How Shazam Harnesses the Power of Employee Advocacy

How Shazam Harnesses the Power of Employee Advocacy A basic rule that all businesses should apply liberally is that their people are their biggest asset. They only exist because of those people, and will only grow as long as they harness the energy of those humans in the right way. I’m happy to say that the business world seems to be realizing this fact in growing numbers. People are everything. At Shazam, this is absolutely how we view things. Our people are at the epicenter of everything that makes us good and great. My job coming in was simply to find a way to keep hiring more of those great people. Easy right? Figuring out our true employee value proposition To share the essence of what makes your organization truly brilliant with the rest of the world, you really have to take the time to work out what that is first. My first task, therefore, was to really crystallize what it meant to be a Shazamer and do some work to figure out what our value proposition truly was. We did that with the help of an agency around four years ago, whom we invited in as external partners to conduct discovery sessions with our teams around the world. From that data, they were able to tell us what we did really well, but also what we didn’t do so well. That’s the thing with self-discovery, sometimes you might discover things about yourselves that you don’t like. We decided to use this whole project as a learning exercise and saw it as an opportunity to try to improve the things that we weren’t so great at. Employee experience has to be at the heart of the way an organization runs. Without crafting a great experience for the humans that help to make you the amazing company that you are, your war for talent will be lost. Create a business of happy thriving humans and your war for talent will be almost won. Now to the business of actual attraction! There is little to be gained from pretending to be something that you are not; in life and in business. You need to let your ‘vibe attract your tribe’ across the whole gambit. So once you have your vibe, and you’ve figured out who you really are as a business, it’s important that you take that honest messaging out into the world. Your people are far and away the best messengers for this. My mission at Shazam, therefore, was to not just to hire the very best people, but to hire the very best people who also resonated with our mission and values. Similar brief; way better end result. Given that our people are our biggest asset, and by far the most honest and effective talent attraction tool we have, we needed to start to build a culture of advocacy. In some of the teams, we had people who were already comfortable speaking on their respective conference circuit, but we had a gap in terms of what we were telling the world from a technical standpoint, which is arguably one of the key areas. I started out by running a workshop on personal branding around 18 months ago. Working at a business like Shazam we are in incredibly fortunate as our business garners a huge degree of interest. What that means for our people, is that they each have a real opportunity to build their own brands based on that interest, give there is no shortage of invitations for speaking engagements or requests to work with us or feature us. I asked the team to consider doing an audit of their online presence and really framed the opportunity that they were presented with. I encouraged them to look at things like: Their online profiles, how evolved and detailed they were. What they share online, and to consider being more mindful of what that is. To consider growing their online presence, whether in the form of a blog or just general usefulness. To think about whether they are curious about public speaking, and whether they might like some support to help them get there. We then looked at a few top tips on blogging and starting to get involved in public speaking. I happily was able to draw upon my own experiences to do this. It wasn’t an immediate success, but what it did plant some very important seeds Within the following months, we’d seen one person start to blog and a number starting to say yes to speaking engagements. Last year we decided to step this up a gear by finally developing our ‘Inside Shazam’ blog. The key to success here came in the form of influential internal sponsors; finding people who could help corral a team of blog founders, led by me. The Blog Squad was born. I ran weekly meet-ups with the team, where we encouraged one another to write blogs, whilst also plotting for who could write the next ones and how that might happen. By getting the right kind of investment from the team, we managed to get our blog off the ground. When it comes to getting people invested in speaking at events, were learning we are most successful when my team acts as the conduit between the events organizers and the business, therefore we are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to pitch to the wider team. Weve already seen some real results in terms of the feedback we get from the candidates we are meeting with. Many cite either our blog or an event they attended that we took part in as things that made them feel compelled to speak with us. So whilst Im all for bigger branding campaigns when you have the opportunity and budget to do them, its super important not to overlook the brilliant marketing team you already have within your business: YOUR PEOPLE. About the author: Ruth Penfold is the Director of Talent Acquisition at Shazam. She believes passionately in the emerging role of HR within businesses, helping create the right environments for the people of tomorrow, whilst retaining the people for today.

How Professional Resume Writing Services Can Help Your Career

How Professional Resume Writing Services Can Help Your CareerTampa Florida professional resume writing services are an essential part of your job-search process. This is because a great resume isn't something that you can write on your own. You need someone to guide you and help you achieve the success you seek. These professionals can do this for you in a number of ways and it will only be a matter of time before you have a great resume cover letter written for you.The first step you will want to take when seeking professional resume writing services is to decide exactly what you want to achieve with your resume. Do you just want a good resume cover letter? Are you looking for a great job? These are all things that will affect the final result, so it's important to have a clear goal when you are making a decision.Once you have this clear goal in mind, the next step is to locate the professional resume writing services that meet your needs. It is important to locate these services be cause they know exactly what it takes to make a good resume and a great resume cover letter. They also have years of experience helping other professionals and they know exactly what it takes to produce the best results. Don't let a poorly formatted resume sway you from the services of a professional. There are several professionals out there that can produce a professional resume that is both impressive and professional.Tampa Florida professional resume writing services provide an array of services that will help you move your career forward. One of the first things that you will notice when you are working with these services is their attention to detail. They will go over every single word you write and try to fix any errors that you may have made. These services are not just good at writing your resume, but they can also provide other forms of professional resume writing services as well.Another thing you can count on when you work with these services is the fact that they will not only help you write your resume, but they will also help you with your cover letter. They will provide you with a professional resume cover letter and they will also provide you with a resume reference check. The resume cover letter can be an important piece of your professional resume, but it doesn't have to be long and drawn out. A professional resume letter only has to be short and concise, and it will certainly grab the attention of the person reading it.Lastly, you can count on professional resume writing services to provide you with a full resume analysis. This means that they will go over your entire resume and look for any problems. This can save you a lot of time, money, and frustration because they will not only find the flaws, but they will also help you avoid them so that you can ensure that your resume is flawless.In order to get a great job and with a professional resume writing service, you need to be able to communicate with them in a professional manner. If you are trying to submit your resume or trying to get into your current job, you need to speak with them in a manner that makes them feel confident in your abilities.The best way to get a professional resume written for you is to work with a professional resume writing service. With all of the different things that can go wrong with your resume, you need to make sure that the professional services you work with are experienced and trustworthy. With so many professionals out there, this is certainly a skill that you should be aware of so that you will always receive a great job.

Why High Praise Stinks - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Why High Praise Stinks - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career “Perfect for Wedding Photographers” is the quote that killed my interest in Animoto Pro. My creative director had sent me a note about Animoto a couple of weeks back. I next saw it advertised on the Mashable Tech site last Sunday night, because I was trying to figure out how to teach Siri to tweet without my lisp on the new iPhone 4S. Of course I should have been sleeping, because I was wrung dry from teaching a solid two days at my personal branding bootcamp for UCLA extension. But, what does a social media expert do without any time off? Look for something new and difficult to do on social media, of course. Hence my near delirious consideration of hacking my phone or engaging in some off label workaround to save time spitting out 140 characters or less as often as possible. The ad for Animoto Pro reminded me of so many ways that small businesses kill off their own brands. That is, they take â€" or make â€" any testimonials to add credibility in a naive effort attract new buyers. Most people don’t know this: not all good feedback is worth announcing in an ad, or on your website, or even accepting for your LinkedIn profile. That’s true even when the feedback contains golden words like “perfect.” Your business or high dollar consumer prospects aren’t looking for just any supplier. They are looking for trustworthy, high value, low risk providers. Hence, who’s doing the recommending matters, even though “opinion” sites try to say it ain’t so. “It’s all about personal sources” is the mantra that Yelp, Angies List, and the other faux-neighbor sites are using to successfully upsell ad programs to local businesses. These sites aggregate supposedly highly influential ratings and comments. I think the underlying principle of relying on what neighbor-strangers bother to type in is a shaky way to make your consumer choices much less bigger business ones. It may just be my luck, but I’ve gotten sick on Chinese food and now work on a bowed hardwood floor, because I used those recommendations. Nonetheless, we marketers continue to espouse that personal sources, or barring that possibility, at least human sources lead prospects to your door or landing page. Hence the cash machines that are social media sites, review sites, or other comment aggregators. That said, “perfect” recommendations from a less than perfect source is bound to #epicfail when your target buyers are from a larger, better class. The idea that a wedding photographer, arguably the least demanding, critical and professional of nearly everyone who wields a camera for pay, thinks Animoto Pro is perfect? Perhaps that’s meant to impress high school yearbook photographers? Or the guy who sells soccer photos on picture day? The recommendation does not impress media and marketing professionals, because for us, photography is a part of strategic campaigns, not a memorial of love for those who have only just begun, or grandparents proudly wearing that big button featuring their favorite five year old. I know I am unfairly picking on Animoto Pro, its advertising agency, and it media buying firm. That’s the problem with being in business; we have to spend money heartlessly. That would also be known as responsibly. And before you jump on the comments to say that wedding photographers have a tough job and are often elite professionals, may I call your attention to Adam Sandler’s career. It wasn’t for the effect of high art and drama that he starred in The Wedding Singer. We wouldn’t have laughed if that movie were a biopic of Pavarotti, famously not a wedding singer. Beware of kind words and use them judiciously. Author: Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen

Skip Job Hunting, Have Informational Interviews Instead - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Skip Job Hunting, Have Informational Interviews Instead - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I had been living in Indianapolis for a year, working as the crisis communication director for the state health department, when I realized I didnt know anyone in the city, other than my co-workers. I wanted to break into the marketing world, but also knew better than to try to beat my head against the fortress walls that seemed to surround it. I didnt know anyone to help me, so I thought Id do something audacious: I emailed the CEO of the citys largest PR firm. He was a columnist in our local business newspaper, and we shared a lot of the same ideas and habits as fellow writers. I introduced myself, and asked if he would be available to talk with me so I could learn about the industry and my new hometown. I was surprised when I received a reply a couple hours later, inviting me to his office. As we talked, Bruce told me how he got his start and what ultimately led him to open his own firm. He told me about people to talk to, traps to avoid, and what kinds of things I should be looking for and asking about. Bruce said he was happy to meet with me, because this was how he got his own start when he moved to Indianapolis nearly 15 years before. He did informational interview after informational interview, always asking the same kinds of questions. After three months, Bruce had three job offers and enough offers of freelance work to keep him busy 40 hours a week, all without applying for a single job. He ended up running the PR department for a local hospital, which led to him starting his own agency a few years later. Because of what his own informational interviews led to, he always agreed to meet with people who asked for the same thing. Bruce has since become a good friend, and we still meet on occasion to discuss writing, PR, and social media. And that meeting taught me all about the importance of informational interviews myself, and what it can do for networking and personal branding. If you want to use informational interviews, here are five tactics you need to master: Ask how the other person got started. Believe it or not, a lot of people forget this. Ive had dozens of people come to me for the same interviews, and only a few asked me about my beginnings. We learn through stories, even better than getting straight up advice. Ask people to tell you their stories and youll glean some valuable lessons about what to do and not do. Most peoples lives can serve as morality plays to our own lives, so take advantage of that. Take careful notes. If nothing else, you look like youre paying attention. But more importantly, the people you talk to will interrupt their story to say you need to speak to so-and-so. Write that name down, and anything else they tell you about that person. Never mention open positions at their company. Otherwise that sounds like the only thing youre looking for, and theyll feel like you took advantage of them. It may be tempting. You may even be the ideal fit for that position. But dont do it. If they mention it, just say, I saw that on your website, but I didnt want to mention it because I didnt want you to think thats why I was here. My goal was to meet with you, not ask for a job. Always, always, ALWAYS ask Who else should I talk to? This is the chance to tap into their own networks. Most people will just suggest you call them and mention my name. More often than not, this is not helpful. Ask for email introductions. Warm introductions like this are better than cold calls. If theyre not willing to do it, then call or email the person anyway. Be sure to mention the other persons name early, not at the end. They may discard your email if they dont know why youre reaching out to them. Stay in touch. Some of these people, just by virtue of their being influencers in their field and the community, could be powerful mentors and allies. Keep in touch with them via email, let them know what youre doing, and get together for coffee or lunch every 3 â€" 6 months. If the relationship progresses, make it a monthly thing. Ask them to be a mentor and try to learn as much as possible from them. (Read Keith Ferrazzis books Never Eat Alone and Whos Got Your Back for more on this kind of networking and mentoring.) The informational interview is a great way to start building the foundations of a strong network that opens up all new kinds of opportunities youd otherwise spend years trying to build. Be bold, be brave, and even be a little audacious. Reach out to someone you might never be able to get ahold of if you were a freelancer, salesperson, or job hunter. Find this person on LinkedIn or Twitter, or send an email, and invite them to coffee. Tell them you just want to have an informational interview, so you can learn more about them, the industry, and the community. And see what happens from there. The worst they can say is no. But the best they can do can be life changing. Author: Erik Deckers  is the owner of  Professional Blog Service, and the co-author of  Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself  and  No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing.

What is an Important Point to Consider When You Are Writing Your Resume?

What is an Important Point to Consider When You Are Writing Your Resume?As you are reading this, you may be wondering how to write your resume so that it is as perfect as possible and of course, a few key points to take into consideration before you begin. A professional resume service can help you make this happen.To begin with, I would suggest you hire a resume service to begin with because if you were to write it yourself then you might end up with many mistakes and unclear information. You could end up giving the wrong impression and career experts can help you avoid this issue.One important point to take into consideration is to include your strengths, your passion, and your skills in a concise manner. There is no need to have an abundance of information on your resume but rather enough to get noticed.Another important point to take into consideration is to note down any college courses you have taken if they have any relevance to the position that you are applying for. Some com panies will prefer to hire someone who has taken courses from a local university than someone who has not.Another important point to take into consideration is to note down any work experience that you have had in the past. These days, employers expect you to have worked in a number of different positions because they want to know that you can handle the job and that you are also flexible in terms of time and location.Another important point to take into consideration is to consider the following: your education, training, certifications, or other forms of certification, any awards or recognitions that you may have received, any volunteer work you may have done, references that you may have had, volunteer work that you may have been involved in with your company, any leadership positions that you may have held, or projects you have been involved in that you feel may be of value to the company. It's best to have a list ready so that you can begin working on these before you submit yo ur resume.Speaking of which, the next important point to take into consideration is to consider the difficulty of the job you are applying for. If it is a challenging position then you can increase your chances of being hired simply by addressing any issues that need to be worked on.One final important point to take into consideration is to remember that you should have one or two samples that you can use when you are writing your resume. This will ensure that the potential employer knows that you are serious about your new job and that you are confident and knowledgeable about the job you are applying for.

5 Tips on Beating a Video Conference Interview - CareerAlley

5 Tips on Beating a Video Conference Interview - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed. Mark Twain A growing number of companies are now recruiting via video conferencing due to the cost benefits and this has led many quality candidates astray as many candidates fail to realize that succeeding in a video conferencing interview requires different skills to succeeding in a face to face interview. Here are 5 top tips to help you blitz that crucial video conference interview: 1. Plan well in advance Comprised within this are the usual things that you should do anyway such as looking at the type of business culture the company has as well as looking at how your skills job match job description etc. But a video conferencing interview also requires you to be able to set up the equipment, dont make the mistake of assuming that you will just be able to figure out how to set up the equipment 15 minutes before the interview because one of the worse things to happen is that your interviewer is waiting for you while you run over to your next door neighbours house to beg them to help you set up the equipment. Set up the equipment a few times and carry out your own interview via video conference with a friend. This will help familiarize you with the equipment and well as give you a feel for a video conferencing interview. 2. Prepare the environment Remember that everything that the interviewer can see is a reflection on you and shows what kind of person you are therefore make sure that the environment is clean and that the table has no dirt on it. Make sure that the camera is focused on your face and body when you are sat in a comfortable position and if you have pets or children who like to burst into the room making a racket then make appropriate arrangements to tackle this problem such as leaving them at your friends house on the big day. 3. Dont move around too much With the introduction of HD video conferencing and new video formats, it is clear that video conferencing has a come a long way but you dont know how advanced the setup is that your interviewer is using therefore you should assume that they have a cheap set up. Low end systems have a small refresh rate which means give a grainy image when the candidate moves around therefore you should try to not to fidget too much. You want to provide your interviewer with the best quality available for your interview. 4. Take advantage of Picture in Picture Many new video conferencing systems now allow you to see what is being transmitted to the other party. You can use this to see what the interviewer can see which will allow you to make any necessary adjustments during the interview. Have a quick glance at the picture in picture feature to see if you are talking too fast or if your body language is starting to look a little too lax. 5. Remember, you are being interviewed Finally, it is vital that you dont forget that you are being interviewed; dont make the mistake of becoming too friendly or casual with your interviewer. Sit, act and answer questions in the same way as you would if you were taking a face to face interview. Remember to dress accordingly in order to show you interviewer that you are a professional who is taking this interview seriously. Good luck in your search This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Visit me on Facebook

Wanna win Have fun! - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Wanna win Have fun! - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog The Olympic winter games this year offered an extremely rare event in sports history: An athlete won gold in two separate sports. Czech snowboarder?Ester Ledecka shocked everyone by winning gold on skis in the Super-G event and then went on to also win gold in? snowboarding parallel giant slalom. Thats amazing in itself, but what I love even more is her attitude towards her profession: For sure I want to win every race, but the first thing is to enjoy and to have good fun with what Im doing and my sports. Her coach agrees, saying: The joy that she has for riding, the joy that she has for training and working hard is unmatched. What a refreshing change from the Winning is all that matters mentality. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related