Social Networking & Employee Profiling

 

I received a call from an HR colleague who was about to speak to high school juniors and seniors.  He wanted my input regarding the 5 chacteristics necessary for them to be successful in their first, entry level job.   I reeled off my answers, hung up the phone, and started to think....

What are the 5 characteristics that makes someone successful in a social networking environment?  Give me your feedback.  I'd like to hear your thoughts and insights, consider the spectrum, and absorb it all....which makes me think....

a couple of good points that I got were: * Define Yourself, don't let anyone else. you want to be known as the new guy who jumped in and helped out not "did you see the new guy trip in the hall". Both may be true, you need to define it though. * Keep your head up and have confidence in yourself. You got the job over a lot of others. There is a reason. Be confident not cocky. * Assume responsibility and deliver. Most important! Don't wait for someone to test you, jump in and start being part of the solution. After all you are getting paid now right? these are my top three for newbies.

My prescription of the 5 guidelines for any newbee to launch into this social networking environment are:
Participation: you have to get out to be in the conversation - so that starts with registering after which if you keep things interesting, you will even be the center of the conversation.
Openness: there has to be a willingness to be open and share/rate/comment on discussion items. say out loud what you are thinking and how you feel aboput something.
Conversation: don't sit and wait to get your RSS feed. you have to respond to the ongoing conversations. this aspect of conversation is key to success.
Community: transfer your connections and friends and your offline community online the best you can. social media is a great tool to form communities and make them effective forums of communication.
Connectedness: this is probably the most important ingredient to success since connecting to different networks is key to social media success. thus make use of links to other sites, resources and people.

This post edited by vsingh on 06-17-2009, 4:42 PM EST

hello well said i am a newbie myself

Everyone else raised good points here, but my top 5 would be slightly different:

1) Capitalize on being a newbie. The world of social media occasionally feels like a giant echo chamber featuring so-called experts who've made a living doing little other than parroting what other people say. It's very easy to get caught up in this cauldron of mumbo jumbo and lose sight of what's real about social media. The fresh insights and ideas you have being brand spankin' new to a space may be sorely needed by the organization you're joining - even if they don't realize it (find a way).

2) Commit to trying almost everything. Don't be one of those people who say, "I don't get Twitter, it seems kinda dumb, I don't care what people eat for dinner." Try it first, and be really open-minded. You might find that it's not dumb at all.

3) After you've tried almost everything, get cozy with a few. I've putzed around with about one bazillion social media tools and ultimately decided that I feel comfortable in really tapping into the power of a handful. Ultimately if you're everywhere you're nowhere.

4) Don't expect your customers to adopt principles and paradigms that your own organization hasn't totally embraced. It's hypocritical and will be so utterly transparent that you'll undermine your own personal credibility. If social media does anything super well it's relentlessly expose the underbelly of organizations, people and networks - make sure you washed.

5) Periodically unplug. You can't be relevant, interesting or insightful in the digital world if you have no life in the physical world.