Tuesday, October 27, 2009

How Social Networking Can Kill Your Career

So I attended a TV panel discussion in Santa Monica last night. The topic was "Getting in the Writers Room" and one of the panelists was a TV exec who recently started her own consulting practice. She was articulate, knowledgeable and nurturing when she spoke, and I thought, she could be useful! I'm working on a TV pilot, something I've never written before, and it's quite a challenge. The consultant specializes in helping people like me navigate the development process.

I had a good conversation and handshake with this woman after the meeting. Got her card. Then went home and Googled her. Interestingly, her LinkedIn profile felt rather sparse. She had some contacts, but not nearly as many as I would have expected from someone with her years of experience. Hmmm, I was having my doubts. In this business, it's just as much about who you know as what you know. I was willing to pay for knowledge AND contacts. Knowledge alone... maybe. Isn't it interesting that a site like LinkedIn could prove to be a serious liability?

Have you Googled yourself lately? How do you come across to someone stumbling upon your profile? Is your Facebook picture accessible to the general public? Do you want it to be? You'd be surprised by how many people allow just about anyone to see their photos and be able to view all of their friends. Are you sure you want all of that hanging out?

Just a word of caution for those of you who depend upon making a good first impression. Check your LinkedIn and Facebook and whatever else is Googleable. Better to be off those social networks altogether than risk turning away potential clients. Nothing's private these days, unless you work hard to make it that way. The default is letting all your laundry hang out to dry.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, From time to time I "check" out Google to find out who the world thinks I am. Thankfully, my life is like a reality show. It is what it was . . . and it is what it is. I also read your other blog posting about the script of your life. Dr. Henry Cloud, 9 Things You Simply Must Do: To Succeed in Love and Life wrote an excellent book a few years back. It is like my emotional "Bible". He says that we all have the "cringe" factor. Some call it that "still, small, quiet voice" other may call it "intuition", or your "gut". An example...you got to the beauty shop and this hair stylist comes over chewing gum and has an extremely loud voice . . . a vexation to the spirit so to speak. You really don't want her to work on your hair. You do it anyway. You don't listen to your gut or the "cringe" factor. If someone makes you cringe inside your gut...for God's sake, don't let them work on your hair or any body part for that matter!

    I digressed. I was writing about the social networking. I am proud to be a college educated nurse, mother of four, grandmother of seven, author of Caught in the Net, a story of Internet addiction and romance, and author of Just Erase It, a spiritual approach to managing anxiety, AND manage my vacation rental in Florida under the website http://www.justgottagetaway.com Yes, you will find out all of these things and more...like how I almost killed sheep on the road in Ireland, or how I suffered from burnout in nursing a few years ago . . . yes.....you may even find out that I have been married three times (written with my head hanging low). But, I have never been in prison and when I lay my head on the pillow at night, I don't care if I get Googled or Tweeted , , , it is what it is. Sincerely, Miriam

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