By @CareerLetters Editorial Staff
The dumpster fire that is the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk burns so hot and bright that it might be difficult to see the beautiful new trend emerging in the workplace: transparency.
Employees of all ranks within Twitter took to the social media platform to announce their sudden layoff. The words “tweet” and “compassion” are rarely used in the same sentence when describing the user experience on Twitter, yet the outpouring of kindness and support from the online community was both stunning and marvelous to behold.
How times have changed.
A layoff used to come with it the inky residue of shame and secrecy and a side order of slumped shoulders thrown in for good measure. Not any longer. In Emma Goldberg’s front-page article in the most recent NY Times Sunday Business print edition, entitled, “When Your Layoff Has a Hashtag,” she writes about the trend of vulnerability that sees employees openly communicate their new job status to their followers:
“It’s the nature of job cuts in an age where people often can’t mourn with officemates at a dive bar, but they can share their reactions with millions online. What was once an intimate experience
and often taboo is now instantly public information. People are posting what was once private since they are remote and cut off from friends. And platforms that ushered in a culture of transparency in other workplaces are seeing that transparency deployed to reveal their own missteps.”
We know it might be difficult for some of our shier social media connections to “put yourself out there” about a layoff or job change, but times have changed. Here are 3 quick tips for leveraging technology and social networks that will have you resuming full-time employment in no time:
· Change your status: when job hunting, turn your status to “looking for work” on your profile.
· Talk to strangers: we know this goes against everything your mother taught you! Data suggests that it pays to seek out and follow friends of friends in your industry The online edition of Science recently reported the results of a study where 20 million users tested LinkedIn’s “People You May Know” algorithm, which recommends connections to users. The study showed that weak ties increase job transmissions, with the weakest ties having the greatest impact on job mobility, whereas the strongest ties had the least.
· Don’t burn a bridge: avoid excess emotion directed to specific people or organizations out of your post when announcing your layoff: you never know where you’ll end up next and who you’ll meet when you get there. You’ll never go wrong, keeping things upbeat and professional on the way out.
CareerLetters is a professional branding boutique company specializing in resume writing and LinkedIn profile optimization. Check out www.careerletters.com for more information or to schedule a consult.