “nice work,” or “well done”—can go a long way.

According to the Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker™, 78% of U.S. workers said being recognized for their good work motivates them in their job. In fact, Google (notorious for the perks they provide), came out with a surprising list of what employees valued most at work: “even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.” 

Learn to Read the Signs
Most employees don’t leave on a whim. They usually make the decision to start searching for other opportunities, interviewing with other companies, and accepting another job after a great amount of internal debate.

Ways to tell if employees may have “checked out” or are thinking about leaving include:

• They are frequently late, absent or sick
• Production drops
• They seem more quiet than usual
• Less participation
• Their behavior changes significantly

Take Exit Interviews Seriously
Exit interviews can give incredible insight into uncovering recurring internal issues and problems. While you may be ready to dismiss the employee and move on with filling the position, you should take the exit interview process seriously.

An exit interview can be structured with a set of pre-determined interview questions, or it can be an informal conversation. Always work to preserve the relationship when an employee resigns. You never know if the employee may return or end up being a valuable recruiting and referral source in the future.

Additional Ideas for Improving Employee Retention

Further ideas for improving employee retention:

• Conduct regular anonymous employee or team surveys
• Ask for feedback on a consistent basis
• Have regular touch points with your best people
• Take action when other employees aren’t pulling their weight or aren’t cutting it; one bad apple in the barrel can ruin the whole team
• Foster employee and career development
• Give employees a reason to be loyal

Proactively planning different strategies for holding on to your best employees is an important responsibility. Taking the time to implement these tips, tactics and techniques will be a worthy investment for you, your company and your team.

You’ve accepted a new job. Now what?

After all the “Congratulations!” have passed, it’s time to think about shutting down your search.

Sure, you could just ignore recruiter calls and employer emails, but you might need those relationships again one day, and you never know when that might be.

Whether you were in the IT job market for years, months, or just a few short weeks, it’s important to close one chapter in your life before starting a new one. To avoid burning bridges, take the proper steps to ensure you’ve shut down your job search appropriately.

Taking your resume down from job sites isn’t hard. Neither is changing the status on your social networking sites. But there is more to wrapping up your job search than you may initially think. Keep these tips in mind to make certain you’ve tied up all the loose ends:

Inform the Right People

Think about all the people you reached out to for help with your job search. You probably enlisted family members, friends and former coworkers, for starters. Let these people know about your new job first, and enjoy the kudos for a search well done.Next, make a list of all the recruiters, business contacts and networking groups you need to update.

Calling personal and professional contacts after you’ve made a decision to accept an opportunity may feel uncomfortable or unnecessary when you’re eager to move on to your new job. Think of that call or email as a courtesy: you wouldn’t want someone to offer your name as a prospective candidate when you’ve already accepted another position.

Preserve the relationship by thanking them for their assistance, and leave the door open to continue to work together in the future. Consider saying, “I really appreciate you introducing me to XYZ Company but I have found another opportunity which is a better match to my goals.” Be gracious and express appreciation. And remember the golden rule: always be professional.

Withdraw Your Candidacy

If you were in an extended or very active job search, you were probably under consideration at a few different companies. Do them a favor and email your contacts at the companies you were in the process of interviewing with to let them know you’re no longer in the running.

Express your appreciation for their interest and tell them you have accepted a new job. Do this out of courtesy! It’s very frustrating for a hiring manager to be surprised when they call a candidate to follow-up on someone they think is an active candidate, only to discover they’re already in a new job.

Keep that positive connection and create goodwill for future opportunities by being proactive and notifying them that your status has changed. This level of professionalism will be remembered, and it may benefit you in the long run.

Send an e-mail to all the recruiters and agencies you were working with, informing them you have accepted a new position. Don’t expect an agency that was actively promoting you to let you go easily; but if the opportunity is a true fit for your criteria, a recruiter with integrity will be pleased for you!

Go Online: Update Social Media and Job Boards

Lastly, don’t forget to take your resume off all job boards and websites, or turn your status to inactive. If you leave your profiles up and active it could indicate to your new employer that you may still be looking, which is not an ideal first impression.

Remember social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook where you may have posted a profile or status update about your search. Share the good news about your new position, and add your new job to your profiles.

By taking the time to provide closure to your job search, you’re giving yourself the best opportunity for a new beginning. You’ve most likely put in a lot of hard work to land this new position. So relax, give yourself a pat on the back, and treat yourself before starting your first day.

Image by Sasha Wolff via Flickr.