Jayna Dinsmore: Musing through My Professional Journey!

Check out Little Miss Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:06:00 +0000

So I'm officially 'quitting' this blog. The content will remain here, but if you want to keep up with my writing, click on over to www.LittleMissSocialMedia.com to see what's going on in my career and in my head.

Networking Nightmares

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:18:00 +0000

**Update July 2** If you went to this post in the last 24 hours, I apologize - I linked the wrong site. I assure you the correct site is now linked up!***

I network, I have an unusual first name. On a regular basis I get my name horribly mashed in someone's pronunciation machine. I finally have a weapon to fight back!

Pssst....Hiring Managers: Why You Don't Want the 100% Fit.

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:21:00 +0000

I'm looking very critically at every job opening in my field - even before I consider submitting my resume. I'm only applying to jobs where I feel like the skills I have can quick start into the position, but where there is an opportunity for growth for me in the role. It's a smart strategy - my problem is the availability of jobs that fill those requirements and convincing a resume bombarded hiring manager to give me a shot. So here's my logic to the hiring managers: You don't want the candidate who fits your job description 100%.

Of course I have an explanation for myself. People are naturally curious beings! If you put opportunities in front of them to expand their minds - it is going to get you the best out of your employee and it's also going to get you an employee that will STAY with the company. My last job was an uphill battle for me - I admit - I had no idea the preconceived ideas I was up against, but I loved my job. I was learning about highly technical industries and getting stronger experience in two key industries in New England every day I showed up to work. Now my former boss had his company well established and it was my opportunity to establish his Marketing department. The challenge I faced was that my former boss had never had a Marketing department before and he had ideas of what a "Marketer" did...which were not traditional. That's where my uphill battle got a little steep for me - I was often defending standard marketing strategies, dealing with a piecemeal budget and often tasked with responsibilities that were not Marketing in any other company, but were branded as such by my boss. While it wasn't my ideal idea of establishing a Marketing Department it did give me a broader experience in this role. Unfortunately none of these newer skills have been much of a selling point now that I'm out in the market for a job. However, some day they will benefit me in some way. So I value those skills in spite of the roadblock they are for me now. So what do I mean by putting all of this out there? What I mean is that I performed tasks that were not in my job description - I added value elsewhere that was unexpected when I took my job.

Hiring managers need to look beyond the fit of the job descriptions matching to the resume and see the potential of the candidate before them in that interview room. Hiring managers may have a good definition of what they want in someone to fill their precious few job openings, but don't discount the resume that fits 85% of your skill requirements - you may be missing the best hire of your career. The economy is showing signs of a recovery and your ability to cherry pick candidates is soon going to decline to fewer 'great' candidates and many 'good' to 'pretty good' candidates. Now is the time to look a little harder through that stack of resumes and find the candidate that may not be 100% on your target, but has something that stands out in their resume.

Time is Equity for the Unemployed

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:21:00 +0000

To weather this extended bout of unemployment, I chose to start volunteering to keep myself relevant to the marketplace. I volunteer on two projects regularly and seem to have created my own volunteer project with my Social Media lecturing activities.

So now I find myself looking at a week packed full of my time going to other people and not getting a penny for it. While I know it's frustrating me mostly because I'm unemployed, I find myself wondering when I'm going to get some revenue drummed up from all this activity. Last weekend I was exhausted and I'm sure next weekend will be the same. When I look at all I have going on over the coming week, I wonder when I'll be able to sleep! It's given me an unexpected insight to just how valuable my time is to me. When people are employed, their time goes to their employer and no one questions what they are doing with it...and now that I am realizing the value of time - I really think a lot of people are underselling their time to their employers. (Not that I expect the hiring companies of the world to ever fully compensate people appropriately for the time they spend.)

So now that time is so valuable, let's consider just how much the value increases when an individual adds critical thought and expertise to the time they are spending working on a project. When I consider some of the people I have been working with during this layoff, the value of the time and skills is more than just important, it's a gift they are giving to me. People need to consider these things when taking time from each other. If they really gave thought to just how valuable time really is, then they might appreciate each other a whole lot more. Remember you can always earn more money, you can NEVER get your time back.

Bait & Switch Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:40:00 +0000

I interviewed with a really good company recently. It was probably one of the single most disappointing interviews of my recent layoff. I went in, really liked the President of the company - a dynamic woman who is a fairly visionary professional. We also share a similar distaste for a company we both worked for at different times. For the first time in my professional career did I break with the protocol of "never saying a bad thing about a company". It was nice to trust a person - I virtually did not know - that quickly. That is where our like mindedness ended. It was really too bad.

This was an eye opener for me because it gave me a learning about myself and a learning about the market all around my favorite professional "journey" - the transition of my career to that of one with a Social Media centric marketing role. It's no secret, I'm aggressively pursuing a job where I can blend a traditional marketing program with social media. Measure the outcome of the campaigns, rinse and repeat!

So to get into this interview where the conversation that lead to my sitting in this room wondering if I really had talked with that woman two days prior - was to say the least - deflating. The president specifically told me that they needed to implement social media into their structured direct marketing program for their established product. I thought GREAT, this is an opportunity to help take a great product and define this company as an innovator in their industry. I had experience marketing their product for for the mutually disliked company, so I had a proven skill set for their need, but instead of finding someone truly ready to embrace social media integration, I found someone hesitant to change, give up the metrics so easily supplied through direct marketing and skeptical of the benefits for community-minded marketing with social media tools.

When I walked out of there after meeting with another group of anti-social media marketers, I knew it was not a fit for me to go to that company. And their behaviors towards me (not discussed in this post) let me know they are not interested in me either. Discouraging - yes, but also leaves me with the liberation of going to continue my quest to bring social media to a receptive company. Now if someone could only introduce me to that hiring manager....

Social Media vs Google

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:52:00 +0000

I've been thinking a lot about the strengths of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn lately. I've been ignoring my google search a lot lately too. It occurred to me that I go to Twitter to search the topic burning a hole in my mind. I load up on the conversations there, then if it's job search related, I move on to LinkedIn. When I'm done, I go hangout on Facebook for a mini-class reunion. It's a cycle that probably just put my surfing habits on a number of Marketers short lists for behavioral Marketing efforts. (Sorry folks, nothing's gonna work until I'm employed again.)

The thing I realized is that I get a much more satisfactory view of a product or topic when I search it on Twitter first. I only go to Google when I hit a rare dead end or have another channel I want to investigate on the thought path. So considering my search habits and that of the rapidly growing twitterverse, is there a chance for Twitter to take down Google?

No, but it may be able to put a big dent in its keyword revenues. I'm an obvious fan of Twitter and if I were marketing a product which would have an appeal to the Social Mediaphile crowd I'd try my hand at creating a conversation to keep the topic current, relevant and on the flying fingertips of the folks dominating the tweet-worthiness of the product. While Twitter is not a category killing marketing tool, it may just be the traffic driver that will allow me to drop my SEM spend and try another marketing program with my savings!

My Advantage: Unemployment

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:08:00 +0000

I will admit, I much prefer to be working. But I also know it's not likely that I will ever have an opportunity like this in my life time again. It's been about seven months since that fateful day when I became a growing statistic: unemployed. I worked for a small firm where 80% of the staff is laborers and 20% is administrative. My boss who had been thrilled with the work I did for the year I had been working, learning and growing at his firm, eliminated the entire Marketing Department. I was awestruck, but not totally surprised.

It was days before Halloween and I saw myself able to finish out the semester at school without the added pressure of going to work. Not such a bad side-effect of a layoff. I also knew the "holidays" was a tough time to look for permanent work. So I kicked back, believing the new year and new President would marshall in the new job opportunities for me. Two months into the year, I was getting nowhere but depressed. Many days were drifting by me as I sat on the couch cruising the internet looking for jobs. Jobs that didn't fit. Jobs that didn't exist. I realized before the end of February that something had to happen and I had to make it happen.

I went to a networking group, I met people, I volunteered my skills. I took my interest in Social Media and turned it into a volunteer job for a local tv show. I created twitter accounts, Facebook identities and got them on-line. I got involved with Bentley University and helped launch a networking group. I learned new skills that will help me be better, faster and stronger for my next employer. Now all I have to do is FIND this employer and introduce myself.

CNBC So What!

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Ok, so I was supposed to get an interview with CNBC. The email TO ME said - Interview Request - in the subject line. So yesterday, three outfits, backup outfits and a lot of stress later, I was greatly disappointed when they said - No thanks.
Other interviews have come and gone through the job show and it's been fine. I've been thrilled with b-roll coverage because my expectations were nothing. Yesterday, I EXPECTED to interview and get publicity for all the work I'm doing. To say the least, I was really bummed.

However, I ALWAYS try to learn something about myself or a situation. So my situation yesterday taught me two things. One, I deal with disappointment pretty well considering how majorly bummed I was. I go to the set of the Job Show to tweet (aka create twitter updates) for the folks who are there giving their elevator pitches. So while the wind was taken out of my sails over not getting to give an interview, I stayed there and did "my job" and tweeted about the people's skills and new job goals. I also tweeted about the activity on the set. A few years ago, I was dealt with a similar disappointment and didn't handle it as well. The situation of my "older" disappointment was different, but it was an area where I was devastated (then) about losing an opportunity that I had worked very hard to produce. (There is a back story and later I learned there was some back stabbing involved.) But when I went through that disappointment, it was obvious to everyone. No one apologized to me then - which made the situation harder to bear for me. Yesterday, it was nice that the folks around me were very supportive - it made dealing with the situation much easier. It also made me realize what a great group of people are around me when I'm on the set at the job show.

So I took away two major learnings that are all about managing personalities and NOTHING about resume building skills:
1.) Be clear about expectations. If you send someone an email and are looking for their assistance not participation in an exciting project (like interviewing with CNBC) be CLEAR in your wording. I would have helped out CNBC, but just wouldn't have been so personally excited about it. It's also helpful to remember this when I'm working in the future and I bring someone into an exciting project. I'll be sure to be clear if they aren't going to get to participate in the big event and sensitive to them if there's a potential for them to be disappointed.
2.) Be graceful when you are dealt a disappointment. It makes it so much easier to get over it. And when you wake up the next morning, you can be proud of yourself. I didn't lie and say I was "thrilled" to be passed over for an interview - I admitted how bummed I was. I just didn't act like a brat about it. I woke up today knowing that when I go back into the studio for the next twitter session people will probably not even remember that I was bummed, but be happy to have me in the studio contributing in a way that I own & I'm good at! :) It also makes it easier to go into the studio knowing I didn't behave badly! There is no room for Divas at the Job Show - we're a collective mind!

More Media

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:23:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of "meeting" the press this morning. It was a surreal experience - they sent a car to pick me up and was at my house by 6:15AM. The driver was more than wonderful and we had a great conversation for such a crazy hour of the morning.

Later, I was in the greenroom waiting to get made up for my segment. Tia, a young woman who appeared to be the 'handler' of the folks coming, but she was also my makeup artist. I was impressed with the way I looked on the screen, so on all accounts she did a great job! I was excited, but unexpectedly calm. What an experience! I got a little nervous because Ken was driving himself in and it was getting close to the time when they told us to be at the studio.

I knew approximately when he planned to leave for the studio, but he walked in right on time. I later learned he had a minor mix up with his directions and had to back track! He made it though!
We talked about a few new media developments as we waited to go on air. And then we were brought to the room to speak.

It was a smal room, with a sky shot of Boston as a backdrop, a table rigged with microphones and chair. Ken and I sat as directed, so Ken was on the right and I was on the left as you faced the screen. We got rigged up with mic packs and a little plastic plug went into my ear. I think I was more nervous about breaking the equipment than at any other time in the morning! We could hear the pieces in New York, but couldn't see a thing! As much as it looked like we were "TALKING" to the folks in New York, we were talking to a small box about 5ft away.

They did the sound tests and left us to talk - as we chatted about the show (our show) we could hear the production team in our ears! What an experience! Then BOOM we were on the air. I could hear pieces of the elevator pitches - OUR elevator pitches on National News. Then they started with Ken and he told the story of his inspiration for creating the New England Job Show. Then they talked to ME about my video and my motivation for fliming it. Check out the brief, but amazing piece they did here! Wow! And then it was done and we were pulling off our microphones, getting a quick tour of the studio and walking out the door.

Using my Voice

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:54:00 +0000

Be prepared for the full media blitz around the New England Job Show. We've had three national, respected stations contact us for press. I've been contacted directly to speak on two of the occasions - one being the Fox National News this Saturday and a CNBC (air date TBD). I also coined a twitter phrase that was retweeted over 25 times in the last 2 hours. All it took to spin this storm was seizing an opportunity and running with it.

All of a sudden people are listening to me and are interested in what I have to say. This is a Marketer's dream! I'm thrilled to have publicity and hope only good things come of it (I'm no octo-mom!)

Request for comments.

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:03:00 +0000

I'm a pretty low key person, so the fact that my blog hits are off the charts is very weird for me. I was just wondering, if you read the article on me or saw any of the other recent press I have received from this wild unemployment ride - why did you google me and check out my blog? Totally curious because I rarely google people - I never even googled Octo-Mom. I pretty much only google legit celebrities - people that have a legit claim to their IMDB page! Was it simple curiosity or something else that inspired you to key my name into google, yahoo (or whatever search engine works for you)?

I also want to offer my apologies to anyone who actually came to this page...it's pretty boring stuff on here! I originally created this blog to manage my professional identity when googled. So as a professional, it's pretty tame stuff. I guess the coolest thing I've done in a while is met Jack Johnson last summer when I volunteered on his tour. Here's a pic of me, Jack and a few random people I couldn't crop out of the picture! :)

Who would have thought being unemployed could lead to this?

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:33:00 +0000

Well, the AP article about my pet project, The New England Job Show has certainly pointed a lot of attention my way! My blog tracker is out of control with hits from all over the country! I dig it! I think someone even offered me a job already! Amazing, but then again, the power of the press can do amazing things! I'm just happy that it's on my side. If you are interested in learning more about the job show and the great people on our team, visit the blog. You can also follow us on Twitter. I have also compiled most of our press to date on a Delicious account. Also, if you would like to get in contact with anyone on the show, email me at nejs.jayna@gmail.com.

To get more info about my career check me out on LinkedIn.
Cheers!

Sympathy for those doing the Laying off?

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:52:00 +0000

I'm sorry, but I can't say I feel badly for the managers laying off people in this economy. This article by the Globe is somewhat ridiculous. Managers in charge of doing the lay offs suffer from "post-traumatic stress"? I'm sorry, I can understand the necessity of a lay off. But I'm the one whose life is on hold right now. I do feel for the folks in charge of the lay off that are shutting down a facility and are laid off too.

I have no ill will towards my former boss, but I don't feel bad for him for laying me off. He has to run his company, he can't worry about how I am impacted. I'm disappointed in this economy - because the bosses of some major companies put us in this situation. We also put ourselves in this position - the people that bought homes they can't pay for, the people who ran up credit debt they can't pay back. I have paid my bills on the house I can afford, on the little cars we drive and on my education that I funded for myself. I would love to have another 1,000 sq ft of living space and a Hybrid SUV, but we can't afford that stuff. We still won't be able to afford it when I do get my next job. We will continue to live in our small, cozy home and drive our little cars but also go out for dinner every once in a while and splurge on a Wii and windows for our house!

The Problem with my Resume

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:45:00 +0000

I have a problem with my resume. It's a piece of my resume that I really can not change. Even when I "build" my resume on a site like Monster.com, I can do nothing to make a difference with the problem with my resume. It's the Job Titles I'm forced to put on my resume. Every job I have had, I always go "off description" and take on different responsibilities. I go after Marketing and Sales Operations jobs. Most often, I end up in a role with a Marketing title. The work I do, however, is often so much more. I have filled roles where I have had Business Operations, Vendor Negotiations, Purchasing and Executive-decision making responsibilities.

So what's my problem?

My problem is that I put my exact job title on my resume. I am naturally attracted to the responsibilities in a Marketing position. But the work I do is much broader. I sometimes think I'm not representing myself appropriately. The problem is now- I'm unemployed. I have to play by the rules. I can't put a "Job title free" resume out there. But it WOULD be so much fun if I could!

The situation is, it's not your job title, but the meaningful and relevant experience you can bring to the table. I have been an Assistant with more responsibility and input than title. In one job, I was a "manager" that was tied to a set schedule and routine. What I did took little to no critical thinking. All I needed to be able to do was perform a repetitive task as designated by my company. Needless to say, that was one of my least favorite jobs. A few years prior to that, I worked as an assistant where I was constantly in contact with higher level management in my company. I was often performing analysis on the revenue performance of my group. I was also working on, and managing, projects beyond my job title. I was able to work within my organization and our customers effectively. I was talking to C-Level people at tiny 50 people companies and some C-Levels at massive companies. My title did not matter - no matter who I was talking to. It was all about professionalism and performance. I excelled in this role because I focused on the task at hand and not what my title said I could do.

So now that I'm sitting here, unemployed - I find that my search is similar - I'm not looking at the job titles, but I'm looking at the tasks at hand. I'm confident that I have found a great match a few times over. My most recent interview was one of them. Hopefully, my near future posts will be about acclimating to a new role in this economy.

As Featured in the Boston Globe..

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:52:00 +0000

If you've found this site through Googling me from the Globe article, Yep, that's me. The unemployed Marketer from Bentley! I'll keep it brief & here's the link to my article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/02/12/keeping_positive_despite_fears/

Thanks for the attention! :)

What happened to 2008?

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Looking back 2008 was ROUGH to say the least. This stubborn recession is taking America for a ride! My life is hanging in the balance of unemployment holding out as long as I'm unemployed. Me with that fancy Master of Science in Marketing Analytics from Bentley University...unemployed. And the sad thing is I'm in good company.

So look back at 2007, the housing market was soft, but I still found a great job. I had been hired to CREATE a marketing department at a small manufacturing firm. WOW, someone tapped in to my drive and ambition. I was repositioning the brand of an industry where marketing was not a driving force. This was awesome...I was a pioneer.

Look back again 2006, I had my choice of jobs. Recruiters were calling me and I wasn't calling them back because I had a good job and I was happy. I was busy with grad school and settled where I was working. I didn't need anything else to deal with...oh yeah, and I was closing on a house in May. It was expensive, but houses are the investment that always increases in value!

Look back one last time to 2005, I'm sitting in a sales meeting. My eyes are wide and my ears are open! There's going to be a MAJOR employment problem in 2008. People are going to be leaving offices all over America. This is the tip of the iceberg. Sounds familiar....but the twist....wait for it....just a little more.....the twist is that the people leaving their offices are Baby Boomers off to retirement. Let's think about this...the looking glass just three years back painted a different problem. This problem is that the 65 year old employee is going to trade their keyboard for shuffleboard....or more likely golf clubs. But that's not what happened....it's a similar problem of course. People all over America are out of work, but they are the 30-40somethings that need to work. They are me.

So now we're all a buzz with the economic crisis dragging the sorry state of the world into 2009. People are pulling their money OUT of the market, people are saving like mad just-in-case. People are looking 6 weeks and 6 months down the road on how to fix this. I'm concerned though....what about a few years down the road when the Boomers can actually retire? They are going to pull their money out of the market to survive....to maintain their life style. They will be spending, but what will we be struggling with in the cash-out market? I'd love to hear someone's thoughts on this. Because I don't want to be sitting on this couch again blogging away about the next time I'm unemployed because the market can't recover from a spiraling economic problem.

HR practices need to change with the times

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:50:00 +0000

OK, as one of the many frustrated job hunters in this market, I am adapting my search techniques. I don't see HR adapting their hiring techniques. And is it really efficient or smart for them to keep doing the same old, same old practices in this market?

Of course I'm biased, but I'm a great employee. I'm smart, respectful, fairly quiet, great on a deadline, happily take on additional projects and just want to be part of the team and respected for my contributions. If you want to throw in a lunch every now and again, I'm thrilled. Who wouldn't want to work with me?

Yet, my resumes are cruising off to oblivion on a daily basis. I have a love/hate relationship with the new Monster board - because I can see that my resumes are being ignored now. Prior to this redesign, I could only hope that the HR rep assigned to manage the Monster onslaught, diligently read (or skimmed) my resume but was having her lesser qualified BFF interview for the job. Now I know they aren't even reading it - Monster tells me 0 out of 3 recent submissions have been viewed.

So I'm a marketer, what do I know about HR? Um, well I know that the field of Marketing has enjoyed an evolution of metrics in the last decade or so. We are now measuring returns, click-thrus, where a person's eyes fall on a monitor and their pulse rate change while watching TV.

HR needs its own revolution! HR has online submissions with poor formatting. Hmmm, maybe it's time to shake up HR. I'm sure a good HR rep is losing sleep at night over the mountains of resumes they aren't getting to. Are they missing the CEO's niece? Are they missing the hard working, lower salaried superstar's resume? How do they find the real best fits with no hiring budget? How do they know they are hiring the person that fits in their culture and will thrive? I'm sure the strategic "right" hires are in the pile, so how do they know how to find him/her?

What about "Speed Dating"? Just about every candidate meets with the team (or at least the decision makers on the team). Why not bring in a bunch of candidates and move them round robin through the team? This will give the hiring managers a rapid fire ability to compare candidates. It will also show which candidates react to different strategies. Do you need a quick thinking sales guy or do you want the wind bag that drones on putting your top customers to sleep? Do you want the quick witted receptionist or the easily flustered whiner? Throw your candidates into the gauntlet and let the cream rise to the top.

What about an immersion interview? If you're hiring for an admin, have them volunteer to work for a day. Not all jobs can be filled this way, but an admin with basic skills can handle some filing, photo copying, phone screening and organizing. You'll be able to see how they use their time throughout the day. You can see who will be a quick start and who is going to take a lot of time to get online. Either way, you'll save the money you'd spend on a temp getting them to do the same thing!

Finally, what about a cattle call? Have an open house and let all the candidates in, resume in hand. You won't need to call, you can see who is there to impress, who is just sending their resume to any position posted. You will be able to tell them about the culture at the company about the job and let folks weed themselves out. As a candidate, I would LOVE the freedom to see a job is not for me from the safe vantage point from the masses.

Are my solutions bullet proof? No, but they are different and they may revolutionize the hiring process. Eventually this market is going to turn back in my favor and I will remember the companies that showed some creativity and respect to me in this recession. I'm the overlooked superstar, try something new so that when you need to hire many (quickly) I don't overlook your superstar company!

25 Things I think about the Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:34:00 +0000

So, I just got "tagged" on facebook by my friend to write 25 things about me. It got me thinking about what's going on with my career, the economy and social media. I guess since I spend a lot of my unemployed time on twitter and facebook, I started thinking about these 25 thoughts.
Obviously they are my opinion:

1. I hate being unemployed. I have worked so hard, I'm smart and ambitious and feel like I made all the right choices but still got nowhere.
2. I think a lot of companies are keeping "cheaper" talent and that in itself is wasteful. I may cost more, but I will work harder and smarter and longer to keep my career on track.
3. It annoys me to no end that people who work just for a paycheck have jobs, but I do not even though it's my philosophy that the success of the company is priority and my success is tied to the company's success.
4. I had a disastrous interview with a man that was horribly rude and I hate myself for being so scared about not getting a job that I let him be so rude. On the flip side, I was proud of myself for behaving in a calm and rational manner.
5. I wonder if any prospective employers read this blog...and if they will misinterpret what I said about the individual in #4.
6. I had an awesome interview with a group of wonderfully intelligent people...and I'm not brown nosing...they don't know this blog exists. If their client signs the contract, I really hope I will get to go work with them. I could learn so much and the client mentioned earlier in this statement would be a fascinating company to market - especially in these times.
7. I love working for and rooting for the underdog. I think anyone with a competitor is an underdog - at least in some cases.
8. I would love a job doing nothing but facebook & twittering all day.
9. If I get a job, I will help the economy....I have a long list of "When I get a job we'll buy..."
10. I am angry with the unethical practices that got us into this economic disaster.
11. I wonder why it is so difficult to do the ethical thing in business? It's pretty obvious how bad things can get when you don't.
12. No one is paying me to do this, but they should.
13. I worry that if I'm careless with a typo or punctuation on this blog (which is a hobby) that it will hurt my chances with a job.
14. I secretly dream that this blog is read by someone regularly.
15. It would be a really really good dream if they were someone who could get me that awesome Marketing Job I am working so hard to get.
16. I am thinking about creating a networking group in my hometown to help other people search for a job.
17. I am afraid my newly acquired master's degree is going to rot in my brain and become a very expensive problem if I don't get a job soon.
18. I let the stock market's daily performance affect my mood.
19. I really liked my last job, in spite of working in a very weird environment.
20. The thing that let me down most with my last job, was that my boss let all my work crumble into nothingness. (I was hired to establish the marketing department in a small 23 year mfg firm.) I want to scold my boss for doing so.
21. I wonder why sales and marketing are the drivers in a healthy economy and are so easily abandoned in a recession.
22. I'm not too proud to wait tables to keep us in our house - if it comes to that.
23. I'm surprised it has been so challenging for me to get this far, but like the exercise it is giving my brain.
24. I remember in 2005, hearing about what a wild year 2008 will be, however, the story in 2005 is very different from what really happened.
25. I'm staying the course because I know all recessions end eventually, and eventually they happen again.

Recession & Talent Retention

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:32:00 +0000

I just finished reading this article on Boston.com about employee retention during a recession. I thought it was excellent for the HR folks. I just wish there was more for the unemployed. I have read the many articles published about "laid off" and the next steps. I have heard it, tried it and I'm still unemployed!

I guess I have hope because I'm one of the "superstars" mentioned in the article. I have a great skill set, I'm even tempered and I fight for a win for my team. I also just finished my Master's Degree at Bentley. (I had a baby mid-program and I kept at it, not lured away by the Mommy-syndrome.) I have worked very hard to get my degree and build my career. However, it didn't keep the economy from putting me in this position. So I'm sitting here, going stir crazy while waiting for something to give....either a better economy with more opportunities for a superstar, or even better, a flat out offer with a hard start date.

Double Edged Social Media Sword

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:23:00 +0000

Yeah, I get it. Social Media has double edged swords - you have a fun night out, take goofy drinking pictures and whoops, you're fired from your job as a nun. But what about being "off the clock"? I'm talking about being friends with your clients.

A HS buddy, and financial advisor, just posted a comment on facebook about watching a movie with his family. Moments later, a client asks him if he's working and says she emailed him days ago. He's a cool guy - and replied that he did respond from a different email account and for her to check her spam. I stopped following the conversation at this point out of annoyance for him. However, she loses cool points in a big way. First of all, it's long after 5:00PM on a weird workish day where folks may not be working. And here's this client worrying about some email she sent him. Did she not see he just commented that he's doing something fun & familyish? Does she not realize it's the weekend? There are so many things that annoy me with this situation - you never get to be off the clock, your clients know way too much about you, there's no boundaries for the pushy.

I got to thinking...switch up the situation a bit and put the conversation into an imaginary LinkedIn setting. I'd be annoyed with him for posting personal stuff on a "social business" site, but her comments wouldn't have bothered me. I guess it's all subjective to your own personal opinion on this matter. However, it's giving me something else to think about when I build my social media network. Social sites will only be used for non-work associates, everyone else can hang with me on LinkedIn!

Job hunting tips

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:43:00 +0000

I love the new job hunting mantra, network, network, network. It has actually turned up some really great opportunities for me, but it's still tough out there. I think this article is great because it's a quick simple tip loaded piece. I just disagree with the Monster & HotJobs comment. I think that job boards can give you a window into hiring trends in your career. I think their advice is sound, but one thing I've learned is to use the internet for more than its surface value. Yes you can see what is out there for jobs, but you can also see how many new jobs are added each day in your field. If you just choose the date search and count up or estimate how many new postings there were. Look out for the sketchy "work-at-home" and the "Entry Level Sports Marketing" multiple postings. The rest of the legitimate jobs can give you an insight to what industries are hiring and which companies could be experiencing growth in this crazy economy! Look at your tools, sharpen your skills and seek out the messages you can get from the bigger picture.

Still Waiting

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:45:00 +0000

So I emailed JibJab through their contact us module yesterday expressing my displeasure with the comment to my blog as opposed to the apology I requested through email. Still silent. Hmm, I wonder how long this will go on? Should I contact Office Max? If so, how long should I give JibJab to respond? Dilemmas, dilemmas!

Commentary: Resumes are Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:27:00 +0000

This came through Twitter when I was reading what everyone was up to. Very interesting take on resumes in this market. I think it is very relevant to Marketers, but think about Nurses, Engineers, Accountants. Eh, I don't think a blog will serve as an appropriate vehicle to display their skills. Now I know there's a "resumes are not really dead" back track in there, but it's more than that.

As a professional, I found this post to be very relevant to me, but it's also due to my career choice. I sometimes think social media junkies can forget that not everyone is a fan of social media. People don't want to post about their opinions about work once they get out of work. People like Doctors and Nurses can provide very useful and interesting information, but they run a high risk by blogging about work. What if they describe an annoying patient that recognizes themselves in the blog? What if they comment about a procedure and a teenager goes out and tries to do it on themselves? What if they comment on a treatment that worked for one patient and another patient dies from the same treatment? It's such a slippery slope for them. What you put on the web never goes away....it's always there in some way.

Of course you can consider personally slanted blogs. But that's not a good idea either. People aren't perfect. They aren't happy all the time. What if someone just needed to vent on their blog and say a few crabby things. What if a prospective employer is browsing the web and lands on the post where this person is pouring out their angst. What if this is something they never would do at work because they are composed enough to keep a professional temperment in the office. There's a little too much invasion in the digital exhibitionism of blogging. The repercussions are scary. I am very careful to blog in a positive light, but that doesn't mean I don't have moments of despair, it just indicates I know better than to publish the moments where they can never be retracted.

Blogging is great, that's why I have 4 active blogs. All with a unique identity discussing one aspect of my life or another. I just don't know that my blogging, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts can get me a job. But if they can, leave me a comment here, I am currently unemployed.

Now what I really want to hear as a hiring trend is to ditch the business suits! Seriously, do people get it, there's a major sore thumb aspect to walking into an office with denim clad employees and you're rockin' the tailored pants and a blazer. I don't mind dressing up, but ugh, I have never needed to wear a suit to work on a daily basis in my life. If you want to interview me in what I'd normally wear to work, I'll put my khaki's and cable-knit sweater on in a heart beat. Get a better, more comfortable picture of me.

Good Viral Marketing gone Bad

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:50:00 +0000

Fa la la la la, it's that time of year again. When marketing turns festive and some of our old favorites return. Our Frank Sinatra Christmas Hits CD is primed for its revival. Advertisers are bringing back our favorites, some with the nostalgia, in full effect and some evolving concepts return newer and better. Office Max brought back a newer and better Elf Yourself campaign. This campaign has been a favorite of mine for 3 Christmases running. But this year I got a creepy wake up call.

I got the email announcing Elf Yourself was back last week and immediately got to loading up pictures of some family members. The functionality was better, I could move the outlines for our faces around to better frame the faces of the elves. There were four dances to choose from and up to 5 faces to elf-up. And you could upload your movie to your blog...and here's where my trouble starts.

I click to upload to my daughter's blog. I have 4 blogs on blogger and it was kind of weird, I couldn't choose the blog to post to. So maybe it loaded it onto all the blogs. Nope, first try goes off into the celestial cyber-verse. So I click again and I get a post to this blog, not my daughter's blog. Apparently the code embeds into the most recently updated blog. No biggie, I'll copy the code into my daughter's blog. No dice it's not loading. And there's a weird shirtless guy on the screen. I can't get it to play no matter what I do, so I email my best friend at work and ask her to see if it works. She emails me back, scarred for life - it was not a cute elfish dance-a-thon, but two guys in a semi-lewd Valentine's video. On this, my professional blog! WHAT?!?!?! Ok, I'm not a prude, but there's a line of appropriate and not. I did NOT want two strange men's heads on suggestively dancing bodies prancing around on this blog and I certainly don't want it on my toddler's blog.

So JibJab, the maker of Elf Yourself screwed up the code some how and I get the strip-o-gram video on my blog. Luckily it was only my very forgiving friend who saw it before I pulled it down. So I emailed JibJab letting them know of my displeasure with this situation. I just wanted an apology and someone to check their coding so it doesn't happen to someone else. What do I get, an anonymous comment addressed to my daughter on her blog. I moderate all comments and this was not an offensive comment, but it was a major customer service flub. It's an invasion onto my blog, no apology and no way of contacting this "JibJab" employee directly. I'm really ticked off now and they got an email from me, so they know I'm really ticked off too. Still waiting on a reply.

I'm in marketing so I get it, metrics are king. So it's no suprise to me that they were able to trace my email address, to the code on my blog and find that I put the correct video on the blog. However, the whole thing was just handled in a way that puts me off. The comment was not a bad comment, but it's an invasion of my space. I gave them my email address because that's where I wanted my apology. That is not what I got. Actually I didn't get an apology either. Yeah, so I'm not sure what to do next, but I'm waiting for a contrite email from JibJab and immediately would still be a little late for my liking.

Interviewing Oddities

noreply@blogger.com (Jayna) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:57:00 +0000

So I had my first interview yesterday. The person I met with was a bit of a poker player...hard to read. He was very smart and it was interesting to meet with him.
This interview was a bit of a challenge for me since there was no job description. It was hard to make sure I was able to relay the experience I had as a need in his company because I had no idea what he thinks he needs. All I could do was illustrate that I'm smart, inquisitive and follow industry news for several industries.
As I sat in his office as we discussed, it occurred to me how odd the format of interviews are. I met with him alone...door open. However, I frequently work in team environments. I'm often contributing my thoughts and suggestions on company direction in the form of Marketing efforts to groups of people. Usually I'm talking to 3 or more people. Yesterday, I was talking to one. As a marketer, I have been laid off (again) thanks to the economy. My 10 years of experience stretch onto 2 pages and my last 4 or so jobs are just job titles and dates. In my many interviews over the years, only 2 of my meetings were with groups of people. I was at my best in the group interviews...because that's how I operate. I'm a team player.....almost all employees are team players. So why do they interview people on their own? Often people are time crunches thanks to shrinking work forces (stupid economy) and the need to be the bigger resource. Often team members need time with each other...so why is it people interview in one-on-one environments? I find it odd that people are interviewed to be on teams, but are rarely put in that team environment to see how they perform in the group dynamic. It makes me wonder if I should request to meet in groups or if I should just continue with the norm of the one-on-ones. No matter what, I know they will talk about me when I'm gone, so why not save everyone some time and leave them some extra time to talk about what I can bring to the table!