Category Archives: Network Connections

Network connections includes powerful ideas for building your network and for using your network to build your career, to strengthen your lifetime relationships, and to enjoy having people in your life who can help you as well as people you can help as well. Through you network you can have a truly movable career for success and security.

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are. C. S. Lewis

Surround Yourself with the Smartest People

Beliefs, Confidence, Continuous Improvement, Influencer, Network Connections, Quotes, Reflections

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.
C. S. Lewis

In the pursuit of personal and professional growth, the adage “surround yourself with people who are smarter than you” holds a profound truth. Embracing the company of those who possess greater knowledge and skills can be a powerful catalyst for development and innovation.

Why Seek Smarter Company?
The benefits of surrounding oneself with more intelligent individuals are manifold. Firstly, it fosters an environment of continuous learning. Being around those who challenge our understanding pushes us to expand our knowledge base and question our preconceived notions. It’s a dynamic setting where ideas are exchanged, and intellectual boundaries are stretched.

Moreover, smarter colleagues act as a source of inspiration. They set a higher standard of excellence, motivating us to elevate our performance and strive for greater achievements. Their expertise and problem-solving abilities can also provide valuable insights that lead to more effective decision-making.

The Impact on Innovation
Innovation thrives in diverse and intellectually stimulating environments. When smart people come together, the synergy of their combined perspectives and experiences can lead to breakthroughs that might not occur in isolation. This collaborative intelligence is the bedrock of successful teams and organizations.

Creating a Smarter Circle
Building a network of intelligent individuals requires intentionality. It involves seeking out mentors, joining professional groups, attending conferences, and engaging in communities where knowledge-sharing is prevalent. It’s about being proactive in one’s own growth journey and recognizing the value that others bring to the table.

Conclusion
The wisdom of surrounding yourself with smarter individuals is not about diminishing one’s self-worth but about recognizing the power of collective intelligence. It’s a humble acknowledgment that we all have something to learn from one another. By embracing this mindset, we open ourselves up to a world of endless possibilities and growth.

Remember, intelligence is not just about academic prowess; it encompasses emotional, social, and creative intelligence as well. So, when we talk about surrounding ourselves with ‘smarter’ people, it’s about seeking those who can complement and enhance our own abilities in various spheres of life. It’s a journey well worth embarking on.

 

Photo by Filip Zrnzević on Unsplash

Finding New Industries

Finding New Industries for Your Job Skills

Job Search, Job Skills, Network Connections, Success

Finding New Industries: If you find that you have skills that are no longer needed in your current industry, it is natural for you to feel discouraged.

Skills Requirements Continue to Change

The ever-changing employment landscape often leaves people with industry-based skills and no employment market for those skills.  If you are one of those people, you are not alone. Additionally, you do have options.

The first week I worked as a recruiter I received a call from a salesman who had just lost his job from a reduction in force.

The man faced a large challenge, because companies across his industry were merging divisions and merging with other companies.  However, he was fortunate to get a sales job in the medical industry.  The training at his former employer gave him the skills to sell.  A medical company considered those skills as transferable skills for selling their equipment.

This person was not the last of the applicants I saw who transitioned to other industries to relaunch their carriers.

The Challenges of Finding Industries

Most people have transferable skills. However, they face challenges finding new industries for these skills.

For example, headhunters, hiring managers, and staffing people often face mountains of resumes.  They are focusing on close fits.  Scrutinizing resumes closely for crossover skills is a challenge for these people.  The first decision that these people make is to eliminate people based on a match in industries.

A second issue is that the network people have in their industry does give them contacts when they try transition to other industries. To find jobs in a new industry, job seekers must develop new networks to reach people who have job openings.

Steps to Finding New Industries

Here are some steps that might help you find jobs in new industries.

  1. Make a list of companies and industries that appeal to you.
  2. Determine if other people at those places have a similar background to your own.
  3. Evaluate the overall experience of these people in terms of other skills and experience that you might have in common.

Tips for Expanding Your Network

The second challenge is expanding your network to the new industry.  You will probably find better success in getting an interview if you know the hiring manager and can get your résumé directly into that person’s hands.  Here are some suggestions.

  1. Ask a member of your current network to give you an introduction to the hiring manager.
  2. If you cannot get an introduction to the hiring manager, attempt to network directly with the hiring manager.
  3. Join professional organizations that can give you introductions.
  4. Attend trade shows where you can make new connections.
  5. Backtrack through your network to find people who have transitioned from your current industry to a new industry.
  6. When you do send out your résumé, make sure that it markets your skills that are useful in the new industry.
  7. Edit your résumé and interview agenda to highlight your qualifications for each specific company you are seeking to join.

Expand Your Skills to Match Skills in New Industries

A third challenge is that your skills are just not as strong as those of people already in the industry you are seeking to join.

  1. Strengthen your marketable skills with more training.
  2. Become an expert on the new industry you are seeking to join. Write your cover letter and résumé to show what you know about that industry.
  3. Head back to school to get a diploma, degree, credential, certification, or advanced degree.

In Conclusion

Remember that you are not alone nor unique.   Many people find that they need to consider transitioning to a new industry.  You are not alone in your trials.  If you concentrate on building your network and your skills, you do not have to work alone in your efforts.

Internet Profile: Creating Your Internet Brand

Network Connections, Quotes

Internet Profile: your internet profile is more than your identity on the Internet.  This profile becomes your personal and professional brand. ~ www.jaywren.com

The Contents of an Internet Profile

An online profile has some or all the following elements:

  • Your name
  • Picture
  • Skills
  • Employment
  • Education
  • Training
  • Accomplishments
  • And your comments and likes.

When you publish your profile online, you have listed yourself in Internet databases across multiple search engines.  For example, search Jay Wren and you will find multiple listings of my Internet profile.

Your Internet Brand

What you write about yourself and what you comment and like become your Internet brand.

Your internet profile shapes the way people think and feel about you.

Controversy and Risks

Sex, politics, race, religion, and sports are topics that can stain your online profile.  These issues are polarizing.  People who disagree with your opinions on these subjects have a visceral aversion to you.

Buyers and employers flee when they see online profiles that make them dislike the person or company.

Therefore, only post comments that create the impression you want to create.  If you have a career in politics, sports, or religion, post about those subjects.  However, be aware that what you say on the Internet can have a lasting effect on your reputation.  Once your comments and posts are out there, deleting them without a trace can be difficult.

Where Do You Publish Your Internet Profile?

You publish your online profile on websites.  Many people have online profiles on more than one website.  For example, I have my business profile on my website JayWren.com and on LinkedIn.

Furthermore, you can create greater awareness by linking your profile on one site to your accounts at other sites.  I have a Twitter account, a Pinterest account, a Facebook page and a Flickr account that link back to this website.

Benefits from Your Online Profile

  1. If you publish your online profile on your own website, you can sell goods and services directly from your website.  In this case, you have more freedom and control over your content and the brand image you wish to create.
  2. Once you have established an online profile on most social media sites, you can create groups that bring people together.  A group attracts members who create content that in turn attracts other people to become aware of your profile from your online group.
  3. You can extend your professional network and build relationships by helping people through connections, recommendations, or introductions.
  4. In turn, these people can help you make connections, receive recommendations, and make introductions to new people.
  5. Your online profile is important to help you set up an image as a person or a company.  Through your updates to your online profile, you build your brand.
  6. Your posts on your profile become like a newsletter and makes it possible for people to follow your updates.

Content in Your Profile

For search engines, content is king.  Whenever you post anything on the Internet, you are creating content.  As you create content, your name or your company name appears more often in search engine results.

Some companies divert money from advertising to the cost of creating content on social media.  By posting content on a regular basis, you create awareness, interest, and engagement.  Where you start is through creating your online profile.

Synergy

Synergy: Increasing Success By Creating Great Teams

Network Connections, Quotes, Success

Synergy: How do companies create teams that produce greater results together than the total results of the team members working separately?

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” ~ Aristotle

Collaboration and Synergy

Synergy is the process of combining the efforts of individuals or organizations to produce greater results together than the total the combined results from working alone.

For example, let’s say that companies X, Y, and Z earn a total of $5 million working separately.  However, by merging their efforts, these three companies earn $10 million dollars working together.

“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Firsthand Experience

There are multiple reasons why synergy is so effective.  One of the reasons is that synergy fills in the gaps of knowledge among individuals or among individual organizations.

A simple example is my experience in teaming up with other recruiters to share work. Together, we each made more money by combining our resources than each of us would have made working alone.  I had recruiting contracts and job applicants.  The other firms had different recruiting contracts and different job applicants.

By working with each other, we could accelerate filling jobs by helping each other find job applicants for our recruiting contracts.

Synergy in Project Teams

In most companies, departments work separately to do their jobs.  Sales planning does sales planning.  Marketing does marketing.  Manufacturing does manufacturing.

But some projects require knowledge from each of these departments.  Collaboration empowers teams from separate departments to produce greater results by filling in the knowledge gaps.

 Synergy in Working with Specialists

Collaborating with specialists helps people focus on what they do best. For example, writers know how to write.  Some writers can do a reasonable job of editing their own work.  Also, most writers can figure out how to copyright their material.  However, writers can produce far more material by just writing and having experts handle the other tasks in publishing a book.

Your Story of Why You Are Great

Creating the Story of Why You are Great

Leadership, Network Connections, Success

Creating the Story of Why You are Great: What makes people want to hear or read about great people?  How can you make people want to hear or read about you?

Creating the Story

Think about the simple tools of advertising.

Advertisers use images.  They include music.  They create a message to try to appeal to you.

But why does advertising work? When does it become effective?

Strip away the images.  Turn off the music.  Delete the advertising copy.  Start with a blank sheet of paper.

What is the story that advertisers want you to know?

The Meaning of the Message

Of course, advertisers are presenting a product or service.  Advertisers are giving a sales pitch.

But the message is not just about the product or service.  The story is about what the product or service does for you.
Advertisers want you to see how the product or service will surround you with attractive people or take you to beautiful places.  They want to show you how the product or services make you feel safe or prosperous and popular.

Advertisers make their story about you.

Creating the Story of Why You are Great

Your story of why you are great works when you present like a rock star.  Rock stars become stars when they create a great experience for the audience.  The performance is not about the rock stars.  It is about the experience of the audience.

Of course, your story is about your accomplishments.  The story is about your work and your challenges.  It is also about how you turned your work and your challenges into success.

In fact, the audience may care about your success.  They may be happy for you.

However, what makes your story effective is how it makes the audience feel and think themselves.  Furthermore, telling your story correctly creates positive expectations from your audience.  You story will tell people why they should connect with you.  It will tell people why they should hire you or buy your product.

Privacy Protection

Privacy Protection: Opt-Out of the Sites that Share Your Private Details

Network Connections, Success

Privacy Protection: How does this loss of privacy hurt you?  It can hurt you in several ways.

Privacy Protection: Opt-Out of the Sites that Share Your Private Details

Now there are websites that share your personal information.  Some of these sites sell this information through subscriptions.

How does this loss of privacy hurt you?  It can hurt you in several ways.

Employers seeking information on your background can use the sites to find you.  They can also use these sites to learn more about your family and your financial situation.

Lifehacker staff writer Patrick Allen has a list of steps to help you control what information these sites share and info on how to opt-out of these search engine sites.  He provides the specific links you need to opt-out.

Source: How to Opt Out of the Most Popular People Search Sites

Many of us use social media to help people find us.  Websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter helps us connect with people who are important in our lives.  LinkedIn helps us connect with people who are important to our careers.

On these social media sites, you decide what information you want to put on the site to share.

However, these search engines sites share whatever information they have.  Without opting out, your information is out there for anyone to see.

Profile Cloning: Is Your Identity Being Stolen By A Copycat?

Profile Cloning: Is Your Identity Being Stolen by a Copycat?

Network Connections, Success

What is Profile Cloning?

Profile cloning is different from profile hacking.  When someone hacks your profile, they gain access to your profile by getting your sign-in information.  This information is usually your password and username or your password and email address.

However, when someone clones your profile, they make a duplicate copy of your profile.  A cloned profile is easy to create.  The person simply downloads you profile picture from your profile.  Then they upload the same picture to the cloned profile.  They use your name.  Therefore, the profile looks the same as your profile.

Why is Cloning a Problem?

When someone hacks your profile, you usually see them posting things that you did not post.

However, when they clone your profile, you may never see what they are posting.  Sometimes, cloners will block you from seeing the cloned profile.  Therefore, you may not know that you profile is cloned.

Then the cloners invite people who trust you to connect with them.  From there, the cloners can phish for information and work various scams.

How do I report a cloned account?

Go to the cloned account.  To the right of the message box you will see three dots.  Click the dots.

In the dropdown menu, select “Report.”  Follow the instructions from there.

But what if the cloner has block me?

If the cloner has blocked you from reaching the cloned profile, have a friend report the clone to Facebook.

How do I know that the cloned profile report reached Facebook?

The person who reported the clone will get this nice card in their Facebook feed: “Thanks for Making Facebook Better.”

They will also get a nice email from Facebook:

“Hi _________,

Thanks for letting us know about someone impersonating your friend on Facebook. Reports like yours are an important part of keeping Facebook a safe and welcoming community.

Since this is happening to your friend, we’re going to close your report and follow up with your friend directly once we’ve reviewed the account.

Thanks again,
The Facebook Team”

The procedures are similar on LinkedIn.

Business and Career Growth: Can a Business or Career Become Static and Survive?

Job Skills, Network Connections

Business and Career Growth: Can a Business or Career Become Static and Survive?

Building a business or a career is a continual process of expanding your goods, services, skills, and network.  The first day that I sat down to start my career as a recruiter, I had no contacts.  I had a telephone, an empty legal pad, and a box of blank 5 x 8 index cards.

After a decade, my contact management system contained tens of thousands of contacts.  I had personally tracked and created files for these people.  Most of them I have reached out to by phone, email, or professional networks.  I still make new connections every day.  Little has changed except that my file system has gone from paper to a computer.

I continually added clients.

Here is a partial list of companies where I had recruiting contracts:

    1. PepsiCo
    2. Pepsi Bottling Group
    3. Frito-Lay
    4. Coca Cola, USA
    5. Coca Cola Foods
    6. Mobil Oil Company
    7. Soft Soap
    8. Pillsbury Green Giant
    9. International Playtex
    10. Quaker Oats
    11. Dannon Corporation
    12. No Nonsense Fashions
    13. Coca-Cola Foods
    14. Del Monte Foods
    15. The Clorox Company
    16. Nestle
    17. Brach & Brock
    18. Catalina Marketing
    19. Health Resource Corporation
    20. Majers Corporation
    21. Welch Foods
    22. Softsoap
    23. E & J Gallo
    24. Sunny Delight
    25. M & M Mars
    26. Tambrands
    27. Nabisco
    28. News America Marketing
    29. El Dorado Marketing
    30. Imagitas
    31. ConAgra Foods
    32. ConAgra Armour Swift-Eckrich
    33. Polaroid Corporation
    34. Dial Corporation
    35. Dep Corporation
    36. United Vintners
    37. 7-Up
    38. Miller Brewing Company
    39. 13-30 Corporation
    40. Hain Celestial Group
    41. Q-Interactive
    42. Label Dollars
    43. Promo Edge
    44. Centiv
    45. The Sunflower Group
    46. PromoWorks
    47. The Wine Spectrum of Coca Cola
    48. Kaiser-Roth
    49. DSD Communications
    50. Black & Decker
    51. ActMedia
    52. Linkewell Health
    53. Bush Brothers Beans
    54. Marketing Technology Solutions
    55. Sunny D
    56. Twenty-Ten Corporation
    57. InStore Broadcasting Network
    58. Insignia Pops
    59. The Beecham Group
    60. GlaxoSmithKline – GSK
    61. Jacobs Suchard
    62. Cody Kramer
    63. SVP Worldwide
    64. Mauna Loa
    65. Garden Burger
    66. EAS
    67. New World Pasta Company
    68. Vacation Connections
    69. Lala USA
    70. Continental Promotion Group
    71. Kayser Roth
    72. Morningstar Farms
    73. Duracell
    74. Kiss Products
    75. Phillips Food Brokerage
    76. Unicous Marketing
    77. Kelley Clarke Food Brokerage
    78. Wizards of the Coast
    79. Oberto Sausage
    80. Fanfare Media
    81. Linkwell Communications
    82. Lindt
    83. Nurserymen’s Exchange
    84. Maybelline
    85. Advantage 360
    86. American Italian Pasta
    87. Warner Lambert
    88. Fuel Rewards/Centego
    89. First Flavor
    90. Potlatch Corporation
    91. Crossmark Food Brokerage
    92. RB (Reckitt Benckiser)
    93. Marketing Force
    94. J&J Snack Foods Corporation
    95. Cartera Commerce Inc.
    96. Alcon Laboratories
    97. Ray-O-Vac
    98. Naterra
    99. ICOM
    100. Slim Fast (Unilever)
    101. Potlatch Corporation
    102. Dean Foods
    103. …and others

    Companies Come and Companies Go.

    In the list are many companies that no longer exist.  In some cases, the brands still exist.  However, these brands are part of another company.  To stay in business, I had to continue to grow new business.

    Companies come and go.  People come and go.  Processes change.  Opportunities are here today and gone tomorrow.  People who build new relationships and expand their relationships will build security.

    Change is constant in business and careers.  The process of building a business and building a career never ends.

Feeling Anxious Try Smiling

Social Anxiety: Is It Killing Your Career?

Job Skills, Leadership, Network Connections

It is your responsibility to stop thinking negative thoughts about yourself before they become fixed in your mind as beliefs. Smile. Say something nice about yourself. Make a list of your blessings.

Social Anxiety: Is It Killing Your Career?

“Don’t let the world change your smile.  Let your smile change the world.”  A Work in Progress by Connor Franta

Social anxiety is common.  People who are shy are not the only people who experience social anxiety.  People who are confident about what they say or do around friends and family may feel social anxiety when they are among strangers or in front of an audience.

Social anxiety can make you avoid opportunities for work, fun, and networking.  It can cut your opportunities for leadership roles.  Your anxiety can generate signals that make it harder for people to reach out to you.

Smile

“I’ll take a person with humor much more seriously than someone without one.” Networking is a Contact Sport by Joe Sweeney

There are many things that you can do to calm your jitters.  Perhaps the most overlooked way is simply to smile.  People smile when they are happy.  And equally important is that smiling can help you feel happy.  “Fake ’till you make it” is an ambiguous term.  Some people see it as a disingenuous way of faking your skills.  Another view, is that faking confidence can help you gain confidence. A smile triggers thoughts that generate happiness.
The smiley face emoji says to other people you approve of what they have to say.  Smiling has a similar effect.  It tells people you approve of them.  It creates trust and helps people open up to you.

You are generating charisma.  People find your presence attractive.  Your smiling helps people feel more confident and comfortable being around you.  In turn, they smile and you feel confident from their signal of approval.

A frown will chase away friends.  Ah, but there is something about a smile that attracts people and draws people to you.

So, let it go.  When you see people, start with a smile.  As people approach, nod and smile.  When you are shaking hands with people, look at them and smile.

Those Annoying Connections

LinkedIn: How to Unfollow a Connection

Network Connections

LinkedIn: How to Unfollow a Connection

It is helpful to know how to unfollow a LinkedIn connection.

Do some of your connections annoy you with the things that they post on LinkedIn?  Does it annoy you that some of you connections post political opinions or that other connections post puzzles or brain teasers.  Do you have connections who spam the news feed with post after another?

Even worse, do you find that people who aren’t your connections are fulling your news feed with their post?

LinkedIn Choices: Accept, Change, or Unfollow

There are at least three things that you can do to end your frustration with the annoying things that some of your connections are doing on LinkedIn.

One thing you can do is to break the connection.  When you break your connection, you lose access to the connections in this person’s network.  You lose their persons’ first-degree connections and on a larger scale, you lose the person’s second-degree connections.  These people no longer show up in your news feed.  They no longer show up in the list of automatic invitation connections among the people “you might know.”

A second thing that you can do is to criticize your connection for annoying you.  In this case, you risk damaging a relationship that might be valuable to you later on.

A third option is to unfollow a connection.  The person will still be your connection. The process is simple.  Go to the person’s profile, find the send button, click the down arrow, and click view recent activity.  You will land on the person’s updates.  This is a very cool page.  You can not only follow and unfollow people. You can see how many total contacts they actually have!

LinkedIn Unfollow

Remember your options. Use those options to expand your network and build your relationships.

Images: Jay Wren