 He's a human resource specialist and he also deals with career branding. He's a LinkedIn expert and a project manager. Karubu Sarajans. Thank you very much. Quite a profile there. I appreciate. Hope you're well. I'm happy to be here. Let's talk about networking and social media. What are the most common mistakes that you see youths make in the gust of networking? Let's start by telling people what is networking. Okay. Networking is simply building a relationship. Building relationships with your coworkers, with your colleagues, with your workmates, with people you socialize with. And unless you live in a cave 30 meters below the sea level, you interact with the people. And people are going to blend you. Subconsciously or consciously. You communicate your brand immediately, you leave your house. To the world. People are going to have an opinion about you. The first thing you do when you leave the house is just communicating about what you are. Yes. You better now be strategic in what you communicate. So in networking now we have the traditional and the social media. The social media is where now it is very common for the young people to communicate their brand. You communicate your brand by the way the content you post there, the pictures you post there, the photos, what you do on social media. That's now you're communicating your brand. Now you need to think about your audience. What do they think about you when you post something? When you say something online, it reflects who you are. No matter how light it may be. Yes. Either negative or positive. Even if it's a joke. Even if it's a meme. Either positive or negative. And it influences your audience. It influences your audience. That's why we have even social media influencers who have built the audience over time because of what they do. And some of them are consistent with what they do. That's why they have built the unknown for something. You've interacted with so many youths. What are some of these common mistakes that we always make as youths when it comes to this particular issue of networking? So many. Some of them is very vulgar. And you see, they don't know when recruiters are hiring people. When you said you're CV and they have called you for an interview. The first four go through your social media pages. Adiv there is a post you did that goes against the company values. The recruiters will be not willing to touch you. That's how you lose it. You lose it because they don't know whether it is a rikrika of the same in their own company. Companies protect their brands a lot. So they don't know whether you'll be posting the same on your social media when you're working for their company. And we represent an institution when you post. Like now when you post, you're not just in post as lamb. You're also going to affect the brand of Y254. So I can't just talk carelessly on social media. I'm sure you have seen people who have lost jobs because of careless talk on social media. You have seen them losing their jobs. I have. Some have even gone to courts. Yes. Because of the things they posted. Yes, yes. The other thing that youth do a mistake is posting nude photos on social media. When they go to look for jobs, some companies require some level of decency. So when you post some nude photos, may you say that it's my profile. If you don't like what I post and friend me, block me. I know they say that there is a difference between my social life and my professional life. But they have a very thin line. Because it communicates exactly who you are and your values and what you stand for. So there is no record as it is going to touch you because it communicates either your moral values the way you do your things. They say garbage in, garbage out. Out of the matters of the heart. The mouth speaks. And do you know how what you speak by posting on social media? Yes. So it is something that is new. And there is no way you are going to leave your personality at home. Then you go to work. Then you pick your personality when you go back home. There is a profile picture that also has an important role when it comes to networking. Yes, it is very important. I have said that we are brand. You are brand yourself. And the way you brand yourself there, people are going to take you serious or not serious. There is a photo you can post and people are going to look, this one is a professional and another photo you can post. This is a joka. This is a joka. Which company wants to hire a joka? My goodness. No company wants to hire a joka. So it is very important the image you put out there. I know there are people who say about the personal profile your professional is not related. But they are very much related. They are very much related. Actually the names used and the photo used are very important. They should use the same name across all social media. Now there is this about that particular issue of naming. I once received a friend request from somebody and they called themselves Kuyumtu. There is one that I received a few days ago and I was looking at this particular name. I don't know if I can tell you. I looked at this particular name and I was like should I even accept this friend request because the name itself is funny and someone will be saying it's not a mask that I display my original name as it appears on my ID, on my social media platforms. Or someone can use the word the name love of God online. Is that bad branding? Someone uses the name God's love because they are spiritual, they are Christians. The best bet to use is your official names. Across all media platforms whether it is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram the best bet is to use unless you are an entertainer where you have adopted your own name the public can be able to resonate or your target market can be able to resonate with that name and you know that is a career that is your career and that is your brand name unless you are an entertainer unless you are in that influencing world if you are a job seeker stick to your official names. Whether it is because you have different platforms Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter should they all have the same name. The same across all platforms and a good photo is presenting you not one photo is one you are in a bathroom another one in the beach another one you are swimming a good photo that is presenting the image that you would like the company to see. What about people who put profile pictures of animals? Ah now I was called bad branding Bad branding I make a picture, park up early and say what is going to take you serious picture simba what is going to take you serious I don't think this kind of argument that I usually have with the young people they don't see a simba is a huge thing that can impact the way they look for jobs wait until they go for an interview and they get the recruiter social media and they are being asked about the posts they did about their names why they have put a dog in their profile instead of their own face poor branding and no, the recruit have got a poor for example in less than 24 hours is going to receive more than 100 applications and the recruiter is looking for the best fit to that organization so he is looking for so many factors values you stand for how do you present yourself how do you communicate you know those who communicate with the koi koi language ksasa ksasa ksasa I remember I used to dislike that kind of communication ksasa so the recruiter even start wondering how you writing your emails communication because one of the major things that the recruiter is looking for when they are hiring the fresh graduates the fresh graduates is the probability skills one of the probability skills is ability to communicate is sharing a language you would discourage especially on social media regardless of the posts someone makes on facebook or I will discourage that because you get used to that you take it to your work place and when the recruiter is searching through your social media is looking at your language the way you communicate start wondering this person serious how they arrive can they represent our brand exactly that's the point let's look at the beliefs the belief systems now belief systems have an effect on personal branding when you look at the mode of dressing of somebody does it have an effect on networking and branding it has an effect for example when you interview you are supposed to appropriate according to the company company dress code for example at this dress code jobs seekers jobs will get it long I don't know why you can get it from the company websites you can get it from their social media pages how the company dresses such that when you go for an interview or when you go for a networking event at least you are dressed to how the company dresses you know the people who believe that times have changed and therefore dress code should also change the way you used to dress a while back can't be the same that the way you dress right now the way you you are groomed people nowadays have rasta so there are companies that have policies that you can dress smart kashu but not just any how smart kashu means like kaki a good kaki an official shirt and well groomed hair it doesn't matter whether it is rasta or whether it is you have the locks but you are well groomed you are smart you are presentable but now there is somebody who can have those rastas but is not presentable at all but there are companies they don't accept that so it depends on the company policy and what the values they stand for so before you go for an interview before you attend that networking event search for the company and what they stand for exactly exactly I don't know there is some very ignorant statements I can dress the way I want my dress my choice and the companies don't care because there are so many people that want to get a bride very good risk people lose jobs so always google or do research on the company and find out their dress code I want us to look at how people relate on social media sometimes people end up having arguments in most cases because of some particular topic it could be religious or political sometimes exchange words online should we should youth be careful with how they relate with one another online and does that also impact their networking capability I had a case where someone had made a tweet about a certain political reader in your tweet and he was already employed by the company but when the company the company is a bit you should not have you should not be a political partisan and this tweet was completely political partisan the guy lost the job because he made a political tweet a political tweet he tweeted himself out of the job that is how sensitive you are supposed to know which company you are working for and where you are going for an interview so it doesn't matter how good you are the simple thing is keep your social media clean and classy simple wow and you see you reminding me of cases where I've seen people get into arguments online and they become nasty they be general to insults and they much slinging especially now we are going to the high political voltage season you are going to see those tweets and those posts on social media let me give you another example in most cases I know there is somebody who can relate with this particular setting you will find a fomfo lever and I am going to the ankle just finish your fomfo bring me your papers it is very common even the person who has got a name call like that bring your papers and I will finish the rest so many people can relate to that sentiment finish your finish your go to university or go to your college finish and bring your papers there is one very funny case the guy in you, the ankle cannot do anything but is a very well networked ankle so during the get together they can give you those promises he told the guy bring your papers I am going to get some networks to get you through my networks so get a job the guy never sent so they met the following get together you know what the ankle told I received your papers I am still looking for your job in my networks the guy left the guy was never sent the guy was never sent but the ankle remember this guy was sent maybe he sent and I never saw it just cover it up I am looking at how people relate with each other yes they say your network is your network it could be that family friend that uncle and of course there are some uncles who I don't know why they have to be uncles there are some people who yes they always deliver on their promises they should ask you bring your papers and they do deliver how should you relate with your networks in a way that is healthy so that you don't appear to be a parasite who only needs them when you are in need who only calls them when you need a job there is a problem there is so many way of building networks you can build networks online online and offline one of the best way of building best place to network online is LinkedIn LinkedIn is where you for example you want to work for a company X and company Y I advise job seekers to list 20-30 companies that they would like to work for when they go they search for the hiring managers and the company directors on LinkedIn then they connect with them after connecting with them then those professional they usually share articles or awards the company have won so that's where you comment you reshare and they see people who comment on their articles and on their posts who share their articles and then you introduce yourself through through the inbox with a short message of who you are what you do, your profession and what you are looking for the problem with the I have with this generation they have seen it as a director or a hiring manager but they just go and say hi come on nobody is going to respond to hi that is laziness good morning that's laziness can you say hello and introduce yourself properly and what you are looking for and the skills that you have say your name and get to the agenda yes, not hi who has that time to converse with hi these managers are busy people they rarely have time to go to social media and you know one problem that some youths make because as a manager you are busy the next text you get from them is I am sorry if I offended you or why are you not responding to my text at my God you will see me through God in fight for me and they are angry yes if you got a network maybe you attended a networking event where you met a professional or you were in campers there was a career fair and you were able to connect with someone who had come to the companies that had come to do their presentation and you were able to pick you were able to pick the business card you built and you built the network the way you can follow up is the best way to follow up is to tell them if you are able to identify a project if you are able to identify a project they are working on or a certification that they have done and it's the career you would like to pursue you can now get back to them and ask where you can do that certification primarily in marketing you would like to do professional certification in marketing or you are in procurement you would like to do professional certification in procurement then you can ask for advice where you can do certification or if there is a project you are working on and you think that the company might be interested you can ask for them to review your report or your proposal so that's the way you but not to go just without even you have not talked to them for quite some time and then you say I am looking for a job and you have not even stated which job which brings me back to that particular particular question that I had asked you earlier sometimes you have these networks they have the ability to help you how should you build that rapport with them so that you don't appear to relate with them when you are looking for a job that's why I built my case about how you ask for a professional certification where they need a project you are doing on then you and then when you finish if you are in compas and you have just finished you inform them you have finished you send them your CV your certificates then you tell them that as you are looking for jobs you are seeking for a professional certificate then they can advise you where to do for a job then you search through the company website what they are working on then you tell them I have seen your company is working on this project that's how you build don't just keep quiet all of a sudden you are saying you are looking for a job I advise job seekers never tell a higher manager you are looking for a job there is nothing called a job can you be specific the many who normally say that give me any job that is available there is no any job it shows you have no direction and you don't know which skills you have so don't say any job be specific even if you have for example you can do 3 or 4 jobs like customer service administration procurement just say it I am available for job 1, 2, 3 but never talk of a job there is nothing called a job the challenge that I have realized in some of these youths because I interact with one of them and I ask them why do you say you just want any job a customer because I have been looking for jobs and I have not gotten what I want so anything that is available is acceptable I am looking for a job but I have full of them in my inbox and I can tell you there is a very big difference between somebody who is clear on what he wants and a person who is looking for any job because if I say if these higher managers are busy so you introduce yourself you say you are looking for a job ABCD this manager probably might be having an internship or a job of a faculty that requires people to send you a CV they will send you an email or you are going to send you a CV or they know a certain manager who is hiring a specific position now tell me when you say you need any job where is he going to start with you I want us to touch on the online networking and specifically linked in connections how do you build connections on linked in of course you have mentioned sometimes you share posts you comment what about these connections many people we are not projecting some of the connection requests you look at them you ignore them you ignore how should we do it what is the right way thank you very much for bringing up the linked issue linked have become very big of it the multinational organizations and it has caught up with the national even the local companies they are first of all going to look for candidates to hire on linked in if they would just go to the search bar and if they are looking for a procurement officer they just search on the search bar the procurement officer and the first let's say a hundred profile that come and see whether you have the experience and the excuse that you check your profile so if your profile is not optimized you know it would not come among the first if you just registered there is no profile picture there is no description it would not come among the first profiles many youths don't have linked in accounts many not just even even professionals I do so many post about how to optimize your linked and how to build up on your linked profile because linked profile looks even at your future you know you are connecting with the manager even if they don't have a position today they can have a position next month next year it is you building a network over a long period of time you can also look at the career path someone have taken if somebody for example is a chief finance officer you can find out the account clerk and he has built a career over time you see and that's why I said if you are when you are connecting with the when you are doing connections on LinkedIn go and search for people in your profession and hiring managers and directors then you send connection to them then from there start following them especially if you work for Oxfam or KBC follow people who are in those companies connect with them send them requests and the request you receive accept accept yes no matter who it is from there I will start following connecting sharing whatever they post at some point introduce yourself through your inbox on what you want Mr. Otari I was looking at a particular scenario on LinkedIn and normally this is what I saw personally I would expect to see a funny name on Facebook but not on LinkedIn that's what I normally would expect so I got a connection from some name I can't even read it I ignored it was that a wrong move a name that was not professional it doesn't make sense it's not readable because it's some science they have added some letter I don't know what exactly you are connecting it's not a serious person let's get serious then for your connection it's a professional it's a working site it doesn't entertain mediocrity so go and build your blood first then come and connect with professionals exactly that's the whole point should you upload your CV there should you also send in links there and also give detail about every small thing you've done throughout your career path you know LinkedIn is your 24 hour profile is your global platform for example if you make your CV it will just be on your laptop or your PC it will just be available when you are sending for a job but for a LinkedIn profile when you work on it when you fill all the sections and optimize it it is available even for a recruit in Europe for example I get so many requests from the job seekers they want to work with NGOs Nairobi is a hub of NGOs but most of them the recruiters are out of country they are in Europe they are in New York those countries that are out of country and those recruiters recruiters in this country before they make a decision to hire someone the first to follow consult with them they had quotas or even had quotas they even refer to them people that they have seen in Kenya that they can work with them so it's a very important platform I call it a global platform and a recruiter from anywhere can bump onto you for example I had a client whom I worked on on the LinkedIn I helped to optimize it and he got a call from New York and he got a job he got a job that's how huge it is LinkedIn is good and every youth should join LinkedIn they should join they are not just joining they are not sections that are mandatory they are about sections the education section the experience section and the health line your health line is your branding line exactly and you know one thing that I think we should know what Tara and myself we actually meant on LinkedIn yes and they actually said exactly what I would like to discuss I did say hi or good morning you did not say hi I will stay to a point I knew you were a professional let's talk about now meeting in real life you've built your connections now meeting real life the do's and the don'ts for example if you went for a for a networking event or any other event where you are able to interact with the people connect with the people and you are able to get some networks and some business cards and one of the ways I will just talk about the fires at you one of the wrong ways that people do is the use of business cards there are people who think that if you have a road of business cards and you go into an event and you are just adding in business cards to anyone who pass around some of them start on the entrance of the event and they add in business cards and they use the role of the average the higher chances of networking it doesn't work it doesn't work actually some people they even drop those business cards before the event what works business card is used to cement an already existing relationship after having produced myself to you that is when you give and have at least know what you do where you work what is your profession what is your business card but even if I have not talked to you and I have just had any business cards and other guys are just picking business cards I am sure you have a business card you don't know where you got it from that's how you got it there are so many that's how you got it but there is a business card you build that relationship past so it just cemented that relationship exactly and that's how when you meet that's when you can even give a call to that person and then you can say how you met how you I mean what you do and how would you like them to help you wow wow James I want us to finish this conversation I am told that our time is up and I am sure we have just started we have just started I have so many things I want to ask you especially on networking but let's wrap it up and as we bring this to a close final question and then as you answer this you also have your final word as you talk to that Kenyan youth final question when a youth is about to graduate there is that time when you are still in school and there is that time after you graduate when you are still volunteering to look for jobs is there any right time to start networking is there that time that you say that at this time when I get to this level is when I am good to build my networks some are still in campus they are saying now I don't have anything to do right now I see don't have a profile I don't have a CV is there any right time of course as you have a final word sure you start I would like to advise all the university students and the college students or whichever institution of higher learning you are in you start networking immediately you get your foot into the first year first year first semester that's when you start networking how would you do it there are some colleges, universities we have got these groups the ISEC there are these groups so many of them join these groups even see you you can be able to run a lot of things that you didn't know clubs join them some people even get elected as readers you start honing your readership skills you start honing your communication skills you start honing since you will be working as a team you start honing your teamwork skills and out of those people get jobs very fast they are students who have been to these clubs I have done myself people have been ISEC, President's Award people have been a good club in the state of higher learning because they are able to this club is usually inviting people to talk to them they usually get invited to dinas that's why they are able to know how to dinas for a dinner that's why they are able to know even how to dinas when you are going for a professional network when you are still in campus so by the time you are in campus you are very polished just wait now compare that person with somebody who have never been to any event in a club is just wearing the way he thinks he thinks my dress, my choice communicating the way he wants is a very huge difference you can't compare the two of them let's have a conversation about now interviews we should talk about that because does your networking also have an effect the way you handle yourself even in an interview will you display the same characteristics you'll be surprised that you'll get some A materials and B materials who can only view what we answer very simple question tell us about yourself that is James Atari my brother thank you so much thank you very much keep the conversation going on on social media the hashtag is one in the morning remember we are asking the question why are we having many graduates not getting jobs nowadays the hashtag is one in the morning we are taking a short break after this we'll be back with much more this is one in the morning