Social Media – Why should Baby Boomers care about Social Media?

In my last post I asked is Social Media, Baby Boomers and Careers — an Oxymoron?

There are some of you who get it and a lot that do not.

Last year, I did a presentation at Launch Pad Job Club on using social media in your job search.

I put  up a slide that list all of the major Social media platforms at the time.

My question was

What are your concerns?

What came out overwhelmingly was privacy!

I do not want to tell them how old I am.

My response was then don’t.

I do not want to put my marital status on my Facebook page.

My response was then don’t.

I do not put the year I was born anywhere it is visible.  I do not put my marital status.  I also do not tell anyone on social media that I am a Dire Straits  fan. OOPS just did that!! I want my MTV, I want my MTV, money for nothing and the …. oops that just came out.

You have to decide what you are going to expose.  As a generation we are very private.  Those days of complete privacy are over.

Are you different?

If you are reading this blog you are a consumer of social media.  You likely found this blog post via LinkedIn, Facebook, RSS, Twitter, Google+, Stumbleupon or an e-mail.  If you are a baby boomer you are likely an early adopter for your generation.

Why should we care about social media?

Whether you want to start a business or just want to get hired for a job, being found on Social Media is critical.

I taught a LinkedIn class to small business owners last month.  I had a gentleman who owned an insurance agency for one of the major carriers for over 20 years.  He told me that cold calls from people looking for car, home and casualty insurance had dropped off the last three years.  He still had a lot of referral business but since the yellow pages had became a useless paper weight he needed to find new ways to be found. 

When was the last time you used the Yellow Pages? You do remember the Yellow Pages — RIGHT?

How will your next employer find you? You cannot wait until for the economy to shift.  You cannot wait for the next opportunity to appear. The days of being reactive with your career are over.

My next blog post will be how to make sure your LinkedIn PUBLIC profile shows up first when they search for you on the web by name.  You are probably asking — What is my LinkedIn Public Profile?

We will talk about that and make sure that your LinkedIn PUBLIC profile contains what it should.  My guess is 20-30% of you have nothing in that profile!

Do not forget about the availability of the Cure for Career Insanity webinar series launching May 22nd.

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Marc Miller Career Design Specialist