Anjali Mehra of the Westin Garden City, Mumbai is an energetic, proactive person. I met her for first time two weeks ago while researching a news article on Westins, though I have known her for a fair few months before that. We connected on Linkedin and she is officially my first face-to-face via social networking. Sites such as Linkedin work and need to be exploited.
In a people-intensive business, it pays to know as many as you can. As a journalist, networking is part of the job. My database is now thousands deep and up to date, which is always a work in progress. This is something we learn for our own good.
How about for those still in the grind of hotel ops, how networked are you? This industry gets a large share of its recruiting via references. Because manpower is scarce, most formal ads these days get mediocre to average response and only serve to put the word out. For the good jobs i.e. middle management and upwards, the grapevine far outweighs everything else. And recruiters are catching on, which is why Linkedin is one of the few new dotcoms to make money.
Known as passive recruitment because someone with a job is more in demand since he must be something right to maintain the position, HR managers are taking to trolling such sites. Connections are cross-referenced and recommendations earn brownie points. Then an offer is made. So you never know who is checking you out.
Yet the greatest asset of such professional sites is to nurture professional friendships. Numbers are impressive but ultimately of the smallest value if the connection is not nurtured. You have to proactive about it. And no, Facebook does not qualify as professional networking. Truly, the wall is not the best place to go looking for a better career. It is a lovely way to keep in touch with old classmates though.
Professional sites work because people on them want to get work done. Intentions are clearly stated. There is of course more than one professional networking site, though I have stuck with Linkedin.
Of late though, I have been testing wiwh.com, a dedicated site for hospitality folks. Expanded, it translates to who is who in hospitality. Started by Hsyndicate from the US, the three years old site is fundamentally sound and is adding new members at a regular clip. Though there are other sites, it makes sense to be present on a vertical networking site like this because our industry requires special attention.
The next Linkup I am likely to meet is Rushina Munshaw of Perfect Bite, an F&B marketing and media consultancy and I hope to pick up the pace from here on. You know where to find me.
Link up and fan out
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Top of the week to you.
Anjali Mehra of the Westin Garden City, Mumbai is an energetic, proactive person. I met her for first time two weeks ago while researching a news article on Westins, though I have known her for a fair few months before that. We connected on Linkedin and she is officially my first face-to-face via social networking. Sites such as Linkedin work and need to be exploited.
In a people-intensive business, it pays to know as many as you can. As a journalist, networking is part of the job. My database is now thousands deep and up to date, which is always a work in progress. This is something we learn for our own good.
How about for those still in the grind of hotel ops, how networked are you? This industry gets a large share of its recruiting via references. Because manpower is scarce, most formal ads these days get mediocre to average response and only serve to put the word out. For the good jobs i.e. middle management and upwards, the grapevine far outweighs everything else. And recruiters are catching on, which is why Linkedin is one of the few new dotcoms to make money.
Known as passive recruitment because someone with a job is more in demand since he must be something right to maintain the position, HR managers are taking to trolling such sites. Connections are cross-referenced and recommendations earn brownie points. Then an offer is made. So you never know who is checking you out.
Yet the greatest asset of such professional sites is to nurture professional friendships. Numbers are impressive but ultimately of the smallest value if the connection is not nurtured. You have to proactive about it. And no, Facebook does not qualify as professional networking. Truly, the wall is not the best place to go looking for a better career. It is a lovely way to keep in touch with old classmates though.
Professional sites work because people on them want to get work done. Intentions are clearly stated. There is of course more than one professional networking site, though I have stuck with Linkedin.
Of late though, I have been testing wiwh.com, a dedicated site for hospitality folks. Expanded, it translates to who is who in hospitality. Started by Hsyndicate from the US, the three years old site is fundamentally sound and is adding new members at a regular clip. Though there are other sites, it makes sense to be present on a vertical networking site like this because our industry requires special attention.
The next Linkup I am likely to meet is Rushina Munshaw of Perfect Bite, an F&B marketing and media consultancy and I hope to pick up the pace from here on. You know where to find me.
Have a good week.
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