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“Most Chaotic Desk” Facebook Photo Contest

Do remember what color your desk is? Been a while since you were able to find the last pen you lost? We want to see pictures!

Fidelis Companies is having a Facebook “Most Chaotic Desk” photo contest and want you to enter! Work from home? Don’t feel left out! Send in a photo of your home office desk or kitchen counter, or whatever you call your desk!

Rules:
1. People submitting photo entries must “Like” our Facebook page to be considered for the contest. One entry per person.
2. Take a picture of your desk and email it to clemons@fideliscompanies.com
3. Include the follow information for the photo caption: Your Name, either what you do OR your job title.
4. Once your photo is added to the “Most Chaotic Desk” photo album, share the album with your friends and beg them to vote for your chaotic desk!
5. Please feel free to tag your photo submittal once the photo is added to the album to easily share with your friends and family.
6. The photo with the most “Likes” at the end of the day July 31st will win a $50 gas card. Winner will be announced August 1st!

Important dates:
1. Photo submittals will be accepted from June 25 – July 15. Any photos submitted after EOD July 15th will not be included in the contest.
2. Album will be posted July 1 with photo’s added as they are submitted.
3. Voting ends at the end of the day July 31st.

Vote for Fidelis Companies!

Social Media is a popular topic in the business world right now, and we decided to join the conversation by participating in the Dallas Business Journal’s (DBJ) Social Madness competition! Part of the competition is daily, open voting for our company, Fidelis Companies, and the other part is posting relevant and engaging content that our followers and fans want to interact with.

We are currently in Round 1 and are sitting in the top 8. After this week, the final top 8 companies will move onto the next phase, one step closer to the finals.

What do we win, you ask? The winner of the Social Madness competition will have $10,000 donated in their name to the charity of their choice; our charity of choice is the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County.

 

How to participate:

1. Click on the following link to vote: http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/socialmadness
2. If you do not already have a DBJ account, you will be prompted to create a login for the contest. As long as you access the voting link from the same browser and computer, your login information will be saved and you will be taken directly to the voting page.
3. Once username and password are created, the voting page will open.
4. Scroll through to find “Fidelis Companies” and click the green circular VOTE button to the left of our company name.
5. Once you vote, please share your vote with your social networks and encourage your friends and connections to vote for us and move Fidelis Companies into the Top 8!
6. You can vote once a day until voting closes for round 1 on June 17th.

 

Thanks in advance for voting for us and we look forward to sharing more with you!

Finding A Job in the Social Jungle: Part 2

Last week I wrote about effectively using LinkedIn to find a job. Compared to other popular social media platforms, LinkedIn is viewed differently by those who actively use the site to find job applicants and professionally network. LinkedIn is viewed, out of all the social media platforms, as THE professional networking site. However, it is not the only tool available for job seekers. To view my tips on using LinkedIn for your job search, click here

This week I’m looking at Facebook and how you can leverage your friends and their personal and professional connections to help jump start your job search.

Facebook. Have you ever heard of Dunbar’s Number? Neither had I until recently. Dunbar’s Number is a theory that says a person can realistically only deal with a limited number of friends, connections, followers, etc. due to cognitive limitations. From this theory, the recommended connection count on any social network is 150. However, I’m sure we all know several of our own Facebook friends who have over 500 or 1,000 friends. Do they actually know each of their “friends” or do they simply friend anyone they meet? The answer to that question could actually help you with your job search.

Leverage your friends. No matter your personal friend count, you can ask your friends for help during your job search. If you’re the type of person who keeps your profile private and only accepts friend requests from people you know and stay in contact with regularly, your small network could work in your favor. These people interact with you and know you personally; therefore, they want you to succeed and are the most likely to help with your search.

Most Facebook users fill in their work history on their About section. Take an afternoon and “Facebook stalk” the About section of your friends’ profiles for their work history. See a company you are interested in? Message that friend and start a conversation about the company and their experience. Is it a good company to work for? Did they like working there?

Facebook Message

Once you receive a response and a two-way conversation is established, move on to more direct questions: Did they leave on good terms? Are they still in touch with former coworkers? Don’t ask for the inside connection or who they know in the initial message; you might not know their personal experience with the company. You also don’t want to seem like “that” person, you know the type, the “friend who wants a favor to get your foot in the door” type. When requesting information or a friendly favor, give something in return, i.e. the story of why you are looking and what interests you about this company.

Give them a reason to share and they could in return give you more information than you imagined.

Did you know, each time one of your friends’ comments or likes a post, it shows in their Timeline for all of their friends to see. Remember those friends with 500+ “friends”? This is a great way to engage more than your inner circle. Encourage your friends to share your post with their network and expand your possibilities!

Use Timeline to your advantage. Facebook has a habit of changing the site design more frequently than most users prefer. Timeline, for example, came with a lot of pros and cons when it was released. A big pro is using it to get your job search request out in the Facebook world. Posting a status update will broadcast your post to all of your friends, so when they login and scroll through their timeline, there’s your request asking for help in your job search.

Want to make it even more eye catching? Images are said to be the most interactive and engaging posts on Facebook. Add a quirky image to get their attention!

Facebook Status Update

And don’t be afraid to actually ASK for help. More people will comment and interact with a post when there is a “call to action.” And calls to action aren’t just for business and brands; you want your friends’ feedback so just ask. Once they comment or like your post, it becomes visible to their network, which could expand your reach even further.

A con of Timeline is you’re newsfeed refreshes so frequently, your post could not be seen by your friends. Be cognoscente of what your friends are doing when you post your request. Are they working and can’t view Facebook at the office? Be aware and make sure your post gets the most exposure possible.

Manage your privacy. Friends with your boss or coworkers on Facebook? Announcing you are looking for a new job wouldn’t be very smart, would it? There seems be constant controversy over Facebook’s privacy controls, but they’ve recently made it easy to manage each post’s individual privacy. To the left of the Post button on status updates, photos and check-ins, you have the option for which friends can see certain content.

These settings can be set universally for your profile under Settings: Privacy, but looking for a job is a different post from “I just ate at this great new restaurant!” Make sure your settings are configured accordingly.

Facebook Privacy

Want to take it a step further? Choose Custom and target specific people that you either want to or do not want to see the post(s) you are sharing.

Facebook Custom Privacy

Follow companies that interest you. Most companies, today, have a Facebook fan page, but not every company posts job openings on their Facebook site. Because there is a stigma that Facebook is not LinkedIn, there is a fine line for companies when it comes to posting interesting content or becoming  a job board. They want to reach as many customers as possible, without offending fans with “spam” content such as job posts. If there is a company you are interested in but they don’t have a way to view job openings on Facebook, post on their wall asking for more information about their process or where you can find more information. 

Facebook Careers

If a company has a Facebook page, most likely there is someone in charge of monitoring the page and should respond to or acknowledge your post. They may only be able to direct you to their website, but in that case there are still other outlets for finding an inside connection. (See last week’s LinkedIn blog.)

Depending on the company size, most will have contact information listed in their About section, so be sure to scan through that page. It may only be a phone number to their company operator, but sometimes they can be your best friend and help guide you to the appropriate department or point of contact.

Facebook About

Facebook is viewed as a no-no by most people when it comes to the job search process, but if you use it right, it could be your biggest asset. Facebook is built off of personal connections and interactions. People tend to be more honest and open to discussing real world experiences about companies and the ups, downs and how to’s of job hunting. Companies try to connect with their fans by posting relevant and interesting topics, so you could learn a lot about a company by how they handle their social presence.

Befriending your boss in your online world isn’t for everyone. Beware of your Facebook profile and how it can not only help you in the job hunt, it could just as easily destroy you. Employers are looking at social profiles of new applicants more and more, so is your profile something to be ashamed of?

Stay tuned next week for Part 3. I’ll be talking about how Twitter and Pinterest can help with the search!

Casidy Lemons

Casidy_DBJ Event 

Social Media, here we come!

Well, we finally kicked off our quarterly newsletter last month! I’m writing a version for our consultants and one for our managers, and the opt-in forms went out around the beginning of January. The plan is to get them out at the beginning of the quarter, but because it was the first copy, of course there were some road blocks along the way. And looking at the numbers, the percentage of people who opted-in from the email’s I sent out compared to the number of consultants and managers in the databases of my recruiter and account manager’s is still very small, but I have high hopes for this new outlet. My hope is that over the next two quarters, we can at least double the number of subscriptions on both sides of the desk. And on a more positive note, we did gain some new subscriptions after both newsletters were sent out so the office perception is positive so far.

With these newsletters, I’m hoping to not only keep everyone informed with what we are seeing in the market, but to also push our social media to the next level. Social outlets such as Facebook and Twitter were non-existent with Fidelis when I started and with a degree in Journalism and Communication, I came in seeing an opportunity to push us into this market. It’s been a rocky start so far, but with the kick-off of our quarterly newsletter being something that’s never been done here, I’m shooting for the stars.

Are you interested in staying up-to-date with Fidelis ES via social networking? Find us here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CasidyL

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FidelisEnterpriseSolutions

Newsletter (ERP Consultant): http://eepurl.com/ixP2M

Newsletter (ERP Manager): http://eepurl.com/jCevT