We live in a world of constant change and innovation where keeping ourselves updated is no longer optional but necessary. When I moved to San Francisco, I received an iPhone from my brother, as a welcome gift. At first I thought "what a great toy!". The camera on it is better than the one on my previous phone, I can upload my music to it, I can actually configure it to military time and know what the weather is like in Paris (my hometown). To my surprise, I found myself starting to use the more useful applications like my professional email account, the internet and the GPS. I would never have thought a phone could be so helpful.
As I look at my job today and see how the economy has affected my staffing agency, I wonder if this New Technology might be of help again. We're a small staffing agency, still in start-up mode and with limited financial resources. We are only subscribed to one job board, we are not well known by clients and candidates and are not technology savvy. What can help us market and brand ourselves? I thought. As I logged into Facebook for the 7th time in one day, I realized some of my friends were actually advertising a variety of different postings from concert tickets they were selling to apartments for rent... That's when I realized how I could turn technology from entertainment to professional networking. I started exploring my options. I created a Linkedin profile, got in touch with the SF French community on Facebook and attended professional mixers and events.
Reading the article "Top 10 Predictions for HR in 2010" helped me re-evaluate, redefine and reinforce the use of New Technology in my staffing agency. Although we still do not have the budget to implement New Technology to better manage and retain talent, we are developing our professional network and continue to succeed through our values: the quality of our staff and the trust relationship with our clients and talent.
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Great post! I, too, keep discovering new ways to use technology to "market" myself. I've been debating for some time now whether or not to start a blog. In academia, it is seen as an important investment of time and energy with uncertain returns (it's not what will get you tenure, for example). But perhaps that will change over time....
ReplyDeleteJuliette, it shows that you are getting in the flow of things. It is challenging and at the same time, there are so many opportunities. We have to keep an open mind...Thanks for your post.
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