High Growth, High Tech, All We Want is High Touch…

The world is beckoning, “Come Tweet With Me!”  MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter have become household names in a span of a few years. The rate in which change happens used to be measured in decades, five year plans and terms of office. Now, we measure change in nano-seconds, or at least as fast as your last tweet. What is happening to the world of communication?  I don’t know if we should all be excited or mildly confused?   We know we have grown into a community that wants it quicker, faster, shorter, smarter, that we can boldly declare ourselves the “Now Generation!”

At no other time in our history, have we been a more global nation than we are today. Communication technology is a wonderful thing.  It will ultimately be responsible for creating some of the new wealth and booming economy and be responsible for an increase in jobs in the coming years like no other time before.  Rapid growth leads to rapid change.  Rapid change leads to more change, and that’s when we start to notice something has disappeared?   When high growth meets high tech we lose the one thing that really impacts us all, high touch.  In a world where picking up the phone is as novel a concept as flying to the moon on your lunch hour, we are in jeopardy of losing our ability to speak and to communicate on a unique and personal level.  

It’s great when we learn how Ashton Kutcher has just received 1 million  followers on Twitter, but what does that really mean to anyone? It’s not to say that the information technology era we are living in is completely void of “personality.”  But, we are missing the high touch that comes with personal contact.  Whether it’s working along side your co-worker or having dinner with your family, we all need, and on some level require, the presence of another living being. Virtual, does not need to imply “virtually no interaction.”  

The job market for example is changing with technology in a whole new way. Classified job advertisements in newspapers, circulars and trade magazines was for decades the standard way anyone ever used to really learn about jobs. Search firms, temporary agencies and your “personal network” provided other resources until the emergence of technology came to pass.  Today with the emergence of job boards, which have surprisingly only been around in the last 10 years, will soon be considered archaic, and will be replaced by new business practices such as “Twitter, SimplyHired, LinkedIn and other equally non-personal ways to seek out your next career.

Don’t get me wrong, running an online recruitment business for the past 8 years, I’m all for faster, better, smarter myself.  What I fear in all this is how far we are ultimately removing ourselves from personal interaction. The ability to converse with someone when we actually do get in front of an interviewer or more importantly, when we actually land the job is as important an aspect of communication that our last post on Facebook.

Is all this high growth, high tech without high touch the way the Now Generation prefers to communicate?  If so, it is a sad commentary on the evolution of media and communication in this generation no matter how remarkable our efforts to excel technologically have proven.  But, I am more hopeful than that.  In this world of faster, better, smarter we have ourselves to blame when we relay too heavily on technology to be the primary means by which we communicate.  The brilliance in this movement is the way in which we can reach the masses with our message so directly and so precisely hitting our exact target. What we need however, is to not lose sight of the one thing that matters, our ability to relate on a personal level to the people we physically come in contact with in all areas of our life.

The good news is that I know someone will create an APP that will turn the virtual into the personal, as we continue to enjoy our cyber-latte, reading our morning Kindle.

And here’s to embracing the “Now Generation!”

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http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/508


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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Shop Me, Don’t Drop Me, What it will take to land your next job …

For those of you lucky enough to have a job, don’t think you are necessarily off the hook!  For those of you lucky enough to be exploring new job opportunities, now is your chance to shine! Whether you are shopping for a new gig or are being shopped, you should not wait until the day of your interview to figure out what it will take to put your most original self forward and land your next job.

Before you start pounding the internet job boards, searching and sending your resume to the virtual world of recruiters, you should take some time to figure out the current job market, explore new areas of interest and opportunity and craft some really insightful questions to help you navigate your way through your first interview. Being prepared doesn’t always mean having a neatly printed copy of your resume in hand and a new outfit to wear to your first interview. There are many ways you need to stand out if you are lucky enough to get called in for an interview out of the thousand of candidate applications, so here are a few things to keep in mind and to keep prepared as you venture forth.

First, the number one quality that will help “sell” you to a prospective employer is your ability to “sell” yourself!  Too often, candidates are led by the interviewer and they really don’t understand how to take control of the interview process in a way that works in sync with the interviewer’s questions and in the meantime, helps promote and sell you and your accomplishments.  This is no time to hold back! The more you promote your accomplishments, boast your qualifications and present a confident, relaxed demeanor, the stronger chance you will have to land more than a second interview, but maybe an actual job offer!  

Another way to stand out and ensure that you get more than a successful interview is it to have a thorough knowledge and understanding of not only the job you are applying for, but also about the company as a whole.  Many times people just “wing it” going in and expecting the interviewer to take the lead and hoping all they have to do is make a good impression.  Too often, “dumb luck” is not the best approach in making a lasting impression and you really have to work the relationship and learn to sell yourself.  Make sure you do your research so you appear knowledgeable, and use the information you’ve learned to ask intelligent questions that will make the interviewer know you did your homework. Coming prepared with 3 to 5 questions not only about the what is expected in the position, but also about the company culture, environment and overall stability will be enough to impress the interviewer and ensure a second interview.

Finally, don’t take your network for granted.  Find out who you know and who your friends know in the company BEFORE you go in for the first interview.  So many times a polite mention of someone’s name, particularly if the person is tenured with the company and well thought of goes a long way in securing your reputation and your ability to show you are in the know.  Your network is your most valuable tool and you should not be shy, afraid or awkward about letting people know you are interviewing at a company and asking for their help.

So before you are dropped from consideration, learn to shop yourself in a way that makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd and show your creative and original character!  Impress yourself and your audience too and land your next job!

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/lisakayeglj

Follow greenlightjobs on Twitter http://twitter.com/greenlightjobs

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/2/abb/508


Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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