Spam

spam

spam/

noun

noun: spam; noun: Spam

1. 1.

   irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to large numbers of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc.

   • unwanted or intrusive advertising on the Internet.

     "an autogenerated spam website"
2. 2.

   trademark

   a tinned meat product made mainly from ham.

verb

verb: spam; 3rd person present: spams; past tense: spammed; past participle:spammed; gerund or present participle: spamming

1. 1.

   send the same message indiscriminately to (a large numbers of Internet users).

Interesting potential fact:

The Internet sense appears to derive from a sketch by the British ‘Monty Python’ comedy group, set in a cafe in which every item on the menu includes spam. (Thanks define: command on Google!)

I'm sorry to disappoint anyone that was expecting a post about the tinned meat. Instead I'm going to write about the Irrelevant or Unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to large numbers of users. Even more specifically than that I am going to focus on recruiters. Yep that old chestnut. 

For the most part anyone that moves through life faces an untold amount of spam, whether that be through your letter box or online. For the most part this is ignored and if possible the sources will be blocked. 

I'd say pretty much anyone who uses a social media service knows that there's nothing like a recruiter spamming your social networks with irrelevant jobs (of course as +Tony Melling pointed out in a conversation on G+ if there is the clear distinction of being a jobs feed this doesn't apply). If all I can see in your feed is jobs that you are working on then you add no value to my (or anyone else's) network and you tend to get un-followed. Try interspersing that constant flow of jobs with something that might be of interest to someone in either your target or peer networks. The same thing goes to all those on Twitter and LinkedIn asking the "Are you a good fit for this job?" question that is automated from Bullhorn Reach. 

These are probably the same people that then complain about how social media is worthless and that they see absolutely no ROI for their time on there...   

You're banned... (a short tale about Xing and being a robot)

I have recently had an issue with Xing that I wanted to share, just in case you find yourself working on a German language project and don't have access to a premium account. Due to the restrictions on the free search I decided to utilise Google to perform an X-ray search. 

The following is the basis for all my search strings around Xing, it usually needs some tweaking but that's for another post:

(site:xing.com/profile | site:xing.com/profiles) “Insert Search String Here”

As I was looking at a number of profiles I had a large number of tabs open at the same time (not really that many by my standards). This actually led Xing to suspend my account. When I spoke with Xing about this they advised that having multiple tabs open at any one time makes it look like you are a robot opening pages in multiple locations. I explained what I did and they advised not to open more than one or two tabs at any one time otherwise I’d be picked up as a robot again and banned. 

So in essence, don't open a barrel load of tabs on Xing or you might get yourself banned...

Well Hello

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by, my name is Liam and a I'm new to blogging. I've decided to make the leap from a curator to a creator. I've spent a fair amount of time on various social networks (Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn) and I tend to share all the great posts that I come across and enjoy. I thought that now would be a good time to add to the ever growing list to try and give something back to the communities I circle.

Primarily my intended focus for these blogs will be around my day job. I'm an Account Manager - Direct Sourcing for Talent Works International. I work on a wide range of projects in a wide range of industries and across a wide range of locations. I also used the term wide range three times in a row, is this frowned upon? I've worked on projects ranging from R&D within in global FMCG companies through: sales teams across Europe and the USA for a multinational IT provider; Legal teams throughout continental Europe; VP Finance within the Global Oil and Gas market and pretty much everything in between.. Apart from software. So I'll try and share my methods, madness and insight in this blog. Whether that's worth reading is up to you!

I also plan to share what ever rambling nonsense runs through my head when I sit down to write. You know what they say about the best plans though...