Al Wants To Endorse Your Work!

I've received conflicting opinions regarding the legitimacy of LinkedIn recommendations. In this post, I'll discuss my thoughts on the matter.

But first, an Alec-Dote introduction (Trust me, it ties in):

All throughout high school I worked a summer job at my hometown's swimming pond. No, I wasn't a lifeguard. I also did not teach swim lessons. Before I was promoted to Assistant Manager after years of dedicated service, I was a snack-bar operator. While the guards were off rescuing kids from drowning and the fabled snapping turtle "Melba", I was saving them from dehydration and malnutrition.

As you may be able to tell, this position was relatively laid back. There was a quote board on the fridge that had humorous one-liners that the staff occasionally blurted out. Considering I was a young individual when I was first recruited (fresh out of 8th grade), I was eager to impress the older, more seasoned employees. So, what better way than to say something funny and get on the quote board? My goal was to make one of those college-girl lifeguards giggle at my sharp eighth-grader wit and charm. However, there was one minor (but crucial) detail. You could not write your own quote. Discouraged by this, I sought out a co-worker of similar age and struck a deal.

"You quote me and I quote you!" I proposed to my new business partner. It was flawless. We would be able to showcase our sense of humor and wouldn't have broken the Quote Board's Golden Rule. The result? Some of the dumbest jokes ever written on a quote board. Ever. The female lifeguards were not impressed. But go back in time ten years and I would have found the material hilarious.

So What's the Deal With LinkedIn Recommendations?

I brought this story up because it's relevant to a recent thought I've had about LinkedIn Recommendations. The professional networking tool allows you to write (and receive) recommendations from past colleagues, co-workers, etc. Essentially, it's anyone who you're networked with on LinkedIn.

But my question is, are they legitimate? Personally, I don't think they are. Like my previous Alec-Dote, I basically had someone write my (awful) joke in exchange for the reverse treatment. While LinkedIn allows you to review the credentials of whoever wrote the recommendation, I feel like a simple sentence or paragraph is an insubstantial amount of information to base a decision on.

When applying for a job, the purpose of a recommendation is for the sake of recommending someone. In LinkedIn's (or my Alec-Dote's) case, a recommendation has the tendency to just be written in hopes of a returned favor. I'm sure this isn't always the case, but I get the impression that it happens all too much. Plus, if you ask a friend to write it and they endorse you something generic like "I really love working with Al", what does that say about me to employers? That my friend likes me?

Plus, there's another problem: recommendations can be seen by everyone. Now at first you may be like, "duh Al, that's the point-- so employers can see my positive endorsements!" But, there was a problem that one of my friend's fathers ran into recently. Several people asked him to write a recommendation, but he only felt that one of those candidates deserved it. So, he only wrote that one recommendation. A few days down the road, those individuals who did not receive recommendations saw that the one co-worker did get recommended while they did not. Did problems arise? Yes.

I still think LinkedIn recommendations need some work before they're considered legitimate. Like the bad jokes that failed to impress the gorgeous female lifeguards, maybe my recommendations will fail to impress employers.

How do you feel about LinkedIn recommendations? Do they need to change or are they fine just the way they are?

Bersonal Pranding: Guerrilla Marketing

No, I'm not dyslexic. The title of this post was conceived by myself after reading this article, realizing that Guerrilla Marketing is a somewhat inverse form of 'Personal Branding', repeating the phrase "Personal Branding" in my head dozens of times to come up with a clever title and inadvertently stumbling upon this dyslexic mash-up (by accident) that is actually a nice metaphorical fit for what in my opinion, Guerrilla Marketing stands for. Still with me? Hang in there.

• Guerrilla Marketing: Marketers at companies are struggling to get heard. Even leading brands are having difficulty reaching the tuned-out consumers who are frequently bombarded by advertisements. Plus, in this summertime recession, who really wants to spend millions on a Television campaign to advertise to turned-off consumers who are already outside not watching TV in the first place? A solution: pay less money and get 'em on the streets with some Guerrilla Marketing.

• Personal Branding: The unemployed are struggling to get heard. Even top notch, experienced workers who were laid off are having difficulty reaching companies that are bombarded with other job applicants. In this recession, some people cannot afford to remain unemployed for an extended period of time, as there are families to support and bills to pay. A solution: Personal Branding. Let them know who you are and stand out from the noise. Utilize new methods to reach employers.

How are Personal Branding and Guerrilla Marketing Inversely Related?

• Take for instance the latter, Guerrilla Marketing. It's hard to define but you know it when you see it. Sandwich-board clad promotion people. Cryptic sidewalk chalk inscriptions. Creative Billboard ads. Brands are seeking new ways to stand out amongst the clutter and in their own ways, adopting new and radical personalities. They'll create an experience, an event-- a more unpredictable, spontaneous and improvisational method of reaching the consumer. In this way, brands are becoming more like people.

• On the other hand, observe the practice of Personal Branding. Literally, it's quite like transforming a person into a brand. Instead of being that carbon-copy-job-seeker, Personal Branding is a technique to make the individual stand out from the crowd. Skills, characteristics and accomplishments can all be exemplified into a job seeker's unique personal brand to make them stand out in the crowded pool of qualified applicants. For expert advice on this subject, refer to Dan Schawbel and his Personal Branding blog--he's turned the whole technique into an art-form.

So do you see the inverse connection? When economic times are tough, both Brands and People begin to look for more innovative ways to become noticed. Marketers take their brands and have them adopt personalities. People take their skills, accomplishments and personalities and adopt their own personal brands. Obviously they're not "becoming" one another, but I think it's safe to say that each are adopting some of the others attributes.


Why Is This Happening?

I can only hypothesize that the economy has instigated the need for both brands and people to stand out and are thus seeking these new methods. In a broad sense, both brands and the unemployed are attempting to stand out from the crowd. It's interesting to see this shift in the way brands and people behave, respectively.

Thoughts? Critiques? Agreements? Hate-mail? Do your worst.

The Issue With Marketing

No matter what type of degree you have coming out of college, finding a job in the current market is pretty darn difficult.

After keeping up to date with the latest business news and participating in a few job interviews, I'm beginning to believe that Marketing is the toughest (business) major to graduate and land a job with in this economy. I'll lay down both my personal and observed reasons:

1. Marketing Department is Laid off first: It may be a myth, but I can never shake this nay-saying when I've heard it from several different sources. Of course, every situation is different, but one can't help postulating that companies will cut marketing and advertising budgets when the economy is slumping.
   
2. College Inexperience: Sure, I've taken roughly a dozen marketing classes, and learned all the theoretical concepts. I've even taken two corporate immersion classes along with several internships for a little "real world" experience. But nonetheless, I lack the experience of a real world position. I need that entry level job to get the ball rolling, but it's so tough.
3. What I'll Bring To The Company: In hindsight, I really need to formulate a mental list of the top five qualities that I will bring to a company. After participating in my latest interview, this question arose and I really was at a loss for words. I quickly dodged the word "experience" in my head because of the last point-- I suppose I could tailor a response that highlights what I've done based on its quality, but not quantity. As a marketing major fresh out of college, what do I say that I'll bring to the company? Creativity (that one gets a follow-up question every time)? How about A dedicated work ethic? A bag of bagels for the marketing team every Wednesday?

I left my most recent interview shaking my head and knowing I could have answered this last one better. But, it's a learning experience. Landing a job with a Marketing degree is an entirely different ballgame in the Business Major Spectrum (in case you're wondering, I made that phrase up). An Accountant earns stellar grades, graduates and kaboom-- they're fit for a job. But I don't have any interest in crunching numbers for a profession or figuring out someone's finances. I could do it but it would wear me down.

Anyone else in a similar situation?

The Lost Generation

Because I'm a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (the honors business fraternity) I get a free yearly membership to Business Week and Fortune. It's basically like the fraternity I never joined at Bentley-- but instead of keg parties, hazing and sorority girls, you get free magazine subscriptions, a certificate and the occasional discount to the Apple Store. Hooray!

I'll admit it-- I originally began ordering Business Week while I was at Bentley University not because I wanted to read it, but because I thought it would be a good supplement. Sort of like vitamins that don't go down too well. But I began reading them on a daily basis and became hooked.

I used to be all about reading Sports Illustrated on a weekly basis, but now that NASCAR and Golf have become annoyingly popular (and have half the magazine dedicated to their happenings) I've switched over to Business Week. I could really care less about the course layout at the upcoming Master's Tournament or whichever NASCAR driver is being tested for meth-amphetamine.

That being said, the latest issue of Business Week had a story that was rather unsettling for me. Actually, many of the most recent articles have been depressing/frightening/upsetting due to the state of the economy, but this one was more relevant to me (despite the fact it relates to Europe).

Long story short: If my generation (Generation Y) is unable to find work within the next several years, we'll be losing the opportunity to gain the skills necessary to qualify for and land a job when the opportunity arrives later. Entry level jobs will most likely go to the fresh college grads because the recession will most likely hinder the "lost generation" from competing for jobs in the marketplace.