Social networking - should you let it all hang out?

I was having a real coffee, face to face, with a colleague yesterday and amongst the things we talked about was online social networking, and some of its potential dangers for posters who tell it as it is, drunken moments and all.

We're used to seeing the less flattering aspects of the social life of members of some of the celebrity B and C lists caught by the paparazzi and plastered over the tabloids. I guess either their social boundaries aren't particularly strong - or if your career is celebrity and noteriety - perhaps they don't mind what is shown as long as the column inches follow.

But do you really want a potential employer to google you and see your not-so-finest moments baring all? Your carefully crafted cv and letter could count for nothing in the face of a lurid account of your latest drunken Friday night exploits.

Research by Fons Trompenaars and Peter Woolliams (Business across Cultures, Capstone 2003) into cultural differences has a category they call specific versus diffuse - ie the degree of involvement in relationships. A specific relationship occurs between both partners interacting in public space, keeping what's private private. In a diffuse relationship, both partners share their public and private space

Different cultures see different things as being public and private. But the research shows that no matter what the original culture is, managers and leaders become more specific as they get older; and for younger people the boundaries between the public and private personna are more indistinct - ie diffuse.

This would tend to back up the popularity of “youth” social networking software and sites; but they do need to be careful because they need to remember that employers hang out in their space as well. For example, Facebook has channels seeking staff for Microsoft and Ernst and Young.

And once something is out in cyberspace, who knows where it will end up.

So caveat bloggers.

A royal flush of transferable skills

I read an article today saying that analysis shows that online poker is seen as the most "addictive" of online applications. A legal case this week has just ruled that poker is a game of chance, not skill.

So is poker just another way of "wasting time" - and your money? Perhaps - especially if you're rubbish and stay being rubbish.

However, a word you'll hear a lot in the world of skills, learning and earning is "transferable skills". So can you "spin" your poker talents to demonstrate more than just a dissolute lifestyle?

Here are a few of the transferable skills you can gain from playing poker. And who knows, learn them well enough and you might start to earn as well:

• emotional intelligence
  
• critical evaluative skills
• numerical skills
• pragmatism skills
• interpersonal skills
• problem-solving skills
• goal orientation skills
• learning skills
• higher order strategic and analytical skills
• flexibility skills
• face management/deception skills
• self-awareness skills
• self-control

So now you know. Perhaps I should call the monthly game our action learning and skills development group. If so, for a buy-in of £10, it's a win even when I lose.

By the way - I haven't just made this up. To read the research article by Adrian Parke, Mark Griffiths and Jonathan Parke of Nottingham Trent University, follow this link.

More than flipping burgers

McDonald's is the UK's largest employer of under-21 year olds. They've recently launched a career and lifestyle site to support the future development of its staff.

From its "Our Lounge" website staff have access to an online tutor, can take nationally recognised qualifications, as well as belonging to an online community.

So there's no need for any work experience to be "just a student job".

Find out more at the McDonalds' website.

High and low paying jobs

From a recent report of the Work Foundation:

Top 5 high-paying jobs for women:
- Marketing and sales managers
- Hospital and health service managers
- Personnel managers
- Primary and nursery teachers
- Management consultants, actuaries, economists and statisticians

Top 5 high-paying jobs for men:
- Marketing and sales managers
- IT managers
- Construction managers
- Medical practitioners
- Software professionals

Top 5 low-paying occupations for women:
- Sales assistants
- Care assistants
- Educational assistants
- Kitchen and catering assistants
- General office assistants

Top 5 low-paying jobs for men:
- Sales and retail assistants
- Goods handling and storage occupations
- Kitchen and catering assistants
- Cleaners and domestics
- Labourers, builders and woodworking trades

Why bother?

Inflation is rising, interest rates are going up, and student debt is an ever-increasing personal reality. So how do you make sure you maximise your earning potential - while still doing work that you're interested in?

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