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Saturday, June 27, 2015

New Age networking: 3 strategies more effective than asking someone to coffee

IMAGE: KEVIN KOZICKI/CORBIS

SARA MCCORD for The Muse

1 day ago

Before those who read this title think I've abandoned everything I stand for: Don't worry, I still love coffee. I am the stereotypical remote worker who seeks refuge from writer's block in a coffee shop. I drink nearly as much as Lorelai Gilmore, and whenever I want to catch up with a friend I suggest we meet for coffee.

However, I'll admit that this isn't always an effective networking strategy. As the writer Deborah Copaken Kogan includes on her contact page "but please refrain from asking her to…go on a coffee date…it's hard enough to find an hour to have coffee with a friend."

Therein lies the problem in asking networking contacts to meet for coffee: There's a good chance they'll respond that they're "too pressed for time." And, it's no doubt true. (Seriously, look no further than here, here, and here). So, if you're hoping to connect with someone new or particularly busy, try moving your requests online. You'll get the same results (new connections!) without all those the back-and-forth "when and where" emails.

1. Use Twitter to share your work

As the resident Twitter evangelist on The Daily Muse team Lily Herman writes, "...Twitter is one of the best networking tools (if not the best) out there...Without exerting too much energy, you can put a plan in place and start to see your networking connections — and professional opportunities — rack up."

Herman goes on to explain how you can

use hashtags, questions, and your current network to foster connections over Twitter.

use hashtags, questions, and your current network to foster connections over Twitter. The idea here is that while someone may be hard-pressed to find 30 minutes (or more!) to meet for coffee, he or she probably has time to tweet you back. And, if you tweet with someone more regularly — and she's responding — you'll start to build a relationship. Once someone follows you, you can then DM him or her to continue the conversation over email.

Need proof this approach works? Just last week, someone tweeted me that he scored a 100% on the Grammar Quiz I shared. He then asked if that was worth me reviewing his infographic. I was impressed — with the score and the tweet — and asked him to DM me a link to it. If he'd asked me for coffee to discuss the possibility of collaborating, I would've said no — but this 10-second request was easy to say yes to.

2. Use LinkedIn to share your resume

Some people just aren't into Twitter, so no matter how strategically you tweet at them, they won't respond because they rarely log in. Next stop: LinkedIn.

Before you say, "Duh, everyone's resume is on LinkedIn," remember that there's a difference between a person clicking on your page just to see if you share a past employer or alma mater, and someone actually reading your professional history.

I still remember when Muse career expert Lily Zhang reached out to me over LinkedIn. Not only did she send me a personal note, but as soon as I accepted her request, she went to my profile and endorsed me for some of the skills she had mentioned in the message. This demonstrated to me that she really had read my articles, and naturally, I immediately went to her profile to endorse the skills I knew she had. And while I was there, I read her profile.

This method could work for anyone, and it's a much more strategic — and likely — way to get a contact to view your summary and resume than asking to meet for coffee so that you may discuss your career aspirations.

3. Use Instagram to be in touch

One of the secrets to really connecting over social media is to figure out your contact's preferred platform.

One of the secrets to really connecting over social media is to figure out your contact's preferred platform. While you may think that Instagram is just for personal photos, people now use it in all sorts of ways. From sharing industry-related quotes to using it as another profile to share their work, many people do utilize it for professional purposes — making it a great way to reach them.

As with Twitter, just following someone isn't enough to build a connection. You'll want to interact with the person you'd like to be in touch with. Of course, there are a few things to keep in mind. I shy away from requesting private Instagram profiles unless it's someone I already know. (Because if someone's account is private, odds are this is not a platform he uses to network with new people.)

Also, it's important not to act like you know someone you've never met. Sure if someone posts a photo of a beautiful place or of themselves all dressed up or of a cute child, it's pretty standard for followers to like and comment accordingly. But if you tell a stranger that you notice her husband always poses on her right side or that she has worn her hair the same way to every fancy event lately (a.k.a., things only a BFF or her aunt would say), you're crossing over into creepy territory.

Instead, comment on professional posts — pictures of the office, of that person traveling for work, or of events he or she has attended. A comment that you "also loved the keynote at [ABC event] especially when she mentioned [this cool thing]" is a much better way to go than the comment above. While an influencer might not have time to meet with you for coffee to discuss a recent speaking engagement, through Instagram, you can get on her radar.

You still can ask to meet people for coffee (I know I do). But if you find that you're having troublegetting a "yes" to your networking request, try one of the strategies above. Then, buy yourself that cup of coffee for victory's sake when you hear back from someone you've been dying to connect with.

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The majority of Americans lose sleep over money problems, survey says

IMAGE: © IMAGEBROKER/CORBIS

BY SAMANTHA COONEY1 DAY AGO

If you’re tossing and turning over financial woes at night, you're not alone.

62% of Americans lose sleep over financial problems including worrying about how to pay for retirement and education, a new survey from CreditCards.com shows.

SEE ALSO: Whip Your Finances Into Shape With These 3 Helpful Sites

The results showed that the most common money worry was the cost of retirement — with Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 saying they’re the most concerned about retirement costs. CreditCards.com teamed up with Princeton Survey Research Associates International to compile the data by conducting telephone interviews with 1,000 Americans.

But for millennials’ financial nightmares are focused on how to pay for school, which was the only financial worry included in the survey to actually get worse since the recession. But that statistic shouldn’t be surprising — after all, the national student loan debt is close to a staggering $1.4 trillion.

“Retirement is the biggest worry, but worries about education expenses are growing,” Matt Schultz, a senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, told Mashable. “

At this rate, paying for school could soon be America’s biggest worry

At this rate, paying for school could soon be America’s biggest worry.”

The survey shows that the nation is not quite back to pre-recession numbers: 56% in 2007.

Though a majority of Americans are losing sleep over their finances, the numbers are getting better.

The same survey found 69% of Americans weren’t sleeping soundly at the height of the recession in 2009.

And getting back to those numbers, according to Schultz, will largely rely on millennials.

“They’ve come of age in the worst economy since the great depression, a horrible job market,” Schultz said. “The question is still out there whether this will shape their views permanently or if their views will evolve as the economy gets better. And that’s still the great unknown in all of this.”

One financial concern that’s still a wildcard for millennials is credit cards. Credit card debt caused the least sleep loss out of any of the financial worries included in the survey — perhaps, in part, because millennials are increasingly less likely to own their own cards. Though Schultz says it's unclear whether millennials will continue to avoid Visa and AmEx as the economy gets better.

But one group of Americans, according to the survey, is having sweet dreams.

The wealthy were more likely to get a good night’s sleep, which probably can’t only be attributed to 1500-thread-count Egyptian-cotton sheets.

“They say money can’t buy you love or happiness, but it can apparently buy you a better night’s sleep,” Schultz said.

The rewards and challenges of being a woman in the tech industry: A firsthand account

IMAGE: FLICKR, U.S. EMBASSY TEL AVIV

BY QUORA2 DAYS AGO

This question originally appeared on Quora.

What is it like to be a woman working in the tech industry? I'm particularly interested in the experiences of engineers, but the question is open to any job function at a tech company (legal, administrative, executive, management, etc). Does the disproportionate gender ratio make for awkward situations?

Answer below by Quora user Rebekah Cox.

TL;DR: Being a woman in the tech industry is awesome if you love technology enough to push through the more difficult parts.

Right off the bat, a disclaimer: It's very difficult to answer this question broadly. Not all experiences are the same.

Right off the bat, a disclaimer: It's very difficult to answer this question broadly. Not all experiences are the same. However, I can share my personal experience because it might contribute to some larger themes. So, here's my answer, [from the perspective of] a product designer who has spent over a decade building products and has spent the last four years building products and managing people in Silicon Valley.

Act 1: Unfortunate reality

The environment is generally rough: Girls are raised differently from boys. Not all girls and not all boys are raised the same, obviously, but on average girls are more sheltered than boys in their formative years. Girls are typically raised with kid gloves and rarely receive the hard, direct and tough feedback of their male counterparts. This is important because the technology environment is tough and has been built on a foundation of direct feedback. There are very established and elaborate structures that facilitate nerd "trash talk." So, if you enter this environment as a woman without any sort of agenda or understanding of this culture, [you'll find the culture seems as if it's verbally abusive]. To the guys, this is perfectly normal, expected and encouraged behavior — but to women, this is completely out of nowhere and [can be] extremely discouraging.

As a technical woman, this is your introduction, and the first thing you have to learn is how to get back up and walk right back into a situation where the likelihood of getting punished for participating is [a reality]. How you choose to react to this determines the rest of your career in technology. If it's too painful, you'll retreat to management; if you can tough it out, your career will still likely be limited because the very tools you develop to survive have other social consequences.

You generally feel alone: Because the environment is so rough and generally hostile, the women who can navigate it are a very small, select group. It's rare to encounter another woman and even rarer to encounter another technical woman.

Overall, it's awesome to encounter other women because while you grow accustomed to quirks of a room full of men (the jostling, the chest beating, the pissing contests, the egos, etc.), it does get old. When another woman is thrown into that mix, you get to avoid the old script and reevaluate the dynamic so it's more interesting.

However, you and everyone else is accustomed to women in the facilitator manager role, not in the role of making technical decisions. Typically, your collaborative and directional contributions almost always fare better than your technical contributions. If you pay attention to those social cues, you may start to subtly pull yourself out of the rough and tumble technical decision-making and retreat into the facilitation role. If you ignore the social cues, you have to assert yourself aggressively into the technical conversation and take some lumps. If you choose that aggressive path, you will be even more alone because those likely less technical women in the room with you don't have the expertise to back you up.

Act 2: Fortunate reality

You have access to opportunities (you are NOT actually alone): Even the aforementioned nerd trash talk is actually a useful tool that can help you. The reason that culture exists is to make everyone in the group better. The fact that you are getting [verbally] hit in the face means that someone is either wrong and you can hit back with a correct answer, or that you are wrong and someone is letting you know that directly.

Sticking it out means you are learning in an accelerated environment with instant correction.

Sticking it out means you are learning in an accelerated environment with instant correction.

Furthermore, if you stick around long enough, you can find people who aren't completely insecure and are confident enough to not resort to insults to assert themselves. Those people make the tough environment tolerable. If you can help each other then you can establish a safer zone to talk through ideas. And since those more secure people are typically so secure because they are really, really good, you can find yourself in an informational jet-stream.

Opportunities also exist in the form of "help" from others pushing you forward, and help in the form of others who don't let you get away with anything. Help might be treating you like everyone else. Help might be from the powerful women who may not make the perfect guidepost, but are available and will make time for you. For me personally, a huge turning point was working at Quora. I remember realizing how the founders had trusted me with this incredible challenge involved with taking responsibility for building Quora's product and interface. It was the first time I was able to take responsibility directly, which is a remarkable opportunity.

Results matter and are powerful: The technology world isn't a perfect meritocracy, but it's close enough and awesome results do matter. Whatever barrier is in front of you, an amazing product that gets traction will cut through it. The same is true for an awesome abstraction that boasts a 50% speed improvement or generates elegant code that enables future efficiency. The absence of an outright block means that making something great can open many closed doors. Just knowing that is possible is very encouraging.

Additionally, if you push through the crap and have major contributions to make, no one is going to be able to ignore your results, nor will they want to.

At the end of the day, everyone in technology wants to turn a dollar into ten and then into a thousand; it's essentially a culture built on hope and results.

At the end of the day, everyone in technology wants to turn a dollar into ten and then into a thousand; it's essentially a culture built on hope and results. The barriers to entry are pretty low and inexpensive. Start building, learn JavaScript, publish thoughts — all of these building blocks are readily accessible. Use them. Get results. People will give you money to get more results.

Being a woman in tech is a competitive advantage: Developing new technologies is about oscillating from extreme focus (for designing and programming and building) to wide open creative exploration (in order to understand people and their motivations as well as their problems). As a woman thinking about these complex issues, you have a rich and deep understanding around details like safety and privacy but also around tone and cooperative communication and gathering feedback. You also have this ability to obsess about the details others may ignorantly avoid. That's not even the faintest outline of the unique characteristics women bring [to the table]. When half of all consumers are women, being able to tap into those women to use your product is obviously huge. Not enough women capitalize on this advantage, but that doesn't make it less meaningful.

Conclusion

Technology is awesome: Being a woman in technology means being surrounded by amazing technology and crazy smart and ambitious people all the time. Being a technical woman means being able to join in on the fun and building things for people as a path toward making their lives better. How awesome is that?

This answer has been abridged. Find the full response on Quora here.

More Q&A on Quora: the best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from the experts and get insider knowledge.

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Mashable Job Board Listings

The Mashable Job Board connects job seekers across the U.S. with unique career opportunities in the digital space. While we publish a wide range of job listings, we have selected a few job opportunities from the past several weeks to help get you started. Happy hunting!

Editor - Netted by the Webbys at The Webby Awards in New York, New York
Social Media Manager at Mobile Media Summit in Los Angeles, California
Director, Press & Communications at Viacom Media Networks in Santa Monica, California

Job hunting? Check out 170+ openings at CBS, Reuters and more

IMAGE: FLICKR, JONATHAN MUELLER

BY SUE YING TAY2 DAYS AGO

Are you looking for a new career? The Mashable Job Board is the ideal place to search for your next big move. More than 3,000 employers in tech and digital have posted on our board, and they're looking to fill positions from Mashable's community. Twice a week, we highlight five recently posted openings. Check out some of this week's newest, below, and be sure to read our Job Search Series for valuable career tips.

Position: Account Executive

Company: CBS Interactive
Location: New York, New York

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the premier online content network for information and entertainment. With more than 280 million people visiting its properties each month, CBS Interactive is a top Web property globally. The Account Executive is responsible for managing all aspects of sales generation for CBS.com, CBSNews.com in his/her assigned territory/vertical in order to consistently meet or exceed territory sales goals.

Position: Ad Tech Optimization Analyst

Company: CafeMom
Location: Los Angeles, California

This position involves coordinating, trafficking and optimizing online advertising campaigns running on www.cafemom.com, www.babynamewizard.com and www.mamaslatinas.com. You will gain in-depth knowledge in this dynamic & rapidly evolving industry while working with senior management to understand client objectives/goals and lead the optimization of campaigns.

Position: Head of Business Development

Company: Urban Icon
Location: Los Angeles, California

Netted is a publication from the team at The Webby Awards that hits the inboxes of over half-a-million people daily. We aim to deliver “better living through the Internet” by featuring one site, app, service, or product each day that helps people navigate their lives and solve basic problems (and we have a lot of fun doing it). We’re looking an enthusiastic and excited Editor to join the Netted team and work with us in our office here at The Webby Awards.

Position: Mobile Marketing Manager

Company: Reuters TV - Thomson Reuters
Location: New York, New York

Ui Culture is launching a digital brand and lifestyle platform for the global urban audience. The Head of Business Development will oversee all advertising, marketing and business issues related to sales. Head of Biz. Dev will create strategies and sales presentations to brands and corporations, negotiations, and sales closing. The Company is located in Los Angeles, CA, also doing business in London.

Position: Social Media Manager

Company: Company Confidential
Location: Los Angeles, California

Our small but mighty team is highly ambitious, ridiculously innovative, and certifiably badass. Based in the hills of Hollywood, we’re looking for a technically skilled and creatively versed Social Media Manager to join our Messaging team and help infuse our products, emails, ads, and more with the personality of that person everyone wants to be friends with.

Check out more career opportunities on the Mashable Job Board. New positions are posted daily, ranging from entry-level to C-suite positions.

How you can do less to achieve more in your career

IMAGE: CORBIS TIM ELLIS/IKON IMAGES

LEA MCLEOD MA for The Muse

3 days ago

I was in a Starbucks this morning and looked around. Every single person I could see — dressed in his or her business finest — was perched in place, looking down at a phone. Swiping, texting, and furrowed brows galore.

Being busy seems to be the national pastime. Just think: How many times have you picked up your cell phone at 11 PM and fired off responses to email? More is better — right?

Our always-on mindset may have deluded you into thinking that's true, but research doesn't agree. There's a science-backed reason we have a 40-hour workweek. Researchers proved that 40 hours optimized productivity. After 40 hours, the more work hours added, the less that actually gets done. It's called the law of diminishing returns.

And if you look at the most successful people in the world — from corporate executives to elite musicians — their lives also prove that more is, well, not more. If you want the same kind of success in your career, look to these star performers and learn how to do less.

Think like an executive

Look around at the executives in your organization. Do they know exactly what it's going to take to earn their quarterly or year-end bonuses? Of course they do! Do they answer every email they get? Probably not — especially not the ones that don't align with their key performance goals.

Spend a week or two observing those executives. They are singularly focused on what they're accountable for achieving. Every request they make, every question they ask in a presentation, and every email they send out is focused on those goals.

Now, apply that to your own work. If your compensation was tied only to you achieving your top goals, how would that change your day? Would you really drop everything to attend that meetingthat doesn't actually require your input? Would you spend 20 minutes on a conference call, when you could easily get the notes from a co-worker? Think about it.

If you aren't clear on what your goals are, get with your manager and make sure you know exactly how your performance will be measured. Then become the CEO of your job (because that's exactly what you are!).

Practice like an elite musician

Elite violinists may not be bound by the same 40-hour work week, but the same principle applies. Research found that these high performers practiced no more than the mediocre musicians. Instead, they simply focused their practice times to twice-daily 90-minute sessions, took breaks in between those sessions, and got more sleep.

The results? They outperformed the average musicians who spread their practice times throughout the day.

Elite violinists consistently and deliberately practice twice a day for 90 minutes each time, without interruption. Then — recognizing the law of diminishing returns — they walk away.

You can compress your key priority work into similar sessions. Simply focus solely on your most valued tasks, without interruption or distraction, for 90 minutes. Take a break in between, and then get back to your deliberate focus.

That interruption-free zone is important. Numerous studies conclude that focused, distraction-free work zones allow you to get more done in less time. Not convinced? Try working for one day without constantly checking email, social media, or texts while you work. You'll clearly see that avoiding interruptions is your path to productivity success.

Sleep like a world-class performer

No matter how much you work, working in a fatigued state sabotages your results.

Those elite musicians I mentioned? They took naps in the afternoon and got a solid eight hours of sleep per night. It turns out that being able to embrace a relaxed state — by getting enough sleep and feeling rested — is essential to being able to perform at a world-class level.

As a busy professional, it can certainly be challenging to get the recommended amount of sleep each night. But adjusting your schedule is worth it — you'll immediately begin to reap the benefits, from lower risk of health issues to improved productivity.

By starting these practices now, you'll start getting in shape for your own elite career performance. Being distracted by social media and constant interruptions takes your eye off the ball — and off your chances to excel. If you think like an executive and behave like a world-class musician, you'll be building the discipline, rigor, and patience to get more done by doing less.

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