OK… I’m back! There were about 40 students in the class. All but three were from out of the area. Most were business students with a sprinkling of nursing majors. I asked them a lot of questions so I knew where I stood.

How Many have a Facebook? 38

Twitter? 3

LinkedIn? 39 — Seriously? The professor chimed in… it was a class project.

How many of you use your LinkedIn profile? 2

Who has a personal website or blog? 1

How do you think social media can advance your career goals? Nada.…..

It might be shocking to learn that most college students think that companies just use social media to see if you posted “bad” photos of yourself and to read your online resume. That’s why I love to speak to students.. to let them know they can be in the driver’s seat of their careers by following and friending their future colleagues, gleaning expert advice from industry professionals, meeting mentors, questioning companies about career paths.. all while they are viewed as non-threatening knowledge seekers.

When I entered the room I put a stack of business cards on the desk and invited students to network with me. Though they didn’t ask many questions they did ask important ones. On the way out several took me up on my offer to connect. I also suggested that perhaps Career Services might consider creating an online community for each graduating class and recruit mentors to interact with students.

Students who take advantage of online professional networking early in their college career will grow an army of soldiers that will be their best resources when it comes the second half of senior year and the job search begins.

What advice do you have for students?

My last unendeavor is an unblog post, a random stream if consciousness, no structure.

There are no social media experts, there are marketers, PR, HR, Recruiters, people who use social media applications to do what they have always done. This is just another tool. I went to the local community college today and spoke with 8 single mothers trying to make a life for themselves by juggling parenting, school and work. They were scared. They meet weekly to discuss life skills, I’m glad because they need it.

A local museum is closing due to State budget cuts, that’s not good for children who take field trips there to learn history and culture. Dancing with the Stars is reinventing Kelly Osbourne, she is maturing before my eyes. There must be a better alternative to the cat litter currently available. When I lived in Mexico there was no cat litter, I used to go the lumber mill and get bags of wood shavings. Sarah Palin just doesn’t go away.

Recently I purchased a Nikon SLR starter camera, a D3000 and I think I have a future in food photography. I took a photo of a tray of canoli today that I couldn’t stop staring at. I don’t sleep much during the week because I have a lot I want to accomplish but I make it up on the weekends. When someone asks me what keeps me up at night I can’t come up with anything. Nothing is worth losing sleep over.

Homes in Europe and other places last hundreds of years because they are built of brick and stone. Why are we like gerbils spinning wheels building houses of wood that get ripped apart in hurricane zones, rot and get eaten by termites. Aren’t we smarter than that? Why do I get mail order catalogs with website URLs in big letters on the front cover?

Having to renew dog licenses every year is ridiculous. Why are human births and deaths registered but not those of other domesticated animals unless they are pedigree? I’m trying to figure out what law of physics governs individual strands of fur to find one another and clump together to create fur balls, same with dust bunnies. Some enterprising person should go around neighborhoods and offer maintenance contracts just like condo communities have. I would pay it. Kind of a one stop shop for yard work, handyman stuff, snow removal, housekeeping, security, etc.

I want a necklace with a pendant that is a hard drive and mobile phone that I can activate by the sensor reading my thumb print and it projecting a touch screen monitor and keyboard on the surface of my choosing. I want seamless applications. I don’t want to have to sync my smart phone with my computer and I don’t want to have to carry them around either. I like to travel light. It needs to be scanable to pay for purchases and be stylish. It should be customizable like a locket with interchangeable covers to match your mood or your clothing. Actually, I’m disappointed. We have put people on the moon and we don’t have this yet? I’m sensing our priorities are mixed up.

Shouldn’t world hunger have been solved by now? I’m not a speciesist and I  view eating animals the same as cannibalism. If I had no food choices I might eat another animal to survive but I would only do it for survival. I can’t wrap my mind around murdering, cooking, eating and saying yum.. I think maybe it’s why nothing keeps me up at night.

I can be as abstract as the next person but I want some structure back in my conferences. Not lectures precisely, more workshop style. I feel like I’m unconferencing all the time, it’s one of the things social media is good for. If I want to have a discussion with like minded people I start a thread somewhere and now a wave, and ask people to join in. I don’t need to fly or drive somewhere to do that. To me that’s just good old networking so lets call a spade a spade..

That was cathartic. Now it’s time for some sleep.

Cindy gets an entry level job as a rep and she’s a natural. She works well independently, doesn’t need hand holding, has great attendance and plenty of compliment calls. She meets the goals then exceeds them and becomes a top agent. A supervisor position opens up and she applies. Management is so enamored with Cindy she’s a shoo-in and gets the position. It’s party time.

It should be fright fest. The same qualities that made her a stellar agent may in fact not make her a fit at all for a leadership role. Her high need to please people, focus on one call at a time, work independently and never deviate from a script are not desired leadership qualities. Cindy is being set up for failure not success unless before she jumps into her new role the company has an established training program for new leaders. Not only is she at risk, so is the staff that will report to her.

Leadership training in the call center world where billing is per hour (or call or minute) per body is rare. It’s so fast paced most promotions occur due to a painful sudden vacancy or gap due to growth. The philosophy of hiring from within an organization that has few leadership positions is viewed as a huge benefit and keeps agents dangling and dreaming. Most new leaders spend a few days job shadowing another overworked underpaid colleague singing deja vu under their breath wishing the underling would go away so they could get some work done.

Call centers are just an example that stands out in my mind from personal experience of hand holding new supervisors and managers who don’t know the first thing about managing people that are not on the other end of a phone line. Sadly, just like many of the agents they are dumped into managing, they often don’t last very long and often they take people down with them. Sales organizations and retail are similarly prone to promoting top producers who lack administrative discipline (cool impressive qualification, huh?).

What if you find yourself in that position? I would suggest asking about professional development opportunity and training in the interview. However, if you know none exists you’ll shoot yourself in the foot asking that. But do have a discussion with yourself and someone outside of work that you trust to weigh the pros and cons of jumping into a fire face first. Because you’re going to accept the offer if extended to you, that was just an exercise in weighing pros and cons, mostly for posterity’s sake.

Accept the offer and celebrate!

When you come down from cloud nine it’s important to recognize your strengths in product knowledge, persuasiveness, patience and ability to learn new things and apply them quickly. It’s even more important to recognize you have a lot to learn and have been given a significant opportunity to prove just how Houdini you are and surprise the masses.

• Assemble a personal advisory board of professionals you trust that are willing to mentor you and be a sounding board
• Bookmark and devote time daily to The Free Nonprofit Micro-eMBA℠
• Make a visit to your HR Manager and ask for a recurring weekly appointment to learn how to deal with employee relations issues and review company policy in detail until you’re up to speed
• Join the American Management Association’s site for free and take advantage of as many free webinars as you possibly can
• Take advantage of any tuition reimbursement available through your employer to take management and business classes at your local community college where the funds will go much further than at a 4 yr school
• If not provided to you, ask for a development plan with specific SMART goals
• Ensure you understand guidelines concerning employee / manager relationships and act accordingly

The road can be pretty bumpy and can affect your personal and home relationships if you allow it so use your personal advisory board and trusted friends you don’t work with to guide and listen to you. Taking your job home with you will create a train wreck and so will confiding in your ex-peers. Ask for frequent feedback from your manager and request coaching sessions if they are not scheduled for you for at least the first year.

Becoming a successful leader can be like climbing the mountain in The Little Engine that Could. It’s not for everyone and you just may find it’s not your thing after all. You’ll find out by giving it all you have and an honest chance. You just might find it’s exhilarating, fulfilling and rewarding.

Good luck, here’s to your success!