The BranchOut logo suggests the networking potential for Facebook users.

Social media is now a permanent part of the job market, there’s no getting around it. But for the majority of people in the workforce, there continues to be a disconnect between the two worlds that’s puzzling.

After writing about the subject a few times this year, I came up with a fairly simple theory: LinkedIn remains the best social media platform for business, but its doesn’t integrate into most user’s lives all that well. Meanwhile, Facebook has found a way to connect to millions of users’ daily lives, but most people still resist using it for their career pursuits.

Thus, people’s working lives and personal lives have become two separate worlds in the social media realm, with Facebook obviously towering over the competition. There are scores of social media users who are willing to spend hours posting pictures of themselves on Facebook, but still haven’t considered posting their resume online.

So when I saw the headline on TechCrunch, “BranchOut Unlocks the LinkedIn in Facebook,” I immediately took notice. Michael Arrington explains the basics of how BranchOut works:

The application unlocks massive amounts of career data about my friends and friends of friends that was just impossible to get to before. Search on a company name and see which of your Facebook friends work there (or used to). If those friends have installed the app, you can also see how many of their friends have worked at that company. You can then reach out to them for an introduction if you like. My network of 5,000 friends have worked at 4,664 unique companies. My 20,607 friends of friends have worked at 17,901 unique companies. Basically, someone I know or someone that they know works at any place I want access to. BranchOut tells me that 5 of my friends worked at Sun. 68 worked at Microsoft, and 53 worked at Google. I also have three friends who were in the Navy, apparently.

To me, BranchOut could be that missing piece that finally unites personal and working life in social media, and allows who knows how many people to finally make the leap to 21st century career networking. As Joe Grimm said about it at Poynter Online:

BranchOut is worth a look. I know you may have privacy concerns, but employment information seems to be relatively benign. The big take-away, though, should be that another company has built a tool that employers are using to look for help. Isn’t it time you got serious about how social media sites can help your career?

Indeed. I gave BranchOut a test drive. It’s not perfect, and its functionality is still somewhat limited, but there is an incredible amount of potential there.

Basically, it sends you to your Facebook account, and then gets to a page that will spook a lot of people, especially with all the furor over Facebook privacy. It asks for access to your profile and friends info, as well as access to your Wall, your email and “any information I’ve shared with everyone.”

It also wants to access that data at any time, even when you’re not on Facebook yourself. None of these things is particularly invasive, but it does look a little sinister all crammed into one list, and my guess is many people will chicken out, at least in the early going.

But they shouldn’t, as far as I can tell. What opens up is an extremely user-friendly, and potentially very valuable list of companies where all of your friends work (provided they have made that information public, of course). You can also invite your friends to join BranchOut, which allows you to see where their friends work. Lastly, there’s a job board to browse.

BranchOut may not be the be-all, end-all for career networking on Facebook. But it’s a big step.

Are you ready to get extreme with your job search?

Stories abound in this recession about stacks of resumes unread by employers as applicants pile on to job openings. It’s not enough anymore to be qualified for a position. Sometimes it’s not even enough to make a resume that stands out. So what can you do to have a better chance of getting an interview, and of ultimately landing that dream job — or, indeed, simply a job you might like?

Here are five extreme measures for extreme times:

1. Make a list of what you will and won’t do.

Laurie Ruettlmann at Punk Rock HR argues that even when people have been out of work for a while, and start to say things like “I’ll do anything for a job,” they don’t really mean anything. She suggests making three lists: “things I would never do for work, “things I might do for work,” and “things I really want to do for work — whether I have the skills right now or not.”

My point is simple: you have to do the work and figure out the psychology behind your unemployment before you post your resume everywhere and pray that someone calls you for an interview. That’s now how life works, anymore. An honest list that outlines standards and expectations will help you to redirect and redefine your job search.

2. Put together a marketing plan for yourself.

The days of just spamming employers with blind emails whenever a new opening appears online are over. Even tailoring your resume to individual employers, though often a good idea, isn’t a guarantee. Take a cue from some of the leaps and bounds in 21st century marketing. Modern companies work hard to sell their brand, what can you do to sell your own brand better?

Jerome Young at Forbes.com has some solid ideas. He points out that everything you use to brand yourself — resume, cover letter, online profile and interview remarks — must have a consistent message. But his central theme, in a nutshell, is showing what you’ve done, rather than just telling:

Have you increased revenue or profit? Have you decreased costs or minimized risk? Tell concise success stories of how you met these goals, and you’ll make yourself an exceptional candidate. To identify those success stories, you must understand how your position and your accomplishments clearly helped the bottom line of the business. That allows you to explain the value you’ve provided in the past and can offer in the future…

Examples of what you’ve done are far more effective that just talking about what you’ve done. Websites, pictures of products, and actual products themselves grab an employer’s attention and generate interest. I have offered employers a slide show with pictures of me working, just so they can visualize me effectively laboring on their behalf.

3. Establish your credentials.

Dan Burns of Career Rocketeer reiterates that the typical application package is no longer enough to establish your brand with employers. He suggests what he calls a “credentials package” that includes a customized cover letter, customized resume and a references summary, along with two additional pieces that he calls a “summary of qualifications” and “personal profile.” The summary of qualifications, he says, can be particularly good for snaring the interview:

After you pique the hiring manager’s interest with your cover letter, you save him/her the time of going through the details of your résumé by providing qualitative, objective, and definitive reasons why you are the best person for the job. If done correctly, often the Summary of Qualifications is sometimes all that the hiring manager has to read to select you for the interview.

4. Pay close attention to even the smallest of details.

Careless mistakes, all-too-common in this era where applicants can point and click to respond as quickly as possible, can ruin an otherwise promising bid for a great job. Maria Hanson at LiveCareer has collected some ironic and painful examples of real-world carelessness on resumes, comments like “speak, read, and wright English/Spanish.” And “I’m very detale oriented”:

“Making errors on your resume just screams, ‘I’m careless, I don’t care to double-check my work or have a friend look it over, and that’s exactly the same sloppy, lazy effort I’ll give you as my employer,’” says Tony Katsulos, who keeps a file of the worst resume bloopers he’s received as head of Jetstream Public Relations.

That’s one stack of resumes you don’t want to be in.

5. No matter what, don’t get desperate.

Thinking outside the box can also go horribly, horribly wrong. Laurie Buhl at Yahoo! HotJobs has a long list of things to avoid, such as coming off like a social media stalker and standing on the corner with a sign. And don’t forget that it’s possible to make your personal branding too unique:

Executive recruiter Kim Bishop has seen a variety of wacky queries, including one large package containing the message “Will work for food,” and resumes comparing themselves to Broadway shows and to NCAA tournaments. “One person asked whether he should send an employer confetti in an envelope. I said, ‘Think about it: would you want confetti all over your desk?’”

"Join me, and together we can rule the company bandwidth."

I’ve written this year already about the ongoing social media controversies in the workplace, but the questions seem to get trickier and trickier rather than easier. Should companies ban employee use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like at work? Should they have a policy in place detailing appropriate and inappropriate uses of those sites? Should they do the complete opposite and just trust their employees to do the right thing?

There’s no definitive answer. One study finds that employees perform better when they’re allowed access to whatever sites they want. That argument goes like this:

People who do surf the internet for fun at work–within a reasonable limit of less than 20 per cent of their total time in the office–are more productive by about nine per cent than those who don’t…. People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration. Think back to when you were in class listening to a lecture - after about 20 minutes your concentration probably went right down, yet after a break your concentration was restored. It’s the same in the workplace. Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a day’s work, and as a result, increased productivity.

Then the next study finds that social media sites decrease productivity:

Companies that allow users to access Facebook in the workplace lose an average of 1.5% in total employee productivity, according to a new report from Nucleus Research…Of those using Facebook at work, 87% said they had no clear business reason for using the site.

It’s enough to confuse both employers and employees. Increasingly, many companies are either banning Facebook entirely or drawing up specific policies addressing the use of social media sites.

But what should those policies look like?

The HR Capitalist addresses this question and provides a sample draft of such a policy. I like how Kris Dunn lays out employers’ options on this topic: a company can go “Darth Vader” and micromanage social-media use, or take a more common-sense approach.

Of course, either could backfire — no one wants to end with a Rebel Alliance undermining their policy, but then again, “common sense” can be defined differently by everybody when it comes to social media. In the article, Kris recommends keeping it simple, with something like this:

“<Insert your company name here> encourages team members to be active in social media as a representative of our company.  Only three rules – be real, add value and don’t say anything that would embarrass your mom.  If your mom has low standards, then don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of USA Today.  Simple enough.”

It’s kind of genius, you have to admit. But for those who want to get into the nitty-gritty details, you might check out this article on 10 “must-haves” for a social media policy; it includes an excellent sample policy as well.

For anyone who thought anonymous reviews on Yelp didn’t have enough potential for abuse comes the Internet’s creepiest new idea: Unvarnished. Now in beta testing at getunvarnished.com, the site allows users to rate co-workers, managers and subordinates in an anonymous forum that has virtually no controls on fairness, accuracy or accountability.

For instance, one company’s employee could log into Unvarnished and write of a co-worker, “Has no ability to finish projects—incompetent,” and this review would shadow that employee for the rest of his career, easily accessible to future employers who can then not hire said person based on information that has no proven veracity, and may be written for any number of malicious reasons unrelated to anyone’s actual performance. Mad at your boss for not giving you that raise? Just don’t like the way a certain employee looks at you? Unvarnished could be your revenge.

The gimmick is that in order to defend yourself, Unvarnished wants you to come to the site, take ownership of the fact that the person being slandered is you, and defend yourself with a response. In a cringeworthy moment that revealed creator Peter Kazanjy knows exactly how terrible and wrongheaded this idea is, he was asked by TechCrunch’s Evelyn Rusli if there are any circumstances under which a user could take down their own profile. “No,” he replied, “because if we did that, everyone would take their profile down.”

Exactly, and therein lies the insidious truth about this site: there is basically no upside. Yelp, which works under a similar system, has thrived on the fact that users want to be seen as “in the know” about the best places to eat or otherwise do business; thus, they have an incentive to share their experiences fairly honestly and praise spots they love. Even so, the abuses on Yelp are legendary. Fake reviews both positive and negative, planted by companies or their rivals, are widespread. Personal vendettas are commonplace. Try to find a business owner who doesn’t have a complaint about the site.

Now that same concept is being shoehorned into a forum where there is no real reason for users to write anything positive, unless they are personal friends. Meanwhile, the possibility for malicious abuse is exponentially higher even than a Yelp. It would seem then, that both positive write-ups and negative write-ups would have to be considered so potentially biased so as to be worthless.

Of course, the new site has all kinds of workplace watchers and cultural critics up in arms, though many of them seem to have taken a “wait and see” attitude. Rusli does not, as when she tries to give the site the benefit of a doubt:

Let’s look at the few, real safeguards on Unvarnished: if a user has a dummy Facebook account (recently opened, no friends) and writes a negative review that post is automatically blocked. In addition, the community votes on how helpful a review is and positive ratings improve the trustworthy rank of the reviewer— a modest incentive to be fair. The truly vile and illegal trash– like false allegations of homicide– will be flagged and immediately removed. But let’s remember: there’s a wide spectrum between downright illegal and ambiguously negative. You could raise serious doubts about a person’s ethics and competency without proof and — let’s be honest here— without even believing your fabrications.

Other sites, as she points out, have tried a similar idea—jerk.com has “jerks” and “saints,” but has so much trouble attracting interest it’s resorted to paying money for user interaction. On the other hand, glassdoor.com seems to be doing okay with a higher-minded and more even-handed approach to feedback on the workplace. It’ll be interesting to see how users respond to this new opportunity to libel online.

In her “Molly Rants” column, CNET’s Molly Wood sums it up well:

To me, the biggest barrier remains the fact that the reviews, however closely monitored, are presented to the public as being anonymous–sure, there’s a real person back there who’s slightly more accountable than your average troll. But they can still speak without fear of being identified. And anonymous commenting is actually one of the things about the Web we like the least. That’s not a forum that should have the potential to affect people’s livelihoods.

Social media diagrams well, but how can a business make it work?

A lot of employers are still asking themselves if they need to get on to Facebook and other social media. A new study will either make them feel a lot better about it, or a lot worse; it turns out their employees are using social media at work anyway. The study by Network Box surveyed 13 billion URLs visited by businesses, and studied businesses bandwith, as well.

The conclusion: 6.8 percent of all business Internet traffic goes to Facebook.

You might think this would end the debate over the importance of social media. But instead, a new debate has sprung up: should the response to this news be to cut off all access to social media?

TechRepublic dug into this question, polling IT executives about whether access to social media should be blocked.

Most of them felt they shouldn’t be blocked (with some qualifications), but some of the responses were particularly surprising, like one IT director who said: “We block all social networking sites. There is no company or work related value in these sites whatsoever.”

Really? It’s a shock to see that that sentiment still prevails in some businesses. It wasn’t that the anti-blocking contingent wasn’t concerned about productivity or proper use of the sites. But they recognized that establishing that at a technology level is impossible; this is clearly a matter of policy and an HR issue.

Some of those who supported blocking social media sites said basically that there might be a reason for a business to be using these sites, but they weren’t clear on what it is. And that points to a much bigger problem: the business potential of social media sites is often going untapped.

Laurie Ruettimann nailed the heart of the problem on her Punk Rock HR site. The issue is not quantity, it’s quality:

From a selfish standpoint, I would like to discuss the inability for most companies to do something amazing with these social tools. If you’re going to adopt a social strategy within your organization, be bold. Most companies are acting like fake Jesus spammers and barfing out information on coupons, products, and discounted services. Where’s the real interaction? Where are the discussions between constituencies that matter the most?

I don’t want 25% off my meal for being the mayor of a burger joint. I want to talk to the owner, get to know the employees, and establish a relationship with the business. I want to know that the workers are happy, they feel financially rewarded for their hard work, and that everyone is happy to see me when I walk through the door. I want my feedback to matter. I want the burger joint to adapt and change when the market changes…I have a simple message to those companies who are in the middle of developing a social strategy: give me something bigger and more meaningful or get the heck off these social networking sites. You should know that my loyalty and my commitment to your brand can’t be bought with a coupon.

Well said, but of course the question of exactly how to create meaningful business content on social media sites is a huge one. There is an explosion of conferences and seminars on the topic around the world, as evidenced by this one coming up Friday in India.

The outline for the workshop actually does a good job of pointing employers towards issues they should be addressing when trying to craft a social media presence, such as: understanding your business objectives, understanding your audience, defining your strategy and selecting specific social channels in which to then craft and implement a plan.

One area in which social media has become invaluable to companies is recruiting. Whether for HR, outplacement services or headhunters, Twitter, Facebook and the like are now a must. Gautam Ghosh writes about how networking sites have become a powerful force in recruiting on his blog:

The first question the recruiter needs to answer is - who is my top talent and what is he/she interested in? Primarily they are interested in the content and knowledge component of the job, followed by organizational culture and the mechanics of the job. The recruiting firm needs to reach out to the community where top talent is likely to be present and present the above - by way of blog posts, youtube videos, pictures and discussion forums.

In the end, business traffic to these sites is only going to go way, way up. Blocking them is pointless, embracing them is crucial.

For quite some time now, it’s seemed like you can’t turn around without finding someone tweeting, re-tweeting, or updating their Facebook status. The reality of social media has sunk into every corner of our culture.

Every corner, apparently, except one: HR. It’s hard to believe that the workplace could be so slow to deal with the social networking phenomenon, but a new study reveals that 75 percent of employers say their business has no formal policy instructing employees on the appropriate use of social networking sites on the job.

The study, “Employer Perspectives on Social Networking,” is being released along with the report “Social Networks vs. Management: Harness the Power of Social Media,” and compiles data from 34,000 businesses in 35 countries.

Beginning in October 2009, these employers were asked four key questions:

• Does your organization have a formal policy regarding employee use of external social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn?
• In which of these areas has your policy been effective?
• In what two areas do you believe external social networks can provide the biggest boost to your organization in the future?
• Has your organization’s reputation ever been negatively affected as a result of employees’ use of social networking sites?

Three out of four employers reported their business had no policy governing social networking, and on top of that, another five percent couldn’t determine if such a policy existed or not!

The implications of these results are huge, for both businesses and workers. In a world where many people don’t think twice about regularly logging in to these sites, employers stand to lose a significant number of number of man-hours to shared Flickr streams and Ashton Kutcher’s latest posts.

In fact, 63 percent of employers who did have social networking policies in place reported that those policies improved productivity. More than a third also said their social-networking policies had helped to protect their company’s intellectual property and other proprietary information.

HR professionals should also consider that the lack of a policy can leave both managers and their employees feeling vulnerable. Many workers have already adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when it comes to social networking at work, and may think the lack of specific guidelines protects them from disciplinary action. Managers may be frustrated by a perceived lack of support when they think social networking is leading to a loss in productivity. This is one case where any policy may be better than nothing — only 2 percent felt that their company’s guidelines were not effective.

About two-thirds of the existing policies cover only restrictions on the use of social networking. However, the study also revealed that many employers feel this type of site, when properly regulated, has potential in the workplace, and that this upside should be considered when drafting a policy. Nearly 60 percent saw a bright future for social networking in their own business, believing it could be useful in building their brand (20%), improving collaboration and communication (19%), recruiting talent (15%), and hiring (13%).

According to MarketingVOX, there are even bigger possibilities — and pitfalls — for social networking in the corporate world:

“Social networks have become a goldmine of information for companies skilled in the art of connecting the dots - a little-noticed development that is beginning to concern companies. In many cases mining such information is completely legally. For example, one can examine public statements by company staffers - especially if they are inconsistent - that can point to new initiatives under way.

Bob Fox, head of a competitive intelligence program for Canadian entrepreneurs advises firms to monitor competitors’ comments in the media, on industry blogs, at conferences and, yes, on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.”

The study concludes that, in general, employers are taking a “wait and see” attitude toward social networking. That may be true, but “wait” is a word that doesn’t mean much in the 24/7 culture of social networking,

The impact of social media cannot be denied. The 2009 word of the year was “tweet,” and the word of the decade was “google,” according to the American Dialect Society. Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube—which are defined by their user-generated content—have wiggled their way into most people’s working hours, and thus onto many workplace computers.

In the field of Human Resources, most talk of social media has to do with pre-employment: talent sourcing, advertising job openings, and performing background checks. But social media is now integrated with each stage of the employee lifecycle: before, during, and after. HR practitioners should study their proper use (and possible misuse), and learn what steps to take now to maximize their benefit while heading off potential legal problems.

An excellent article on this topic was just published in The National Law Journal. In “Social media permeate the employment life cycle: Employers must address their use and misuse before, during and after an employee’s tenure,” labor and employment attorney Renee M. Jackson writes about the simultaneous opportunities and risk presented by social media. Here are some of her top thoughts, as well as those of HR pros, on points you should consider at each stage of the employee lifecycle.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT

The networking power of social media is undeniably helping people find jobs, and helping companies find talent. If you’re ready to take full advantage of it, check out an article like Fistful of HR’s “5 Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009.”

Know this, though: because people now publicly disclose much more information than they did in the past, organizations must take care, writes Jackson in The National Law Journal:

… Applicants may reveal more information about themselves through social media than they normally would during the hiring process. In making hiring decisions, employers can lawfully use information relating to an applicant’s illegal drug use, poor work ethic, poor writing or communications skills, feelings about previous employers and racist or other discriminatory tendencies. Employers may also lawfully consider an applicant’s general poor judgment in maintenance of his or her public online persona.

Employers, however, may face liability under federal, state and local law for using any information learned from social media about an applicant’s protected class status — race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, etc. — in a hiring decision. It may be hard for the employer to prove in later litigation that it only viewed, but didn’t actually use, the information obtained in a social medium when making its hiring decision.

Your organization must seriously consider whether you want to use social media in your talent searches at all. If you do, Jackson recommends that you follow these guidelines:

• Conduct uniform searches that are just and consistent
• Use a non-biased third party to perform social media research
• Do not “friend” applicants to gain access to non-public information
• And other important points

DURING EMPLOYMENT

One of the biggest issues caused by social media during an employee tenure is the simple theft of working time. There are also matters of privacy, nondisclosure, taboo topics and hostile work environment, brand protection, and many more. The good news is, this is the stage when you have the most control over the situation. Most organizations would benefit from a well-researched, clear, and fairly applied social media policy. To research the matter, I recommend  beginning with “10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy” by Sharlyn Lauby, who you may know as The HR Bartender, or “How to Develop a Social Media Policy” from About.com. There are a wide range of policies, but one thing all the experts agree on is that a successful policy is not arbitrary, but is a genuine expression of the needs of an organization which has considered both the risks and rewards of this new media.

Some of Jackson’s top recommendations for points to include in a policy are:

• A prohibition on disclosure of the employer’s confidential, trade secret or proprietary information
• A request that employees keep company logos or trademarks off their blogs and profiles and not mention the company in commentary, unless for business purposes
• An instruction that employees not post or blog during business hours, unless for business purposes
• A request that employees bring work-related complaints to human resources before blogging or posting about such complaints
• And others

AFTER EMPLOYMENT

Then, there are the former employees. Some will be nice, and some will be not-so-nice.

The best defense against nightmare scenarios like this and like this is a having had a good social media policy in the first place—one that lasts beyond employment, if at all possible. But if you are dealing with a situation that falls outside of that, you might want to read an article such as “Dealing with Disgruntled Ex-employees via Social Media.”

Another huge issue is recommendations. Increasingly, people are asking former colleagues to write them recommendations on social media such as LinkedIn. Is that the same as an official post-employment recommendation? Jackson says yes—although it’s difficult to define when people are speaking for themselves, and when they are speaking on behalf of the organization. It’s a good reason to have a solid policy in place.

The warmest and fuzziest scenario is positive relations through social media in the form of corporate alumni networks. In Computer World’s article, “The new word for tech’s ex-employees is ‘alum’” large, successful sites catering to groups of ex-employees are examined. Microsoft’s alumni network, for example, has 10,000 members—what an incredible opportunity for networking and goodwill!

THE TAKEAWAY

What HR should take away from this, writes Jackson, is that the risks of social media are too great to be ignored any longer.

First, employers must understand the myriad issues surrounding social media in the workplace in order to strike the appropriate balance in the eyes of their employees and the law. Then, employers must craft appropriate policies and procedures regarding social media that are consistent with their industry and firm culture, and apply such policies in a consistent, objective and nondiscriminatory way.

Workers are tweeting, googling, and friending, and they’re doing it at all stages of employment. We need to acknowledge this, and craft good policies in response.

2009 was a long and challenging year for jobseekers. Unemployment reached record highs, and competition for jobs was fierce. If you had trouble landing your ideal job, you weren’t alone.

As we cross into 2010, it’s a natural time to take stock of your 2009 job search: what worked, and what didn’t; what time was well spent, and what time was wasted. If you were using methods that didn’t give good returns on your time and energy, now is the time to drop them.

Then, resolve to channel your fresh start and high energy into new habits designed to get you into your ideal job in the coming year. Here are six recommended resolutions to make your job search successful in 2010.

Resolution #1: I will create a list of targeted employers.
If you’re only applying to jobs that you see being advertised, you’re leaving key elements of your job search up to chance. Take control of your future by identifying the organizations in your industry where you would like to work — even if they don’t have any job openings at the moment. Do your research, and make up a list of 8-12 target employers with products or cultures you admire. Devote time to introducing yourself to them as a future candidate. Get on their radar now, before a job is even open, and sow the seeds for them to call on you later on when something opens up. This is one of the best ways to take advantage of the “hidden job market.” It requires time and planning, but the end result is a position with a company you hand-selected as a good match for your skills and desires.

Resolution #2: I will carry job-search business cards.
A person’s job is a large part of their identity, and sometimes displaced workers feel lost without the security of a title and a business card. But do you really want to be scribbling your contact information on a napkin or index card when you network in public? Increase your poise, confidence, and professional appearance by creating and carrying a personal business card just for your job search. They are easy to produce at home with a printer, or simply use a free service such as Vistaprint, which offers jobhunters 250 cards printed free (pay only shipping and handling). Job-search cards are the perfect positive marketing tool — shorter than a resume, but something physical for people to take away and remember you by. This leads to our next resolution:

Resolution #3: I will expand my network.
No matter how much you are networking, you could undoubtedly do more. Jobseekers are often shy about expanding their network, but people are typically flattered to be asked for their expertise or connections. So take the plunge: if you haven’t made the time for Facebook or LinkedIn, now is the time (keep it professional on Facebook, of course). And don’t just concentrate on online, either! Whenever you talk with a friend, peer, neighbor, or relative, aim to get at least one informational contact (not a job interview, but a person you can call and chat with for 10 minutes or so about their industry) out of the conversation. While jobseeking, you should aim to have a short informational call or coffee meeting at least a few times a month. People will be impressed with your initiative, and flattered by your attention. You may be surprised where these short, no-pressure meetings can take you.

Resolution #4: I will build my personal brand.
This is a fairly new element of the job search, and as such, many older jobseekers are not aware of it. The candidate’s role now goes far beyond their resume; it is now common for employers to do preliminary research on you on the Internet before you are contacted. Your competitors are building their personal brand online, and so should you. Start commenting on an industry with a Twitter account or on a free blog at WordPress or Blogger; establish your expertise. Benefit #1 is that you’ll make great industry connections. Benefit #2 is that you’ll shape your online image for those who are researching you. Both are necessary for your successful 2010 job search.

Resolution #5: I will revamp my resume and cover letter.
When was the last time you really gave these crucial materials more than a simple update? Adding your last position is the bare minimum, and for 2010, you owe yourself an upgrade. Research current job ads for the hot keywords are in your field, and make sure your terminology matches the current jargon. Evaluate the entire document, even older sections that have served you well for years — these are the very sections that could benefit from a re-write in the context of your later accomplishments. Aim for a clean, simple look. When you’re done, save a formatted version for printing and email attachments, and a plain text version for online forms.

Resolution #6: I will genuinely seek out feedback.
Many jobseekers get “stuck” on some issue that they don’t even know about. Maybe it’s the presentation of their resume; maybe it’s some interviewing quirk. The point is, they won’t ever know about it unless they ask their “support squad” for constructive criticism. Unfortunately, due to rejection in the job market, these same people may feel too vulnerable to ask for any feedback. If this sounds like it might apply to you, turn to trusted friends and family for resume critiques, mock interviews, and ideas about where your talents might be useful. They know you better than anyone, and you should resolve not to let any insecurity prevent you from asking for their excellent help and perspective. Ask for feedback, and you may get a surprising boost!

Do you have any job-related resolutions for the New Year? We’d love to hear about them. Share your inspiration and progress in the comments.

We’ve seen the value of microblogging sites such as Twitter for sharing short ideas, links, and personal updates, but that kind of website is wayyy too public for business collaboration. (Think about all the secret projects, private sales figures, and other sensitive matters that you’d prefer everyone keep in nice, secure, private, trackable emails.) Nonetheless, there is a need for a new way to talk to colleagues — something informal, real-time, attention-based, and inclusive…. something a lot like, well, Twitter.

In all honesty, your people may already be using services such as Twitter, Facebook, and instant messages for intraoffice messaging to boost productivity and circumvent email, which is a crushing weight on most workers. (It’s also a closed system, where someone who might benefit from the information often gets left out.) While we’re confident that email will stick around, we support finding a way for workers to securely share more information under a broadcast model, and we support top management, HR, and IT in finding a way to facilitate this in a secure and controlled manner.

In a nutshell, microblogging services are the next big thing in employee communications. Think of it as “Twitter for the workplace.” Imagine a system with all the benefits of Twitter, but designed in a secure fashion with business clients in mind. It might be free, it might be paid for, or it might be open source. Some software runs behind a firewall, and some is hosted outside, depending on your needs. Some microblogging applications have even been designed to work with Lotus and Microsoft SharePoint enterprise software!

There are many services vying to become the de facto “enterprise microblogging” application. Here are the great qualities they all have in common.

• Unlike Facebook, there is no “reciprocal friending” awkwardness… with microblogging, you lend your attention, not your friendship
• It’s broadcast-oriented communication, so you can follow someone in the organization you haven’t met
• Employees can search by keywords for projects that interest or affect them, much like Twitter’s hashtags
• It’s reply-optional, so is perfect for “FYI info”
• Microblogging clears the inbox by diverting informal communications out of email
• It allows people a way to collaborate rapidly, in real time
• It creates an archived knowledge base for new employees to read, unlike emails, which are designed to be private

Seems pretty fascinating all of a sudden, doesn’t it? If you are interested in learning a little bit more about what microblogging could add to your team’s collaboration, we have some great sites to share with you. These are some of the front-runners in the field.

Yammer — Yammer’s motto is “connect and share with your coworkers,” and users constantly answer the prompt “What are you working on?” It’s for people who share the same company domain name, and no one else. It comes in flavors for the desktop, BlackBerry, iPhone, IM, email and SMS, so it will fit seamlessly in with different employees’ favorite devices. Yammer is free when used informally, but there is a small licensing fee once the IT department gets involved.

Present.ly – Present.ly is a microblogging platform that is used by employees of CNET and The New York Times. For a small team, it is free, and web-hosted; if you wish to add more users, or use it behind a firewall, upgrade to a paid version. Present.ly has a Twitter-compatible API, so Twitter tools can be used on the system with just small modifications.

Communote – Secure microblogging for enterprise with hashtags, usernames, mobile access, and more. Communote is delivered as software-as-a-service. It has a limited free trial, and a paid business version.

SocialText’s Signal – Signal is available as part of the larger SocialText collaboration platform, but also as a stand-alone microblogging appliance. It can be hosted, or behind a firewall. Up to 50 users is free, and more will cost a small fee. Signal is interesting because it offers a server appliance that runs the software locally, meaning that you can run your own back-ups.

Are any of you RiseSmart blog readers involved in enterprise microblogging? We’re interested in hearing who is using this software: who loves it, and who hates it? Talk to us in the comments!

The scenario: You’ve been called in to interview with a company that you know virtually nothing about — and the interview’s tomorrow. While you’re excited that they want to recruit you, you’re sweating bullets at the thought of giving meaningful answers about this mysterious organization.

The answer is quick, simple, and painless. Just turn to your computer. Research nowadays is easy, and often free. There are a wealth of great sites and services that specialize in getting you up to speed on an organization.

Here’s the RiseSmart guide to making the most of the 24 hours before your interview.

1) Start with your basic homework.

• Read the company’s website, paying special attention to the annual report and press releases.
• Hoover’s has free look-ups of businesses with in-depth reports about them. Input the company name, and read away.
• Do a search for news stories about the company, written by an objective journalist. Try Reuters and this compilation of business trade articles.
• Review what you’ve learned. You’re going to want knowledge of products and services, market positioning, company leaders and organization, culture, and compensation.

2) Then get a little more advanced.

• Look up the company’s leaders, and the person interviewing you, by name on ZoomInfo. Don’t tell them that you did this, but use every morsel you find.
• I like this easy pathfinder for company research from the Los Angeles Public Library.
• If it’s a publicly held company, they must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
• WetFeet is a fantastic resource. Check out their list of major employers.
• Google the organization on the “wonder wheel” setting to show you related searches you might not have thought of (and the company might not WANT you to think of).

3) Check out what current and former employees say.

• GlassDoor has anonymous reviews of company culture and insider salary info.
• Look through your contacts on LinkedIn, and see if anyone in your greater circle works there, or has worked there. Ask for an informational interview, perhaps a 10-minute phone call.
• Run searches on the company name plus positive and negative terms such as “great place to work” or “sucks.” You might be surprised what you can find.
• Search on Twitter for the company’s name as a hashtag.
• Utilize Google’s Blog Search function to find out what regular people are writing about the company.

4) Don’t forget about researching the entire industry and the top competition…

• Hoover’s has more than 600 fantastic free “industry overviews”  to place your hiring company in a wider context.
• Capital IQ, Lexis-Nexis, and OneSource can all help with this, but usually require a license to use.
• WetFeet has a free directory of industry guides to check out.
• Do a search on the company’s name plus the term “poach.”

With a small amount of intelligent, targeted research, you can be ready for a surprise interview with just 2-3 hours of research conducted the night before.

Tips compiled from my own experience, and from the excellent job research articles at:

• Quint Careers’ “Guide to Researching Companies, Industries, Countries”
• Gotta Mentor’s “Researching the COMPANY”
• The Job Hunter’s Bible “Web Sites for Job Hunting Research
• Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management “Company Research FAQ”