Woman Fired On Twitter After A Tweet

What seems like an annual post… someone said something on Twitter and was fired.

This time they were actually fired in a Twitter post.

Here’s how this one goes…

A girl in Mansfield, Texas posts this Tweet the night before her first day at a pizza joint:

Fired On Twitter

An employee sees it and lets the owner know who replies with:

Fired on Twitter

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Paul DeBettignies Speaking At Social Media Breakfast: Personal Branding

Paul DeBettignies Speaker, Minnesota Recruiter

I am already thinking about a presentation I am going to be doing six weeks from now… a record for me. THAT’S how much I am looking forward to this one.

June 23rd I will be making my 5th appearance at Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis St Paul… a group that is very near and dear to me.

Flashback many (Internet) years when I stumbled across the group because of Twitter. My 1st event was their 3rd and of the 66 events I am sure I have attended (in person or through the online stream) at least 50 of them.

This is where I found folks like me who were trying to figure out the social media stuff. Back when my Recruiter and HR folks said LinkedIn would not last, Twitter was a joke and writing the blog was a waste of time.

But I had a home at SMBMSP… those were (and still are) my people.

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HELP… My Twitter Account Has Been Hacked

No, my account has not been hacked.

However…

The last few days I have seen this posted a lot and been inundated with Direct Message Spam from those who clearly do not know how to button down their Twitter account.

I have received a bunch of messages like:

I recommend to visit this (LINK)

Hi! I advise this site (LINK)

If you would like a outstanding way to earn an income read this (LINK) its super simple

Recommend (LINK)

Most folks think they have been “hacked”. As in someone stole their password.

This usually is not the case.

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4 Strategies For Strengthening Your Budding Online Reputation

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:
 

If you’re new to the world of personal branding, you may think that simply having an online identity boosts your brand.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, having the wrong information posted online could hurt your brand considerably.

Building an online reputation—one you can be proud of—is not always as easy, especially if someone out there has your name and is competing (knowingly or unknowingly) for the number one spot in search engines.  That’s why you need strategies to help strengthen your budding online reputation.

1. Increase your professional volume: One way to strengthen your online reputation is by ensuring that there is more content online about you.  But not just any content; you want professional content.  This can be accomplished by enhancing your relevance.

2. Enhance your relevance: To enhance your relevance means that you not only create online profiles, blogs, and write guest posts that improve your professional presence but also eliminate any unflattering words, photos, or videos of you.  In other words, you want all information posted about you online to be positive and professional.

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LinkedIn Is A Great Tool, But I Am Not Buying The IPO Hype

Let me be clear about this:

- I am a HUGE fan of LinkedIn. It is a great tool for recruiters, job seekers and those (which should be everyone) who are looking to maintain their professional network.

- I am not a stock analyst nor should you take financial advice from me

- I am a HUGE fan of social networking and social media sites including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc

- I have had a paid subscription to LinkedIn for as best I can remember two years.

- I am a client of Monster.com

OK, I needed to get all of that out for these next thoughts starting with:

I call BS on the hype of the LinkedIn IPO.

Yes, this is a good company, in a niche that it mostly owns, with a revenue stream that provides good value to its customers.

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Why Banning Social Media At Work Is Silly

These are just some quick observations and not meant to be any sort of thought piece…

Why do companies limit access to Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter? Some response I frequently see:

- Afraid of what employees will say, give out secrets

    • Can’t they do that when they get home?
    • If this truly is a fear, how did they make it through the interview and screening process. Why were they hired?

- Worried about time spent on the sites

    • OK, so I assume that their employees are only working a 40 hour week and weekends are completely free from work. If not, being able to send quick messages to family and friends seems reasonable.

BREAKING NEWS:

This just in… most cell phones can access these sites.

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Social Media – Friend Or Foe For Recruiters? | Presentation

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  11-4-26 Minnesota Recruiting And Staffing Association 005 11-4-26 Minnesota Recruiting And Staffing Association 007

I was asked to do a presentation for the and talk to my colleagues about the use of Social Media in recruiting and if it helps or hurt us:

Here is the description of the event:

It used to be staffing companies and recruiting firms were the only ones with all the information, the "Golden Rolodex" of candidates and companies.  Now our clients and candidates have access to much of the same information.  Social media sites are a great tool but some clients are hiring their own internal recruiters to mine these same sites for candidates. 

So what can we provide that they still need and how do we show our value?  What are companies doing and what could we be doing?  Finding people is easy, it is the information overload we all struggle with and how to best handle that.  Come hear about some simple techniques that you can implement when you get back to the office.

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Who Owns Your LinkedIn And Social Media Profiles?

A reminder before getting started that I am not an attorney, I do not play one online and anything I say here is not legal advice rather the opinions and thoughts of a recruiter and soon to be company owner.

Do you see the storm clouds on the Social Media horizon? HR pros, recruiters and yes marketing, public relations and sales folks should be seeing them for sure.

That storm brewing is over your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other accounts. (links to my profiles)

You own them right?

Not so fast.

If you are using your personal accounts during business hours, doing company business and on company resources (computer and internet) you may be opening yourself up to some issues.

Better stated, your employer may be thinking that they have some claim to your profiles.

While I am specifically thinking about the non competes many recruiters on the search and consulting firm side have to sign we are now seeing policies being put in place for employees of all skill sets.

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Recruiting: Monster vs LinkedIn vs Social Media

The last few weeks (and this happens 2-3 times a year) I have seen increased chatter about what are the best recruiter tools to use and many people pick sides.

And I ask this question: Why?

Usually the folks who pick sides have money in the game:

  • Companies with an earnings report and/or their sales teams

  • Trainers in one tool or another

  • Pundits flapping their jaws and computer keys

This time the sources of the conversation came from:

LinkedIn files for IPO, reveals sales of $161 million (CNN Money.com)

Recruiters Rethink Online Playbook (Wall Street Journal)

Should Monster Be Afraid of Social Networking? (CNBC)

Monster CEO Fires Back (CNBC)

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Not Everyone Wants To Hire An Expert. Is Your Personal Brand Getting In The Way?

I have been sitting on this blog post for some time but a Tweet from my friend Steve Levy has me wanting to hit the publish button.

From @levyrecruits:

People were getting jobs before experts were yapping about brands

Yes they were. They still are and they will in the future too.

All of the gurus and experts at conferences, top selling business books and webinars say that “personal branding” is the key to ones career path.

While I get that finding a job or next consulting gig is decided to a large extent on who you know (knows) and what they know about you this has gone too far.

Too damn far.

Let the mini rant begin...

Ask yourself this, of the people getting hired are they all (most) online? Of course not.

So many profiles and resumes have guru, expert, thought leader, pro, speaker, top ________, jedi, ninja, etc that the coolness has been watered down or worse, cannot be backed up with real experience and results.

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Fired Over Facebook Comments. Is It Legal?

This is a bit of the Holy Grail for me. Social Media + Legal + HR Policy = Lawsuit

Short version of what will become a long story:

A customer made a complaint about an employee who was asked to prepare a report on what happened. She asked for and was denied access to a union rep. That evening she hopped on her personal computer at home and wrote some not nice things about her supervisor and some coworkers joined in.

The employee was terminated.

The employer, American Medical Response, has an Internet policy and says the employee was in violation of it.

The National Labor Relations Board is saying something about "concerted activity" between employees.

The difference being if she has said her supervisor sucked and was a horrible person she might not be protected but because others joined in talking about workplace conditions she may be.

Click National Labor Relations Board for their statement.

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Yes You Need A Resume

Minneapolis is blessed to have a great creative community filled with marketing, public relations, social media, designers, technologists and more.

We are also blessed to attract national speakers and thought leaders from all disciplines and with this comes a higher level of knowledge in our community than most other places.

Minneapolis/St Paul is a sweet place to be.

I am a HUGE fan of Seth Godin and Jeff Pulver who are both in Minneapolis today.

Unfortunately I have a head set screwed into my head today (this week) as I have call after call after call today.

As I usually do when I cannot make an event I follow the hashtag for the event so I can get a flavor of what is being shared. Never as good as being there but something is better than nothing.

I saw a Tweet that has raised the little hairs on the back of my neck and while I need to understand I am reading this out of context this blog post is necessary if this is even remotely close to what was meant:

Don't need a resume if you make yourself great, people will find you! If you want to be a cog have a resume! #SethGodinmpls

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Facebook Gets 500 Million Users | Paul DeBettignies Interviewed On WCCO AM Radio

Back on July 22nd after Facebook hit the 500 million user mark I was interviewed by Mike Grimm on HINESight on WCCO AM radio.

We spoke a bit about Facebook for personal and business use and the way companies are using it for recruiting.

Of course we found a way to inject into the conversation. Mike does the radio broadcast for Gopher football.

Click the Play button to hear his show. Wait a few moments for it to load and then forward to the 58:20 mark. We go to 70:37.

 


Paul DeBettignies A Panelist For Human Resources Executive Council

I have accepted an invitation to be a panelist at the Human Resources Executive Council meeting April 15th, 2010 to be held at the McNamara Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Human Resources Executive Council

The Human Resources Executive Council is made of Minnesota companies who have 1,000+ employees or $100M+ in revenues. Companies included are 3M, Best Buy, Delta Airlines, Ecolab, General Mills, Honeywell, Land O’Lakes, Medtronic, ShopNBC, Target, Travelers, U.S. Bank, United HealthGroup and others.

This is an evening dinner, reception and education event the evening before HR Tomorrow 2010

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April 2010 LinkedIn, Job Search And Social Media Seminars

Be Your Own Headhunter logo small 
 
For those not familiar with me and are wondering if a session(s) would be a good use of your time I am an IT Recruiter with 12 years of experience and have been speaking to groups of all ages and skill sets in groups of 20-200 for 8 years and now online.

Over the years 12,000+ have participated in Recruiter, HR and career related sessions both in person and online.

I am the Managing Partner of Nerd Search, LLC a Minneapolis IT search firm, author of the Minnesota Headhunter blog, Co Founder and Coordinator of Minnesota Recruiters, listed as a Top 20 Minnesota Social Media Innovator and a national Top 25 Most Influential Online Recruiter.

I am a frequent national and local speaker and article contributor on recruiter, HR, career, networking and social media topics.

I do not say that stuff to be cool rather so you know that the material comes from a credible source and someone who uses these tools every day.

Sessions are very interactive (your questions are wanted) including the use of demos. My goal is not to talk to you for 60 – 90 minutes but to have a conversation and share ideas.

I do teach a more aggressive approach to the use of LinkedIn, Twitter, Social Media in general than most do and specifically to the job seekers, give you a kick in the pants.

Here is some background on presentations and interviews I have been a part of:

All presentations are 60-90 minutes with Q&A.

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