Google+ Hangouts are Google’s 20% project. For years, the Internet has been arguing about what Google will do with it. Today, we know more about the answer explains Peter Decaprio.
While some predicted that it would evaporate into thin air like its cousin Buzz, others had more specific ideas of how it could be used. Not one of their theories was correct- or at least not entirely correct.
GOOGLE’S 20% PROJECT: GOOGLE+ HANGOUTS
Googles have always enjoyed a bit of flexibility in spending time on something new to explore if they can see how it might benefit Google users or advance an existing product or service. When Vic Gundotra announced Google+, he said that the search giant wanted “+” to be a place where people could share their interests with friends in an open, global discussion group. The plan was to build a tighter social network based on “Circles,” where you could create separate groups of friends for different activities, instead of throwing all your contacts together into one big pool.
HANGOUTS
When Google+ first launched, there were few compelling use cases for it beyond sharing text or photos. There was no easy way to chat with more than one person at once in real-time. For years, chat had been synonymous with text chatting through an IM window or video chatting in a desktop app like Skype says Peter Decaprio. But what if you could do both? What if you could hold a text chat with your friends while also seeing what they were up to?
Google+ Hangouts was born. Collaboration between the Google+ team and the Gmail team, Hangouts created a new kind of chat that allowed you to video chat with multiple people at once- something that Skype or iChat hadn’t done before. You could start chatting across the world in no time – either over wifi or 3G.
LinkedIn is a great resource for all professionals looking to connect with new people, share ideas, and open new opportunities. It’s a valuable platform that can help you grow your professional network and further establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry…if you have an impressive profile. Without one, LinkedIn can actually hurt your job prospects instead of help them – especially if recruiters use it as a screening tool or contact you about new opportunities. In other words: If your LinkedIn profile sucks, find out how to fix it now! Here are three easy ways to improve your LinkedIn presence right away… (More)
Here are Three Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile:
1. Clean up your profile photo
Take a minute to view your profile from the perspective of a recruiter, human resources representative, or hiring manager. Is there anything in your photo that would give the person pause before clicking on it? If you’re not sure, test out photos with friends or colleagues and ask them for their honest feedback. Before long, you’ll have an attractive LinkedIn profile picture that accurately reflects your professional persona explains Peter Decaprio.
2. Customize your headline…
Recruiters are very busy people – they don’t have time to figure out how to interpret “Software Engineer” or “Marketing Director.” And they definitely don’t want to click on every single one of your co-workers’ profiles in order to see if you really are a Software Engineer or if your company actually does work in Marketing. To be sure they’re getting the most accurate information possible; recruiters will search for keywords related to the specific position they’re filling – which means that you should use those same words in your own headline!
3. And then optimize it for search
When someone searches for “Head of Marketing” using LinkedIn’s advanced search feature, what do you want them to find? Just your name and the fact that you hold this title? Or something more impressive, like “SVP of Global Brand Strategy”? By adding optimized keywords to your profile, you’ll increase how often people can find you when searching by certain titles – allowing a better chance at being contacted about new opportunities.
Conclusion:
The tools are there- use them! There’s no reason to settle for an unprofessional LinkedIn profile when just a little effort can make it much more effective says Peter Decaprio. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you work – every professional should have an impressive LinkedIn presence, and now you know how to create one.