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Becoming a Blogger

25 January, 2010 in The Story | 2 comments

Me? A Blogger? I didn’t read blogs, why would anybody want to read what is coming out of my head? Several months later I am still blogging and people are enjoying what I write about whether the story, data analytics or even my rants. Hopefully, I can keep this up and the sentences do not stop flowing out of my head. Does this surprise me? Very much so. This person who does not like words has strung together nearly 20 posts and has a small following which I never thought I would have, ever, so thank you again for all of your support. I must admit though, it has not been smooth sailing through this part of the journey but very rewarding.

I had problems from the very beginning with social media and I needed a good kick on the bum to get myself motivated to start (Online Presence). I had struggled with social networking and I had been an extremely private person. Blogging meant that I would be losing more of my privacy to the public domain. I would have to be really out there to promote my blog so eventually that job will be mine.

I had read a few blogs and most of the posts were less than 500 words. I can’t fit what I want to say in 500 words or less, what can I tell people? I write The Story Begins and I make it fit on an A4 size, 500 odd words. That was my benchmark, fit on an A4 size and it won’t be too long, those are the rules.

I was ready to post in all my groups and my networks. I was nervous. I timidly post onto my networks then to my groups. I had installed a flag counter on the website, I had my 4 friends in Australia and my connection from the US who knew about the site. I was looking at the flag counter and saying to myself, “This is going to depress me watching these flags not move”. As I login to delete the script, the flags start moving with additional flags! My first post and people are hitting my site, unbelievable! Though the data from the flag counter does not compare to the data coming from GA but from my understanding different analytics packs calculate data differently.

You have to post every week, I had been told. Every week! I don’t have that much to say, let alone write! I post the next 2 parts of my story in a very feverish state. Then I decide to build my own website, (Online Presence) it takes 3 weeks, which means something I suppose in social media circles, a long time between postings. This is my first posting in more than 6 weeks :-? .

The next posting is JobCAMP, I also post my first rant, After Sales Service…. I only post details of the rant on my wall in FB, my one friend knew how I felt about hanging on the phone forever. I had not posted in the LI network, it was sitting there on my blog so I could get it off my chest. I receive my first comment for a rant on the blog then the comment from Sheryar, I could not believe my little rant had stirred someone to write such a conscientious comment. I was extremely flattered.

I’ve reached my 500 words, that’s it, no more words :lol: .

The next couple of posts, not much was happening, I was losing my engaged audience :cry: then The Campaign. I post in my groups, titled, “Social Networking and the faux pas of a Beginner”. I had just finished my postings and the visitors to my LI profile and my blog were incredible. My blog visits had surpassed any other posting by more than 10 fold, an overwhelming response. Yeah, I had 2 before, now I have 20 :lol: .   When I woke in the morning, my mailbox was bombarded with comments from groups. I had never seen so many! :-)

Since blogging, I have received online and offline comments giving me a pat on the back, saying I was brave for telling my story. This is all really nice but not what I am blogging for. I am not brave, I only assume everybody else would feel the same way if they were in my position. I just want to increase my chances of finding that job, if people can get a smile out of my story then all the better ;-) . I have also received notes from others who said that I had encouraged them to get their act together. This is always heartening. But all comments I receive, online or offline,  make it all worthwhile as I have been able to reach out to someone who I would not have touched before blogging :-D .

Where are the rough waters? Blog is running smoothly and I have all this attention. The Campaign ends with “But what now?”. I had arrived at another “but what now” moment, not only in the story but also in real life. I was not enjoying blogging at all. Communicatons had stopped from the first posting. I struggled from then on as I just did not know what I was doing. I was not enjoying the self promoting and I was not enjoying writing about myself as said before I had been an extremely private person.

I reached out because of my confusion as to what to do with the blog. Advice was given and I decided to stop blogging. I did not feel I had the passion. I started to write my final post, introduction, draft of the body and conclusion when I received one of these heartening notes. Which made me stop and think again, always dangerous :lol: . There is a reason why I am blogging, to increase my profile so I can find that job. I cannot stop, I haven’t found that job!

When I first started blogging, I did the Wikipedia lookup,

The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read.

I wanted to take pride of my blog. I was not happy with some of my postings. I could see that I was not holding my new visitors so I went back and rewrote the one’s I had feverishly posted including the first one, more than 500 words now . After another 3 week hiatus, I wrote Online Presence and managed to keep the following I had achieved with the previous posting.

I have this sense of renewed energy and passion for my blog. I start writing my data analytics posts, same response but a different group people reading my posts. I said I was not going to rant but I am and another different crowd. With this new energy, my blog and I are now in harmony and my readership continues to grow with every posting. The blog is also recieving new visitors via direct entries, don’t know where these people are coming from as I only promote my blog in the LI network. I also decided that I was not going to post every week and not have a limit on my words as I would prefer to produce quality over quantity. Why don’t you subscribe to the blog using the above FeedBurner just enter your email addresss so you don’t miss out on any posts :-) .

The blog has three channels to increase my profile and find that job. I now call myself a blogger and even have a business card noting that I blog :-) . I have received leads and many more leads since I started posting data analytics on the blog. I am really, really enjoying reaching out to people and knowing people are enjoying my blog. I am now at the stage of my story where I am today, a business analyst and blogger, still looking for that job. I know there will be more stories to tell of my journey and hopefully, soon, I will be posting the day I got that job ;-) .

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The Statistician is a Slut

11 December, 2009 in Data Analytics, Rant | 11 comments

I was watching the late night news when a program that is shown at an earlier time The 7pm Project came on. I usually don’t watch at that time as I am watching the ABC news. This was on the Friday, 4th December.

Dr Karl was being interviewed about his science. There was an item regarding how all of mankind had originated from the east coast of Africa. At the end they were discussing the analysis of the data. Out of blue Dr Karl says, “Statisticians are the sluts of the maths world” as quoted by Adam Spencer. I have gone back to the original clip online but the segment has been cut out. I wonder why?

So there I was sitting, thinking I am a slut of the maths world. Hmmm. My sister would be laughing her head off if she heard anybody call me a slut! Something I cannot imagine, I don’t think anybody can. Making love with maths. :-|

What is a slut? A floozy. I remember when I was young, being crazy in nightclubs and friends calling me a floozy, “go on, flitter away”.  What was I doing? Going around and saying “hello” to all my friends in all areas of the club. Nothing wrong with that, I had a wide variety of friends with all different backgrounds.

If this is the case, that I can take my maths where ever I like, where people from all different disciplines know that I will understand them, know what they are trying to do with the numbers and they will understand my analysis. Then I don’t mind being called a slut of the maths world, not many people can say that they can understand maths which ever way you look at it.

So Adam, you are just jealous that I can take my maths to any discipline, whether corporate or research and any industry. Yes, I am a slut of the maths world but I am proud of being able to understand the numbers, interpret so people can understand and use the analysis in the manner required. 8)

 

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Data Analytics?!!

27 October, 2009 in Data Analytics | 20 comments

Can data analytics stimulate your imagination?

A blogger writing about data analytics. Where to begin? I start researching the subject that has come so easily to me in life. Why do I like working in data analytics? After many false starts, I came across the “Did you know?” series on YouTube. There are many versions and different themes. The first, “The progression of information technology” researched by Karl Fisch and the second by AndromedasWake’s Channel.

Now after looking at that with eyes and mouth open with the pumping beat in the background, let’s take a breath and look at what we found out in the last 5 minutes. (Additional information has been updated from teachertube, Social media revolution)

The People
China total population 1,300,000,000. (Imagine an auditorium with 1300 people and then imagine another 1 million of these auditoriums :-o )

US total population less than India – 25% population with the highest IQ’s

Technical information doubling every 2 years

Today learner will have 10-14 jobs by the time they reach 38yrs old
¼ people employed < 1 year
½ people employed < 5 yrs

2010 - top 10 jobs did not exists in 2004

1/8 married couples in the US met online

In the last 5 minutes, US – 67 babies, China – 274 babies, India – 395 babies

The world is changing as it should. We won’t be able to say to our children “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And the first touch with our life partner may be over cyberspace and not in person.

The Technology
Text Messages
1992 - First sent
Today - Sent everyday exceeds the population of the planet

Google searches
2006 – 2.7 billion a month
Today – 31 billion

Years to reach 50 million
Radio - 38 years
TV - 13 years
Internet - 4 years
iPod - 3 years
FB - less than 9 months (100 million users)
iPod apps - 9 months (1 billion hits)

FB  a country it would be 4th largest between the US and Indonesia but China Qzone larger with over 300 million using there services

Internet devices
1984 - 1,000 (Remember where you were and what type of computer you were using)
1992 - 1,000,000
2008 - 1,000,000,000

Data transfer – 14 trillions (short – 10^12, long – 10^18) bits per second
CD’s = 2,660 per second
Phone calls = 210 million per second

2013 – computer with the computational power of human brain
2049 – computer with the computational power of the entire human species

In the last 5 minutes, 694,000 songs downloaded illegally (I can honestly say I have never downloaded a song illegally :-) )

Technology has made us find different ways of reaching out to more and more people in a shorter time. We no longer have to wait for the news, the news now comes to us. I did not know about MJ’s death until well into the late afternoon when we knew in the early morning. So goes to show if you do turn everything off you may never know but you will eventually find out using one of the mediums, it was FB.

The Knowledge
Words – 540,000 (English language)
                 5x more than in Shakespeare’s time

New York Times – one week is more than information than a lifetime in the 18th century.

Unique information this year 4 exabytes (4×10^19) will be more than the previous 5,000 years.

Wikipedia – 13 million articles
New articles - 156.23 per hour

Blogs – 2,000,000,000 (Can you hear me?)
               54% post content or tweet daily

The people and the technology have given us an amazing knowledge base. Everybody wants to share information, even me! ( makes you wonder what did all the ADD people do before the internet?)

Whether or not you believe the numbers is a totally different question (and won’t be discussed in this forum). What we have done here is all to do with the numbers. We are comparing where we are now to where we once were. Another title for this series is called “Shift Happens”. We are comparing our population change, our technology growth, our extensive knowledge and how we transfer this knowledge all around the world. The numbers show that we have been able to achieve so much in such a short time and the ability to achieve so much more.

 

The AndromedasWake’s version of Did you know? This one made me think about the variances we have in our numbers.(The last 1min 15secs are pretty pictures)

The Universe
Age – aprrox. 13.7 billion years
Size – expands 93 billion light years, 3 dimensions - it has no edge or centre, Matter & energy - less than 5% is detectable (What is the other 95%?), 100 billion galaxies, septillions (short, 10^24, long, 10^42, so many zeros :-| , doesn’t matter which scale) of stars
Birth – can be reckoned to 10 tredecillionths (short, 10^42 or long, 10^72) of a second before time began (Can we fathom that amount of time?)
No one knows what happen prior to this time (nothing to measure :-( )

The Knowledge
Sun – light generated takes 10,000 years to reach the surface from the centre.
Exoplanet - twice the size of Jupiter and orbits its sun in 3.2 earth days. (All 4 seasons in 3.2 days)
Shooting stars – millions occur everyday
Neutron star – rotates at 716 times per second, the equator surface achieving 24% the speed of light
Gammar ray burst – releases as much energy in a few seconds than the sun in it’s lifetime
Milkyway – 15 satellite galaxies orbiting
Venus – one day is longer than its year
Saturn – density is so low, the entire planet would float on water
Pluto – water ice is harder than steel

In contrast to the first Did you know, no thump, thump, thump in the background. And also the contrast in the numbers and how much we don’t know. We only know what we can measure and compare to what is known here and now.

Imagine the time light being generated from the sun’s centre today and reaches the surface. What amount of knowledge will we have accumulated? Will we be able to harness all that energy out there? Will we be able to transmit as much data as an exoplanet’s orbit or a neutron star’s rotatation? Will we have the answer to the Before Time question? Too many questions, known and unknown, to be asked ;-) .

The numbers I deal with daily, of course, do not bring out one’s imagination as the one’s we have seen today. But, it is the numbers that reveal the questions and it also the numbers that will show our achievements. This is why I am passionate about data analytics :-) . Yes, some call me mad but data analytics is not boring. 8-)

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Online Presence

15 October, 2009 in The Story | 6 comments

LinkedIn is the first social network I joined but not the only one I have joined since then. My public profile is not only LinkedIn, it is what a person finds when they do a search on your name, this is what I learnt at JobCAMP.

I do a Google and Yahoo search on my name. There are so many Colleen Chan’s but nothing on me. The only Colleen Chan in Sydney ran in the City to Surf fun run. Anybody who knows me would laugh as I do not even know the word exercise! Colleen Chan the business analyst does not have an online presence.

At JobCAMP we were taught that if we hit our own links enough then eventually increase your ranking during the searches. But I am nowhere, the only online profile I have is my LinkedIn. I now realise my LinkedIn profile will never rank above any other Colleen Chan’s in LinkedIn in the Google search as my public profile URL is colleenchan and Google searches on ‘colleen chan’ so does not even recognise me as Colleen Chan but Yahoo does, I’m nowhere in Bing.

We were told to create profiles in all social networks and make sure that we create a public URL as it is all free to join. So many social networks out there that it is hard to know where to start. I had read that XXXXX is “to connect with people you do know but don’t want to know”, (probably why they have lost 50% of their market share in the past year). Facebook is “to connect with people you do know and do want to know” and Twitter is “to connect with people you don’t know but do want to know”. I join Facebook and Twitter since then I have also joined Naymz and Plaxo.

Since joining all these networks, I must say I am not a big fan of Twitter, it is all too much for me, can’t keep up. I watch all the tweets and the thousands of followers people have. I am usually a quiet person, I don’t have that much to say, some may disagree ;-) , and these Twitterer’s tweet so much, so much to say. The only tweets you see from me are when I am posting on my blog. My little voice gets lost in the thousands of tweets already out there. It is a different way of reaching out to people by giving their connections short assiduous pulses of information. Many have grown their brand successfully using Twitter as part of their marketing strategy. I am sure there are many people that I do and probably need to know out there but it is just not for me :???: .

Facebook is a totally different kettle of fish. You must realise the only social network I have seen is LinkedIn which is very straight and no bright lights flashing at you when you press buttons. I start connecting to people I already know who are on FB as these are the people telling me I have been missing out. Yes, I have been hidden from the world of social networking, I did not know that if somebody wrote on your wall that a) Everybody on your network sees and that b) you are suppose to reply via comment and not by writing on your wall again, :???: , it’s like ignoring a conversation. Sorry friends.

I start getting these notifications and every time I start something, I have to send to a group of friends. I mean some of this stuff is really stupid, more fool me I answer everything and send to my friends as well. But eventually I realise my friends don’t want to see all this stuff and I see a skip button amongst all the flashing lights. During this time somebody sends me a kiss. So I think which friend of mine is playing silly games with me? When I get through the flashing lights, the name that appears is laughable. Ignore. I go to my wall 2 days later and there it is, I have inadvertently joined a dating site and the application had posted it automatically! :oops: . Mind you it was not the only time I had been fooled by spam, I had also gone into depth about my friends to a new connection as the spam said this person is new so introduce your friends. Duh! I basically ignore everything now, I don’t know where I might end up. FarmVille?!

Yes, FB is different and I am still trying to get the hang of it. So much advice about who you should be connecting to in this network. I am still struggling, as I have been told every connection is a good connection, but FB is for friends so where do I stop accepting invitations on networks. Is there not a space where I can keep private? Or does social networking mean that I have to be open to everybody? I want a job, I know having a lot of friends is good but a lot of friends verses a group of friends you know personally? I would prefer a group of friends I know personally and I am sure most people would feel the same way. :-)

I open a Wordpress.com account but do nothing with the account for nearly 8 weeks. I don’t even know why I opened the account as I do not know how to write, I did poorly in English at school and had not written anything creative since then but it is to increase my online presence. I struggle for weeks. Do I want to be the 1% of internet users that becomes a content creator? I have nothing to write about, I needed a tag line and I needed a theme. I ran past my ideas across many people but I did not seem to be getting any traction. Everybody was telling me I had to write about data analytics but I can’t write and then trying to put my numbers into words is basically impossible, I needed someone to write my resume, I had to win a competition to get my personal brand done. How can I write about numbers and who wants to know about data analytics?

What I did receive was a good swift kick on the backside by one of my connections who had answered one of my group discussions during the campaign. And for that same person to agree that writing my story would be a good to start for my blog and move onto data analytics when I get the confidence in my writing. All I needed was somebody to agree with me and I was ready to go. So here I am communicating to you through my blog another way of reaching out to people.

I want to look at the numbers from my blog but to do this I have been told to use Google analytics but to do this I need to build my own website. Sigh… This is after I had started blogging. I had already been told I had the skills to do it but I didn’t know where to start. I put up a discussion in a couple of my IT groups to get help. The feedback I receive is very encouraging with new connections happy to help me through my process.

I start building this website, it takes me 3 weeks to get it together. In those weeks I was looking at words and acronyms I had never seen before, extreme headaches and my chiropractor said my body had not been that stressed since I had been out of work. More accounts, usernames and passwords and lots and lots of learning. I now know how to setup my own website and understand all the different layers I have to control and still learning about new layers :-| .

Building my own website for my blog increased my online presence without even knowing it. My blog did not rank in the first few pages before I built my website but once the blog was running from my own site, the blog is ranking on page 1 in Yahoo and sometime makes page 2 in Google. The numbers? I have been told by connections to ignore the numbers as 1. all cool websites do not get massive traffic and 2. I should not be worried about the numbers but an engaged audience. But I do look at the numbers, I can’t help myself. My traffic against benchmarks in GA show the blog is doing above average and I do have an engaged audience. So thank you all for your support. :-)

My online presence is now there. My LinkedIn profile has made No.1 using Yahoo search and my “Check with Chan” advertisement has made No.1 using Google search. With all the other social networks I have been able to make more than 2 of my links to be on page 1 using both search engines. This is due to the blog without the blog my rankings would not be up there.

digitally-distinct_badge120pxDigitally Distinct You are digitally distinct!
This is the nirvana of online identity. A search of your name yields lots of results about you, and most, if not all, reinforce your unique personal brand.

          

           

             

            

There are many social networks to join and many different ways to communicate with your connections. Some of my social networks do not even get touched as they are all linked some how to the handful of accounts that I use regularly. Creating my online presence has been an important part of my personal brand, people can do a search on my name and find me easily. Now all I am waiting for are my long lost friends to find me :lol: .

 

Next post in The Story -> Becoming a Blogger

 

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The Campaign

22 September, 2009 in The Story | 8 comments

It is Friday evening and I am feeling very anxious. I had been an extremely private person in the past and was very reluctant in the beginning to even join LinkedIn and now I was having a complete campaign focused on my personal brand. :-?

I start uploading all my stuff on to my profile. My new head shot, new headliner, my personal brand and my resume has been summarised into my LinkedIn profile.

Now I am ready to post a new discussion on all my group boards. You can imagine how nervous I was feeling. I was already overwhelmed with the response to my original discussion and now the whole campaign was going to be there for all to see. My stomach was churning. You know what I really wanted to do was to turn the clock back and be a vegetable about the whole situation but no chance of that happening. You can see how my brain was not functioning correctly through this blog and all the emoticons.

My discussion announcing the launch of the campaign.

Over the past few days some of you would have seen my discussion on personal branding. Is it going to work? Will I have a career self destructing moment like an Australian football star? Will I get my 15 minutes like the British lady on a reality talent show? Or will I float away like a leaf in the autumn breeze?

You be the judge.

Tomorrow, 23rd May, there will be 2 campaigns running concurrently.

1. Paper campaign. There will be an ad in Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald, general news section.

2. Digital media campaign. From Saturday through to Monday (local Sydney time), the campaign will be on the home page of www.MyCareer.com.au

I would like thank Job Camp, ‘Getting Australia Working” for inspiring me to think differently about my career and work, The Face Euro RSCG for the campaign and to the sponsors MyCareer.com.au.

And thank you to all who have taken an interest in my campaign.

Please check out my campaign, “Check with Chan”.

The online campaign was to begin at midnight which means the rest of the world is still awake or even just starting their day. I wake in the morning and head to the corner shop for the weekend paper. I am excited wondering what the campaign looks like in the paper and the placement of the ad. This is the whole of the SMH page 4 for the 23rd May. The young man says, “This is only the beginning, you will be on page 1″, yeah right :-| .

The email inbox is next. I am not overwhelmed there are a few comments on my discussions and they were all new people, nobody from my previous discussion. I start getting emails, text messages from my friends, a couple of recruiters and a call from one very excited gentleman from our southern highlands who was very animated about the ad in the paper. I now had 2 online ads, a paper ad and my online discussions but compared to the posting of my first discussion the response was quiet.

Saturday passes, Sunday comes along, something is not right but I don’t know what. I feel like I am floating away like a leaf in the autumn breeze. Sitting, waiting, waiting for something to happen. It is late Sunday afternoon, then, it all of a sudden dawns upon me, OMG! 8O I know it was the dumbest thing I have done since being on my journey. You know when they talk about people talking to themselves, well, the swear words just flowed. I could not believe want I had done. I had deleted the first discussion! So all those people following my discussions were all gone! :x

I don’t know what was in my head when I was deleting the original discussion. I had stopped at one stage but thought ‘why do I need this first discussion?’ I did not think about when I posted my first failed comment I received email for comments following mine. What was I going to do! :cry: I pace and pace and pace then I realise I have the LinkedIn emails from those who posted or wrote to me offline, I can save some :| .

I spent Sunday night sending a personal LinkedIn note to all those who posted a comment or sent me a thread offline. The following grovelling personalised email was sent to everybody.

I must apologise for deleting my initial discussion. It was very rude of me especially when you had taken an interest and had gone into the effort to write something on my discussion.

I am very new to networking no MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or anything else like that. LinkedIn is the first network group I have joined and only since the end of March. But have now realised the benefits of connecting.

I did not realise the payback of adding onto my original discussion and how it would always be on top if there was enough interest, hits or comments.

So please accept my apology and I hope you still get a chance to catch my campaign at www.mycareer.com.au , homepage, the ad is in an advertisement box on the right hand side, the ad may take a bit of time to stream through.

I would love your feedback and thank you for taking an interest in my campaign.

Since the campaign was running until Monday midnight (it was only extended a further 24hrs on Monday), many people would not see the note until after it had finished. So I had a strategy, if they answered and saw the online ad, they got a generic invitation and then a thank you note afterwards.

Then there were those who answered after the online ad ended. I sent them a following note but it was even more personalised with their name in the middle of the paragraph and a generic invitation to my network. I start copying, pasting, send the notes and then the invitations to my network. Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste, then I realise I have personalised the note in the middle as well. So all these people are getting notes with the name ‘Tim’ in the middle of the paragraph :oops: . So I have to send another apologetic note, saying this is what happens when you do a copy and paste.

Out of all the notes I sent, only 2 did not accept my invitation. I realise now I should have sent a personalised invitation after they answered but because I was new, everybody answered my note accepted my invitation. How do I know this? I was told by many. But since then I have accepted many generic invitations myself, I believe in expanding my professional network and sharing my network with others. Though I do like the personalised invitations, it does make one remember who one is. :-)

I have sort of saved the connections that I have reached out to through my discussions. But where are the people wanting to hire? Was it because I stuffed up the original discussion note. This should not be a reason as the original campaign was only based on the local paper advertisement. The week begins and I get further feedback from those who saw the ad in the paper. I also have a couple of interviews with recruiters but none with direct leads :-| .

What I do find out though, much later, like weeks and weeks, is that people have written about the campaign. This is what happens when you google your name which I had not done until well after the campaign launch. Mentions in comments on other blogs, and the following and surprising links about the campaign.

 
Bandt.com – cutting edge, must read news that the advertising and marketing professional cannot live without, Jobseeker becomes the brand, on page 3.

Turning Leaf Blog, Fantastic Marketing – Of A Person!

My friend, Dr Nancy Dailey, Bragging Rights, Women and Personal Branding, where I also receive a mention in the Future Women Leaders blog. :?

 
From my friends at JobCAMP :

Raz Chorev, JobCAMP supervisor, Check With Chan – Personal Branding Campaign;

Luke Harvey-Palmer, JobCAMP creator, JobCAMP WIN a Personal Brand Campaign;

The Face, which I only found today, the Check with Chan campaign including complete Sydney Morning Herald advertisement and placement.

 
Notice I have not commented on any of the blogs or any others where I should have to get more coverage. I didn’t know how to. Not like I didn’t know how to type in the square. It was that fact that I had never encountered web 2.0 and just didn’t know what do to. Like what I did with my first discussions :-? .

Time passes, I have learnt from my faux pas and I am still working my network. I have my coverage with the help of my JobCAMP family, I have my growing connections and I have many interviews but no job. I arrive at another, ‘But what now?’ point.

 

Next post in The Story -> Online Presence

 

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My Personal Brand

12 September, 2009 in The Story | 11 comments

My personal brand has been made so much easier with the help of many people. I have to say a big thank you to The Face for producing a fantastic campaign, to Raz Chorev, My Personal Marketer, for all his support, to Louise Pope and Kim Seeling-Smith for pointing me in the right direction and a ‘Big Cheers’, :-) , to my colleagues and friends for all their support and feedback over the years otherwise there would be no personal brand for the Business Analyst.

My personal brand has slightly changed since JobCAMP as I have been discovering the BA but that is all part of the journey.

My Personal Brand…

1. Headliner
Who am I? What is the first thing I want people to think about me? True to me so my friends and colleagues can automatically identify as Colleen Chan. My second attempt at the headliner was again a very poor effort as noted by the same person who mentioned it the first time, :-| . The headliner is the attention grabber as recruiters scan through many profiles of potential candidates.

Colleen Chan, ‘Colleen’ in Irish means girl then ‘Chan’, Chinese. People who meet me for the first time or I know as a connection, ask how long have I been in the country and where I am from originally. If they have only heard my voice over the phone, then I am Anglo-Saxon with a strange surname or I did not keep my maiden name. This happens often, doesn’t matter who or which continent, it puts a smile on my face. I am unexpected.

One of the hardest myths to overcome is the stereotype of a boring Business Analyst sitting in front of a computer looking at their numbers or being pedantic about some process flow. When recruiters advertise for roles they ask for personality, interpersonal skills and you have to put that through a cover letter and resume. I have a very Australian sense of humour and I like to share my thoughts and sometimes it puts a smile on a face. I like telling stories like this one I am sharing now. Experiences are there to be shared so we all can learn and funny ones are there so we can have a smile.

Raz, introduced me as the Business Analyst with a Difference to his twitter followers.

So here I am,

Business Analyst with a Difference.

2. Elevator Pitch
The one statement that describes what I can do for a business.

I can measure and understand an organisation’s ambiguous and complex data so they can make concise decisions for the business.

This statement is not seen on my profile but if I had only a brief moment to impress somebody, what would I say to them so they would not forget me.

3. Target Audience
Who do I want to work for? I think back at the jobs in the past and find the people I enjoyed working for were C-level executives. I learnt from these people and discovered different views that allowed me to understand the business and added to my knowledge base making me more qualified for my job.

I have a unique career DNA, statistician meets business analyst. This means I am the go-to person for C-level executives who need data transformed into insightful advice right across their business.

What makes me stand out? I have a “Unique Career DNA” as I am a statistician with post graduate education in accounting & finance and have a good business acumen working in the corporate environment.

What can I do for them? “Insightful advice right across your business.” I provide quality information for decisions to be made in all areas of the business.

4. Sell items
Why would a company want to hire me? Will I fit into their organisational culture? The people that know me should be able to see the person they work with on a day to day basis in my personal brand. How do these people perceive me? When I have been given a problem, my conclusions and approach to my work?

I’m a logical thinker and have a heightened awareness. I’m about details and am results driven. I’m smart, confident, nice and personable. My style maybe a bit left-of-centre but I am great to be around and you’ll really like working with me!

How do I consider a problem? “I’m a logical thinker and have a heightened awareness”. As a business analyst I have to understand the data flows where the data begins and where data flows intercept. The end point of the data flow is management where I have to understand the decision they are trying to achieve.

My conclusions are “about details and results driven”. Decisions can be made through the data with the knowledge the analysis can be understood and is motivated to attain business goals.

How do I deliver my work? “I’m smart, confident, nice and personable”. I am an Excel master with a ”Unique Career DNA”, I am logical and detailed so I am confident of my conclusions, I am nice and personable as I am approachable and modest when understanding or explaining the data.

How do my colleagues perceive me as a work mate? “A bit left-of-centre but I am great to be around and you’ll really like working with me!” I am not a typical business analyst but my traits are not a reflection of my work or who I am, you will enjoy working with me.

5. Creative Proposition
What can I do for your business?

I can take complex problems and make them simple. I can understand and measure the ambiguous!

Data problems may come from any number of sources, not digestible in its current format and appears to have no solution. I can take the ambiguity out of the data so precise decisions can be made.

6. Creative work
Why should your business have me as a part your team?

I am a visual person so I can take all kinds of complex data and make it understandable not only to financial people but to everyone in the business. That makes me a critical part of every decision making process.

In fact, no organisation should do business until they…Check with Chan

I have worked in many areas over my career and many different people with different types of education, engineers, accountants, sales and even doctors so everybody has been taught differently how they perceive the numbers. I can visualise the data in all aspects of the business so everybody can understand, that is why nobody should make a decision until they… ;-)

7. Check with Chan
The online campaign would click through to the full page ad which was also the one that appeared on page 4, Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 23rd May. The online campaign ran from midnight Friday night to midnight Tuesday night on the home pages of MyCareer.com.au and TheBigChair.com.au

Check with Chan

8. Is it Me?
Can I achieve all that I have stated above? Do I have the personality that is expressed in my personal brand? My resume, my profile on LinkedIn, my connections and the recommendations I have from my colleagues prove my experience and who I am.

Am I bragging? Yeah, I’m bragging, :-o . But I have to demonstrate I am the best candidate. My personal brand has to describe who I am, what I have accomplished and what I can accomplish. I am competing against other candidates.

My Personal Brand is an important part of my identity. I must be able to maintain my identity not only to find work and at work but also my friends and my connections must be able to identify with me.

But now I am an occasional blogger and not just a business analyst, :-| . There are two “About” pages, a page for the business analyst, which is why I am here, to find a job for the BA and a page for the blogger with a different profile picture. Hmm… I am sure my personal brand will change over time as my journey into web 2.0 continues. I know if I keep real and true to my personal brand then I will continue to enjoy my social networking experience and all that it has brought me :-) .

 

Next post in The Story -> The Campaign

 

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The Campaign Begins

2 September, 2009 in The Story | 2 comments

I’m getting ready for my week ahead, listing all the things that have to be done.

  1. My headliner has to be changed.
  2. Daily status updates on my LinkedIn profile.
  3. New head shot as my profile photo was the only recent one I had and had been cut out from a distant sisters’ shot. (Thanks Jai for sneakily taking that photo at Chinese New Year otherwise I would have had none).
  4. Posting discussions on all my group boards.
  5. My Personal Brand.

1.  Headliner
Currently my headliner is boring, Business Analyst seeking Opportunities. I have to make the title so it attracts people to my profile. I take slices out of the introduction that The Face had produced for the advertisement. “Analyst, can take complex problems and data, making them understandable to financial people and to everyone in the business”.

2. Daily Status Updates
I can be a very talkative person but I am not the type of person who is likely to tell all my connections what I am doing on a daily basis. It is to remind my connections that I am around and something is about to happen. So I do daily update status reminding my connections I have won a personal branding campaign and that it will be launched on Saturday in the SMH.

3. Profile Photo
Isn’t it always the way it goes. I am so stressed about the campaign I have a giant pimple in the middle of my cheek! I can’t even remember the last time I had a pimple on my face and it has to come up the only time when I don’t want one to! Photographer, Paul Kennedy, whom I met at JobCAMP, made the session fun. I usually feel very self conscious when posing for photos but we had laughable moments. Ok, I admit to photoshop but only the pimple was removed and now longer exists :-) . Paul would not photoshop anything else as he said it would take the character out of the photo. Oh, so I can’t remove the bags under my eyes and my freckles… ok… :-(

4. Group Discussion Boards
I’m ready to be a content creator, not really. Then I realise there is only an ad in the local paper therefore only the essence of the personal brand campaign will be in my LinkedIn profile and not the complete campaign with the ad. Thought I could get away with it but it was confirmed that MyCareer.com.au who were sponsoring the ad were also going to include an online campaign on their homepage and the homepage of TheBigChair.com.au.

Now I have to create a discussion. I am very scared. I see all the discussions on the group boards, sometimes the discussions get heated and sometimes there are no comments at all. What do I write about so I can get people’s attention and not be beleaguered or left feeling unnoticed.

Below, my very first posting on a discussion board.

Personal Branding. What is it? How does it apply to me?

These are the exact questions that have been haunting me since the GFC. All the recruiters are talking about it, now it is not good enough just to have a good resume but now you need a Personal Brand! But how?

So off I headed to JobCamp, “Getting Australia Working”. JobCamp is the idea of Luke Harvey-Palmer, to inspire people to think differently when it comes to career and work.

The conference was fantastic with speakers including Iggy Pintado, author of “Connection Generation”, Laurel Papworth also known as SilkCharm and the most connected in AP, Stan Relihan.

So what does this all have to do with personal branding? I won my own personal branding campaign by The Face!

So how will The Face give someone in my line of work a personal brand? My job title isn’t the most exciting job title in the world, business analyst.

To see what The Face can do for my personal brand stay tuned, my campaign will begin on the 23rd May.

I was overwhelmed by the response. I received at least one comment online or offline from each group and more than 5 in some, some 50 responses. I had never posted anything on the internet before and did not know what to do with it all. Comments were all very heartening, with good advice, requiring deep thought, asking friends and knowing oneself. I had not thought about my personal brand other than the flurry at JobCAMP. I replied the best I could and very poorly at that, I know now.

There were 2 comments that stood out though. One person sent me a link to Gary Vaynerchuk, Building Personal Brand within the Social Media Landscape at the Web 2.0 Expo. First thing I thought was check out his last name out I am never going to forget that. I watch the video and was left in awe with his enthusiasm, he was so passionate about personal branding and building a business with a good brand. I do occasional go back to watch this video when I need some inspiration.

The other comment mentioned my headliner which was my first attempt at my personal brand. Hmmm, first attempt not very successful :-(   The person said the title appeared as if I was bragging that I was smarter than management as I could talk to everybody in the business about their business. This is not what I am like at all and actually had a chuckle when I read the comment. I can understand the numbers for you to make the right decisions for your business. Have to redo my headliner before the launch. I suppose without the rest of the personal branding, it didn’t work.

Last thing to do before the launch is My Personal Brand…

 

Next post in The Story -> My Personal Brand

 

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JobCAMP

25 August, 2009 in The Story | 5 comments

It was the morning of JobCAMP, a beautiful autumnal day in Sydney, the sun was out and the sky was clear and crisp. I arrive at Luna Park, the big smiling face under the iconic Harbour Bridge. The conference room over look’s the harbour water across at the Sydney Opera House. I could not think of anything more invigorating. It was disappointing the rest of the unemployed in Sydney did not feel the same way. There were a handful of people who made the effort to get out of bed at such an early hour to learn something new.

JobCAMP was the idea of Luke Harvey-Palmer, to inspire people to think differently when it comes to career and work. I wanted to learn how to think differently as my current methods were not getting anyway with my job search. He asks “Who has a profile in Plaxo, Friendster, in a blog…?” Who? What? Where? …the list goes on. LinkedIn, finally I get to put my hand up. Have I been missing out on something?

Adam Shay from The Face, steps up to speak about personal branding and to announce the winner of the prize, me. Luke also adds that I was the only one who sent anything in. My first thought was opportunity lost but my opportunity gained. I was surprised no one else wanted to take this opportunity in their hand. Maybe the thought of a half page ad in the Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) had put people off.

So there I am in front of a group of strangers and most are used to talking in front of other strangers. Yeah, I’m feeling really comfortable, not. And I have to talk about myself…

First question, “What type of working environment appeals to you?” I think back to the organisations I enjoyed working for. They would have to be like myself with their work values. The friendships I built while I was working in these environments are enduring. LinkedIn connections, which organisations had I connected the most with.

Next, “5 things your colleagues would say about you?” It’s not everyday you go around asking your colleagues what they think of you, you don’t know what you might get back! I had my recommendations to fall back on and they were all very nice, lucky. I had feedback from my agent, career consultant, interviews and those comments your colleagues make off handily.

Next…, “What can you do for the organisation?” This was the hardest question. I know what I do but it is translating my numbers into words. When I search for job advertisements, what do I look for, what words have to be on the advertisement for me to apply for the role?

It was the end, finally. Adam asks, “Did Colleen sound obnoxious?” No, everybody agrees. Phew… Maybe because I was nearly peeing myself like my nephew the day before.

What I learnt at the 2 days at JobCAMP, speakers: Every connection is a good connection, Keep on moving, Give to get – random acts of kindness, Machine cannot replace man in all situations, eg, my hairdresser and from Heidi Dening, personal health, do anything for 21 days and it becomes a habit. To rid yourself of a habit, don’t do it for 21 days.

Most importantly, I learnt I needed to change my banner title to something that stands out from the crowd. I had “Business Analyst seeking Opportunities”. No. A potential employee will see that I am looking for work in my current work status. Another part of my personal branding that must be included in my profile.

The last speaker of the 2 days was introduced as Social Networks Strategist. (Who? What?) Australia’s top blogger had been blogging before it was ‘hip’ to blog and global power150 blogger, Laurel Papworth, also known as SilkCharm. The first thing I thought was blog? The only blogs I had read were on the news sites and all they did was rant about something boring. What could one write about for all those years? I was soon to learn that there is more to blogging than ranting.

After the 2 days my head is a buzz with all the new information. The personal branding campaign is all go ahead with the ad going into the SMH the following Saturday. I have a week to prepare and do what I said I would in my initial competition story.

 

Next post in The Story -> The Campaign Begins

 

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First Impressions

3 August, 2009 in The Story | No comments

Personal Branding, I know corporate branding, Coca-cola specialist in FMCG, IBM – corporate computer solutions, Disney – family entertainment. Colleen Chan – Business Analyst, brand? Hmmm….

I began with my story, the number of connections I had made and how many groups I had joined. Being a statistician the story was based on the number of 2nd and 3rd degree connections, the locations and the industries. I was pretty proud of my networking efforts for somebody who had never networked before with my 60, 1st degree connections.

One day while I was surfing my network I found Barrack Obama’s profile then realised he was 3rd degrees away from me. I thought that was pretty exciting so I include this in my story. My exhilaration was let down at the conference when I heard that Barrack has many, many, many 1st degree connections so is not that tough to achieve but now I am only 2nd degrees away.

During this time my mother was rushed to the emergency rooms so no time to write. I start thinking about why I should win the prize. The campaign ad was let The Face sex-up your brand. Sex-up a business analyst, how are they going to achieve that. Business analysts are known as one of the most boring people, they look at their spreadsheets all day. Make me sexy, right.

I had found a role in LinkedIn jobs but could not apply as it was not feasible. I had all the experience and knowledge but believed my profile did not show my full potential to accomplish this role. How could a personal brand help me reach my goal? I just could not understand how they could brand me, other than with a soldering iron and a logo on my forehead. I have more questions than answers while I was thinking about what to write. Though, I did remember that I would be posting discussions on all my group boards if I won the prize.

It was the day before JobCAMP. I had to pick up my nephew from school and take him to my parents place. Ok, I still have time to get back and finish my words. When we get there, the little one comes running out expecting his mother and there are tears. I pick him up and sit on the lounge. The older one points to the ground and says the little one has done a wee wee. I get up, look down at my jeans and there is a stream of wee going down my leg! Can’t leave now, I have to wait until my sister gets back. Mum has recovered but not to look after a crying child. Eventually I sent my story in late that night. I mean, who works 9 to 5, I certainly hadn’t for many years.

JobCAMP, camping in a tent means casual and it does say casual but I was going to be networking, so smart casual. Smart casual is too hard so a suit, much easier.

I’m ready for JobCAMP. The only thing was to make sure I get there on time. Registration time was at 7am for 7.30am start. That means my alarm has to go off at 5am! I am just not a morning person at all and I have been unemployed so there is no rush in the mornings. Just hope that alarm screams at me in the morning.

 

Next post in The Story -> JobCamp

 

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Being Proactive

27 July, 2009 in The Story | No comments

I had been in LinkedIn for about a month and was getting very disheartened by it all. I had dug into the deep, dark recesses of my brain to remember names from the past. Oh, I remember that person, they were really nice. What was their last name? How do I spell it? I had maxed out my connections at 60.

My career consultant suggests I start being active in my discussion groups. Discussion groups? That means I have to write, I’m a numbers person, I don’t write. I couldn’t even do my own resume and that is about me. How was I going to participate in discussion groups? So I start scouring my groups for a topic I could write about. I search and search, I find topics from statistics, IT processes to personal development and so many acronyms but nothing that I could write about. I know I was just avoiding the writing.

I finally find a topic I could understand ‘Non – IT Projects’. I am a non-IT BA so I’ll put up a comment. I started my comment by saying this was the first ever comment I had posted on a discussion board, I think I was doing the ‘please be kind’. I did not answer the question, I answered the question relating to my previous role which was not project driven. Over excitement about the topic.

Great, the first comment I post has made me look silly! Oh well, its all out there in ether land and nobody has said I didn’t answer the question. Phew! Then somebody answers my comment privately, they actually took notice of what I had to say and had sent me an invitation to join their network! Wow, my first outside network connection. We continued the discussion offline and agreed that we agreed.

I recently wrote to this connection asking why they had sent me the invitation even though I had not answered the question. The reasoning was my “jump in and splash approach” in a “normative behaviour surrounding it”. The approach was similar to themselves, whom they hadn’t thought about for 20 years. They had also told me they had been following along (the campaign) as a lurker. Every connect can bring a smile to your face whether just as a connection or in general conversation.

Elbow on table, head on hand, I scour some more. There in the corner advertising box is a conference ‘JobCamp – Getting Australia Working’, Win Personal Branding Campaign. Let’s look at the speakers, the only speaker I knew was Iggy Pintado, author of the Connection Generation, we had more than 10 shared connections, through colleagues in my previous role but we did not know each other. Conferences, expensive, price $495 but due to the Global Financial Crisis nominal contribution. Ok, this sounds good, This will be a good chance to meet with a shared connection, allow me to network with more people and be able to create my own discussion for my groups if I can win the prize.

I have registered for the conference, now I have to put something together to try and win the prize. Personal branding, I had been hearing about it since I had been out of work but what was it and what could I say to win the prize? I had to write again! What was I going to write about!!??

 

Next post in The Story -> First Impressions

 

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