This article can save your job! Share this with anyone who likes to use social networking.
By Rachel Zupek
How social media can hurt your career
As social media becomes the latest branding strategy, networking technique, job seeking tool and recruitment vehicle, it's also becoming the latest way for people to get job offers rescinded, reprimanded at work and even fired.
Everyone has "my-job-sucks" moments, but it's probably best for your career not to have them online.
It's happened so many times -- publicized and not -- that one would think we could learn from others' mistakes. (But, if that were the case, I wouldn't have anything to write about, now would I?)
A recent Tweet by a potential Cisco employee, for example, turned ugly when he decided to tout a recent job offer:
"Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work."
Unfortunately for "theconnor" (the handle for the would-be employee), Tim Levad, a "channel partner advocate" for Cisco, saw the tweet and responded with this:
"Who is the hiring manger, I'm sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the Web."
Terrible tweets
Everyone has their "My-job-sucks," "I-hate-my-co-workers," or "Give-me-more-money" moments. But, they seem to forget that as employers increase their online presence using social networking sites as recruitment and branding strategies, it might be best for their career not to have these moments on the Internet.
Don't Miss
• Make sure your resume is in HD
• When you don't trust your boss
• Seven emerging jobs poised for growth
• More CareerBuilder.com stories
Paul Wilson, a freelance/corporate Web marketer and blogger, found several of such moments on Twitter, a social networking and micro-blogging site, and posted these "Top 10 Tweets to Get You Fired" [sic'd]:
1. "hate my job!! i want to tell my bosses how dumb they are and how meaningless this job is, then quit, and be happy!"
2. "So my job was to test all the food at the new resturant, can I just say, ughew. I'm going to taco bell then twistee treat."
3. "Workin... This job sucks worse then the economy!"
4. "I'm going to work! Walmart! Must find better job! I hate it when chicks there have a deeper voice than me and refer to me as foo!"
5. "Also I'm really bummed that I'm working today, i asked off so i could study but my boss is a ******* **** ***** ***** who can't read."
6. "Coworker smuggled out a chair for me. Currently being paid to SIT around and listen to John Barrowman on my iPod. I don't hate my job today!"
7. "having sex dreams of people you work with makes for an awkward day."
8. "smoking weed at work is so [EDITED] great :)"
9. "It's bad when you overhear the n00b programmer say "I used to work at McDonalds with him" and you wonder if he is talking about the CEO..."
10. "Huh, with my boss on twitter, maaaybe I should take down that sexy picture of her... but her reaction will be priceless!"
Facebook fired
Twitter is not the only culprit in career self-destruction. Facebook, a popular social networking site, has housed its fair share of user firings:
Kimberly Swann, a former employee for Ivell Marketing and Logistics of Clacton, U.K., thought her job was boring -- and she said so on her Facebook page, according to an article in The Daily Telegraph. Swann was called into her manager's office and handed a letter that cited her Facebook comments as the reason for dismissal:
"Following your comments made on Facebook about your job and the company we feel it is better that, as you are not happy and do not enjoy your work we end your employment with Ivell Marketing & Logistics with immediate effect."
An MSNBC article remembers Kevin Colvin, the legendary young intern who e-mailed his boss, claiming a "family emergency" would keep him out of the office around Halloween. His co-workers (and Facebook friends), however, saw a photo of Colvin dressed as a fairy at a Halloween party time-stamped on the same day of the "emergency." Colvin's boss responded to him with an e-mail CC'd to the entire company, firing him and including the incriminating fairy picture.
In March 2009, the same MSNBC article cites Dan Leone, a Philadelphia Eagles stadium employee, who was fired after slamming the football organization for trading a player in this status update:
"Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!![Sic]"
Two days later, the head of event operations said they needed to talk about his Facebook status; instead, he got the boot.
Social networking don'ts
If you want to use your profile to get hired or -- or at least not get fired -- here are three basic rules to keep in mind:
1. Don't announce interviews, raises or new jobs
As exemplified by "theconnor," how you talk about any of these sensitive topics on your social networking site is key. If you're unemployed, writing "Interview today -- wish me luck!" would be OK, or if you got a job, something along the lines of "So excited about my new job!" is totally acceptable. If you're currently employed, however, I don't think your boss would be too happy to see something like, "Trying to con my boss into giving me a $5K raise. SUCKA!"
2. Don't badmouth your current or previous employer
Just like in an interview, keep your rants about your boss or company to yourself. If hiring managers see that you're willing to trash a colleague online they assume you'll do it to them, too. Plus, there's always the possibility of getting fired if someone sees your negative comments.
3. Don't mention your job search if you're still employed
If your boss knows you're on the lookout for a new job, feel free to advertise it in your status. If you're keeping your search below the radar, however, don't publish anything, anywhere. Even if you aren't connected to your boss online, somebody can get the information back to him or her.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Why Does God Delay on Purpose?
I found this encouragement by Rick Warren the perfect description of the trials of my heart in the last two years...
How God Builds Your Faith: Difficulty
by Rick Warren
"This means tremendous joy to you, I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident—it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold" (1 Peter 1:6-7 PH).
In order to build your faith, God will give you a dream, then He'll urge you to make a decision, but then He'll allow a delay, because in the delay He matures you and prepares you for what is to come.
The truth is you'll have difficulties while God delays. This isn't because He doesn't care about you or that He's forgotten your circumstances; rather, it's one of the ways He pushes you toward the deep end of faith.
As God delays, you'll face two types of difficulties: circumstances and critics. This is a natural part of life. God designed it this way because He knows we grow stronger when facing adversity and opposition.
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the desert toward the Promised Land, he had one problem after another. First there was no water. Then there was no food. Then there were a bunch of complainers. Then there were poisonous snakes. Moses was doing what God wanted him to do, but he still had problems.
David was anointed king, and then for the next several years he was hunted down by Saul. Joseph had a dream of becoming a ruler, yet he was sold into slavery and thrown into prison on a false charge where he languished, forgotten. Imagine the difficulties Noah had building a floating zoo!
The Bible says that when Moses died, Joshua was appointed the new leader. Moses led the people across the desert and then Joshua led them into the Promised Land. Did he get the easy part? The Bible says that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land there were giants in the land. Even in the Promised Land there were problems!
God does this because He is building our faith and character. When we finally come to a place where the difficulties become so bad, where we've reached our limit, where we've tried everything and exhausted all our options, it is then that God begins a mighty work through us: "I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident—it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold" (1 Peter 1:6-7 PH).
How God Builds Your Faith: Difficulty
by Rick Warren
"This means tremendous joy to you, I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident—it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold" (1 Peter 1:6-7 PH).
In order to build your faith, God will give you a dream, then He'll urge you to make a decision, but then He'll allow a delay, because in the delay He matures you and prepares you for what is to come.
The truth is you'll have difficulties while God delays. This isn't because He doesn't care about you or that He's forgotten your circumstances; rather, it's one of the ways He pushes you toward the deep end of faith.
As God delays, you'll face two types of difficulties: circumstances and critics. This is a natural part of life. God designed it this way because He knows we grow stronger when facing adversity and opposition.
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the desert toward the Promised Land, he had one problem after another. First there was no water. Then there was no food. Then there were a bunch of complainers. Then there were poisonous snakes. Moses was doing what God wanted him to do, but he still had problems.
David was anointed king, and then for the next several years he was hunted down by Saul. Joseph had a dream of becoming a ruler, yet he was sold into slavery and thrown into prison on a false charge where he languished, forgotten. Imagine the difficulties Noah had building a floating zoo!
The Bible says that when Moses died, Joshua was appointed the new leader. Moses led the people across the desert and then Joshua led them into the Promised Land. Did he get the easy part? The Bible says that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land there were giants in the land. Even in the Promised Land there were problems!
God does this because He is building our faith and character. When we finally come to a place where the difficulties become so bad, where we've reached our limit, where we've tried everything and exhausted all our options, it is then that God begins a mighty work through us: "I know, even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident—it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold" (1 Peter 1:6-7 PH).
Monday, April 27, 2009
Marriage is like a home improvement project that lasts forever!
Isn’t funny how our ‘feelings’ cycle for our spouses?
I can say that in 18 years of marriage, the ‘in love thing’ comes back around again and again, only DEEPER! I am so visually oriented that I see and understand everything with a picture. So my picture of our marriage growth is like a small old house that we have spent 18 years restoring, remodeling, adding onto rooms, beautifying the floors and woodwork, adding a master bedroom suite, adding a sun porch… you get the picture! Year by year, we work faithfully. It seems that the ‘new projects’ are never DONE, but we enjoy each step that is completed – each new room or beautiful color to live in and appreciate.
Sometimes the sheer WORK of it is overwhelming. Like when you look at a new project where three layers of wall paper need to be stripped and the walls re-plastered and smoothed from scratch. You sometimes want to run away from what you know will be a challenge, a choice to work ON PURPOSE for a season and “it won’t be pretty”! But the end result is so amazing!
Of course, you have to keep going back to the designer for instructions…daily, sometimes hourly! He has the big picture of what it will look like in the future, what purposes He has for each room and the masterful, creative skill to blow you away with the outcome.
To sum it up - every year that we INVEST only serves to make the marriage (house) more valuable! In times of flagging ‘feelings’ we say to ourselves, “We’ve got too much into this to ever leave it or give up!”
I can say that in 18 years of marriage, the ‘in love thing’ comes back around again and again, only DEEPER! I am so visually oriented that I see and understand everything with a picture. So my picture of our marriage growth is like a small old house that we have spent 18 years restoring, remodeling, adding onto rooms, beautifying the floors and woodwork, adding a master bedroom suite, adding a sun porch… you get the picture! Year by year, we work faithfully. It seems that the ‘new projects’ are never DONE, but we enjoy each step that is completed – each new room or beautiful color to live in and appreciate.
Sometimes the sheer WORK of it is overwhelming. Like when you look at a new project where three layers of wall paper need to be stripped and the walls re-plastered and smoothed from scratch. You sometimes want to run away from what you know will be a challenge, a choice to work ON PURPOSE for a season and “it won’t be pretty”! But the end result is so amazing!
Of course, you have to keep going back to the designer for instructions…daily, sometimes hourly! He has the big picture of what it will look like in the future, what purposes He has for each room and the masterful, creative skill to blow you away with the outcome.
To sum it up - every year that we INVEST only serves to make the marriage (house) more valuable! In times of flagging ‘feelings’ we say to ourselves, “We’ve got too much into this to ever leave it or give up!”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)