Check out the latest Dear Bev column on Media Post!

Take a look at job postings or talk to any recruiter: Digital is where all the action is these days. So how hard is it to get into the game if you’re a senior executive whose career and reputation is tied to traditional media?

Here are some recent lessons from 20-year print veteran Pam Daniels. She was a former publisher and just became the senior vice president of business development at 9Threads, a digital marketing agency focusing on beauty, fashion and retail. Her search took six months of intensive self-education and a healthy dose of determination.

Go to Media Post for more!

In the past few years, LinkedIn has become the top social media site for professionals. Users can post their resumes and connect to industry peers. Recruiters and corporate leaders can scan the site to search for potential candidates. But for creative professionals, LinkedIn has long been lacking a place to display multimedia projects, artwork, or photos.

Until now.

Just last week, LinkedIn developed a new app called the Creative Portfolio Display. This app allows creative professionals from the advertising, digital media, or film industries to showcase their portfolios more easily.

Scott Belsky, the CEO of Behance created the LinkedIn app and emphasizes the importance of using the LinkedIn portfolio as the place to display professional work alongside the professional profile. This new app allows users to display creative projects in their LinkedIn profiles after simply adding these projects to the Behance Network.

This new feature is exciting for creative professionals in the media industry. Advertising executives can now create one central portfolio on LinkedIn and the service is absolutely free, allowing users to upload an endless number of multimedia projects.

Check out Chris Crum’s article at WebProNews for more information on this new app:

http://bit.ly/ct1aYp

So Many Links, So Little Time

Check out this interesting book review by John Horgan on Nicholas Carr’s latest book The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.

Try not to check your email before you get to the end of this sentence. See? That wasn’t so bad.

“While toiling over what you are now reading, I scanned my three email accounts dozens of times and wrote a handful of emails; I responded on my cellphone to a score of text messages from my girlfriend and kids; I checked the balance of my bank account to see if a promised payment had arrived . . . and so on.

Yet I’m relatively unwired. I don’t do Twitter, Facebook or Skype. And I did all this digital darting hither and thither even though I found the subject I was supposed to be writing about—Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows”—quite absorbing. And disturbing. We all joke about how the Internet is turning us, and especially our kids, into fast-twitch airheads incapable of profound cogitation. It’s no joke, Mr. Carr insists, and he has me persuaded.”

Read the rest on WSJ.

Check out the neat video below of an art installation created by Christopher Baker and Juhasz Marton Andras (and blogged by Austin based group Public School.)

Here’s the idea behind the installation:

“The Murmur Study by Christopher Baker and Juhász Márton András constantly searches Twitter for phrases like eww, argh, hmph and grrr and then prints the guilty tweets on one of 30 thermal printers. The endless ticker tape gathers on the floor below. The purpose of the installation is to analyze the prevalence of human emotion through technological sources such as Facebook and Twitter.”

Murmur Study from Christopher Baker on Vimeo.

Check out more photos and Public School here.

Mosaic illustration by Jennifer Daniel for the New York Times

Are 5,001 Facebook Friends One Too Many?

By Aimee Lee Ball for The New York Times

THE British anthropologist and Oxford professor Robin Dunbar has posed a theory that the number of individuals with whom a stable interpersonal relationship can be maintained (read: friends) is limited by the size of the human brain, specifically the neocortex. “Dunbar’s number,” as this hypothesis has become known, is 150.

Dear Bev: How Should I Use Social Networking In My Job Search?

By Beverly Weinstein

Creating a strong online presence is key to a successful job search in the digital media industry. Not only is social media an integral tool for recruiters to find viable candidates, but it’s also a great way to show an employer that you’re well connected and versed in the space.

A recent Career Development event held by Advertising Women of New York addressed this subject for job seekers and media executives looking to build a professional reputation online. I gathered a few new pointers from fellow recruiter, Regina Angeles.

LinkedIn
You probably have an account on this site already, but so do 65 million other members. So how will you be found in the sea of profiles? Keywords.

When searching for candidates, recruiters and employers plug relevant keywords into LinkedIn’s search function and develop leads for potential candidates. If you’re profile isn’t chock full of all the important words that describe who you are and what you do, you’ll probably get lost in the shuffle. Think about what value you can add to an organization or department. Is it revenue generation? Team leadership? What are your key skill sets? Sponsorship sales? Cross-platform marketing? Get specific with your keywords and experiences and you’ll be on your way to optimizing your profile.

Another way to increase your visibility on this network is by getting your professional network to recommend you. With the click of a button, you can request a brief recommendation from your colleagues and clients. They serve as a quick reference guide for contacts in the industry and how well-respected you are. Also, having three or more recommendations makes you three-times as likely to pop up in search results. Take the time to request them; it’s worth it.

Twitter
You’ve heard about the importance of this social network a million times. Still struggling with how exactly it pertains to you? You’re not alone. But if you’re a job seeker, there are more than a few tangible ways that Twitter can help. Don’t be afraid to make an account and learn the ropes.

Angeles, multicultural recruiter and CEO of TALENT2050, offered great Twitter tips, like the new site www.tweetajob.com. Sign up to receive relevant job postings sent to your Twitter feed. Likewise, most big job boards have twitter accounts that you can follow to make your twitter feed a veritable real time feed of all new opportunities you might want.

Job Boards vs. Social Networks

Speaking of job boards, don’t forget about these tools as well. But dig deeper than Monster and CareerBuilder, there are a multitude of more focused niche sites (Angeles recommended IvyExec and Doostang.) But don’t just rely on seeking jobs, start seeking employers.

This is a point I make to candidates repeatedly and one that Angeles mentioned, too. Use sites like Linkedin to research companies rather than just positions. Find out about the kinds of companies you want to work for and use your professional network to find someone there to connect with. This is where the networking really comes into play.

Use LinkedIn and even Facebook to network as you would in the real world. Send people messages rather than passing a business card. Reach out to see if they can provide you with a helping hand. Getting your foot in the door is a lot more likely with a personal connection, while responding to a job posting on one of the big job boards rarely produces results.

Don’t Wait to Be Found

So you signed up for Facebook and LinkedIn and you made your first tweet. Why aren’t recruiters knocking down your door? You need to engage with social communities, not just become a stagnant member. Actively using these tools is key to making them work for you. Update your status on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter with a link to an interesting article. Start speaking to your network and they’ll speak back.

Angeles wisely emphasized knowing your audience within your social networks. Are you looking to find a job in digital media? Show that you know the space by sharing relevant information about news in the industry. Looking for consulting clients? Speak to that audience by establishing yourself as an expert in your field. Share valuable industry information, perhaps a blog post you wrote on new industry trends. (Hint: blogging is another great way to engage in social media. There are plenty of free sites to help you get started: wordpress.com, typepad.com, and blogger.com are just a few.)

Another great tip Angeles provided: Link your social media networks all together with a service like HootSuite. Update your status or post a link on one site and it will push the update to all of them, saving you time and making social networking more manageable for a busy schedule.

AWNY will be holding 2 more events on Career Development. Check out www.AWNY.org for more information.

Find out more about improving your social media presence at www.dearbev.com/services

Read the column on MediaPost.

With things starting to look up in the new year, many employees who have been too fearful to change jobs in the fluctuating economy of 2009 are beginning to pursue new opportunities. Instead of fearing how to handle being fired, executives are confused as to how they should resign.

Recently the Wall Street Journal published an article with tips on resigning on good terms. According to the story, 60% of employees say they intend to leave their jobs when the economy improves. That’s a staggering amount of people who will be turning in their letter of resignation. The WSJ offers some good advice on maintaining good relations with your ex employer and some more obvious tips like, um, don’t steal office supplies on your way out. Here are some of the highlights:

“Make an appointment. “Be formal and make an appointment with your boss,” recommends Tanya Maslach, a San Diego, Calif., career expert who specializes in relationship management issues. “Prepare what you want to say. Be direct and engaging—and be transparent,” Ms. Maslach says. She also recommends offering to help make the transition easier; ask your boss how you can best do that. After the discussion, put your resignation in a hard-copy letter that includes your last day and any transitional help you’ve offered.

• Stay close. Consider joining an employee alumni association, which often serves as a networking group for former employees. It can be a good way to keep up with changes in the company and industry—and find leads to new jobs down the road. Keep in touch with coworkers you worked closely with; they may end up in management roles.

• Be honest but remain positive. Be helpful during the exit interview but keep responses simple and professional. Don’t use the session to lay blame or rant about coworkers, bosses or the workplace.

• Scrub your digital footprint. Clear your browser cache, remove passwords to Web sites you use from work, such as your personal email or online bank account and delete any personal files on your work computer that aren’t relevant to work. Don’t delete anything work related if you’re required to keep it.”

What shouldn’t you do when resigning? You probably shouldn’t tweet that you’re leaving before you turn it that letter of resignation. Yesterday, Jonathan Schwartz, now former CEO of Sun Microsystems, tendered his resignation in the form of a Twitter haiku saying “Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more.”

An original and very post modern way to quit, to say the least. But today’s Media Post Online Daily Newsletter references Schwartz’s resignation in a cautionary article on using social networking in the workplace, citing more companies cracking down on employee’s web chatter with rules and regulations regarding any company information. In other words, be careful what you tweet.

Dear Bev: How do I get a digital job without experience?

by Beverly Weinstein

There are two companies offering high-quality digital training. In a tepid job market where digital opportunities are as abundant as traditional opportunities scarce, they are worth considering. Neither group guarantees a job, but both supply important tools for any candidate.

The Laredo Group has been offering training courses on digital since 1996. Recently, another group, The Internet Advertising Institute, gives digital job seekers an extra edge. Both provide a comprehensive view of the digital landscape and the language that’s unique to that sector. They are staffed by trainers with hands-on industry experience. IAI is focused on advertising sales and is designed more for entry level and junior candidates; The Laredo Group courses appeal to people working in ad sales as well as in ad agency and client-side marketing jobs.

Open Admission or By Invitation

The newly launched IAI has a limited class size, no more than 15 students per 6-week session.  Classes are from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. four days per week. All applicants must apply first and go through an interview process to be accepted.  IAI has relationships with a large pool of employers and works with applicants to get them successfully placed.  When I checked with lead trainer and CEO Steve Bookbinder in early January, nearly all of the first graduating class had been placed in jobs.

Bookbinder, who also runs an SEM agency, knows about the importance of digital: “No matter what your job is, it either has or will soon have a digital aspect.”

Leslie Laredo, president of the Laredo Group, offers one-day courses geared primarily to ad sales or to individuals that buy or plan media. In addition, she does more customized digital training for companies. “I’ve trained up to 700 employees at a single company,” she noted. Her courses are taught throughout the year in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.

The ages of her students range from entry level to senior executives. Classes start at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. Students start with Level I classes. They can opt to continue with Level II and finish with Level III. According to Laredo, most attendees opt for additional levels.

Content

Both Laredo and IAI stress the importance of understanding the digital language.  “For decades, it was all about GRP. Online changes daily. We’re always on top of the digital ecosystem and evolving our course content,” explained Laredo.

She has developed and constantly updates a digital glossary with over 500 terms that she gives each student. The courses also have a 250-page manual and a resource list of 125 digital companies. Some of the information is available for free at laredogrouptools.com

In talking about IAI’s course, Bookbinder said, “It’s impossible to fake that you know what’s going on in digital. You have to learn the language and the terms. We use a variety of teaching techniques, ranging from flash cards to jeopardy-like games to role-playing. This is not a college course. It’s 100% practical and will give you what you need to know how to succeed in an interview and at a job.”

Costs

IAI charges students $10,000 for their course. There’s an initial $2,500 payment. A payment plan over two years is available for students. You can apply for their course at their Web site. Currently, all courses are in New York. Future plans are to extend to other markets as well as to offer evening sessions.

The Laredo Group has a variety of plans, and it’s best to check their site for the most current information. If you opt for an early bird sign up, the cost for two, one-day courses might $1,300. Public courses generally have 20-40 students, with 40 as the maximum size.

Why take a class?

Laredo sums it up nicely. “Keeping up-to-date is critical. You need to know what’s going on. We stress the importance of understanding performance, how the numbers work and accountability. You should know how it all works together online, off line or cross platform. You can’t keep your head in the sand anymore.”Dear Bev: How do I get a digital job without experience?

Read the column on MediaPost.

By Beverly Weinstein

Dear Bev: I’m looking for some great business books on change. Any suggestions?

Whether it is change in business, technology or your job responsibilities, one thing is certain: change, though sometimes good, is not easy. Here are some great books on tackling and understanding change from media executives at companies ranging from Google to Time Inc. and CBS to OMD.

Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing - by Adam Greenfield

“Although not a new book (2006) and not strictly a business book, this is a totally

absorbing work. It explores the implications of a not-too-distant future where

computers will be embedded everywhere in our physical space, including our homes,

our vehicles and our bodies.  Greenfield is a great writer and he discusses both the

scary and encouraging aspects of this inevitability with complete authority.” — Peggy Kelly, EVP, Universal McCann

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference — by Malcolm Gladwell

The premise of this facile piece of pop sociology has built-in appeal: Little changes can have big effects. When small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or “tipping point” is reached, changing the world.

“All of Gladwell’s books are great. This is a classic.” –Gail Stein, group account director, OMD

Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove & Leading Change by John Kotter

“We live and work in a time of rapid transformations. There are two business books which are complementary for succeeding in the midst of change. “Only The Paranoid Survive” by Andy Grove (retired CEO of Intel) is the best book ever written on the subject of external change — how to view it clinically, understand it and get out ahead of it. Leading Change by John Kotter (Harvard Business School) is the best management book for leading internal change — how to organize it, lead it and make sure it becomes institutionalized. Taken together, these books are my touchstones for leadership strategies that halt the feeling that your company is a victim of circumstance. Instead, they create the direction by which any company can be empowered to embrace change as a competitive and cultural advantage.”

–Mark McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin Strategy

Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More - by Chris Anderson

A New York Times bestseller and winner of the Gerald Loeb Award for best business book of the year, Long Tail introduced the business world to a future that’s already here.

“It really changed the way that I thought about how to aggregating the consumer in different media forms.” –Gail Stein, group account director, OMD

Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong With the World’s Leading Media Companies- by Columbia University professor, Jonathan Knee

The media industry is facing multiple financial and operational crises on an unprecedented scale, and Knee focuses in on the usual suspects to analyze and discuss the dilemma.

“It’s controversial. He attacks their business models–acquiring rather than building, not paying attention to shareholder value etc. It’s kind of cool.” –Nick Loria, media executive

The Shift: The Transformation of Today’s Marketers into Tomorrow’s Growth Leaders by Scott M. Davis

“The Shift is a must-read to help marketers and their respective organizations move ahead and thrive.” –From the foreword by Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson and Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Recommended by Mark Hosbein, former SVP marketing at Nielsen Business Media

Book summaries taken from Amazon.com

Read the column on MediaPost’s MediaDailyNews.com

By Beverly Weinstein

The first interview is a little bit like a first date. You want to give just enough information to keep someone interested, but not so much that the next night you’ll be eating dinner alone.

Some candidates have launched into well-produced and neatly bound PowerPoint presentations that are all about who they are before the interviewer has a chance to offer them a glass of water, much less give them an overview of the job.

What’s the rush? You want to be able to tailor your comments and emphasize your experience in a manner that’s as relevant as possible. If you talk before you listen, that’s virtually impossible. What you do say can be much more damaging than what you don’t.

Too Much Too Soon

“It’s an ill-conceived idea to just start with a presentation on yourself before you know what’s expected,” said Gary Schuman of CDL Consulting, a management and leadership consulting firm.  “You have to understand what the buyer’s (aka the interviewer) needs are. Understand what the product is about before you present something.”

Show and Tell

This isn’t to suggest that you shouldn’t come armed with examples of your work, so you’re ready if it’s relevant to the discussion with the interviewer. Whether you’re working in a job like promotion or design, or you’re a finance person that has developed a new reporting tool, visuals can make an impact. However, be careful not to leave anything behind that would be considered proprietary.

Presenting With Technology

I’ve been interviewing candidates recently for a promotion job. Several have created Web sites with samples of their work. It’s easy to pull up a link on my computer. In addition, I’ve noticed that with the growing popularity of netbooks, candidates simply power up and share their work that way.

Read the Column on Media Post.