‘Tis the season for shopping, spending, wrapping, ripping open, returning and regifting.  It’s a time of wondering what someone else might want or need and then making an effort to provide it.  And it’s as good a time as any to say, “Thank you.”

Thank you.  Two little words that really pack it in.  Saying thank you lifts someone else up by recognizing that he or she invested time, energy or money to lift you up.  But thank you is also humbling:  it is an acknowledgement that you had a need, that you required or desired something and that someone else was in a position to give it to you. 

Over sandwiches with HR placement guru Susan Seward of HR Advantage Partners, she and I agreed that the number one concern candidates have today is around interviews.  Specifically, “I’ve been out of work for two (ten, twenty) months.  How do I explain that employment gap?”  If you, reader, happen to have a gap in your resume, keep reading.

See, you’re still reading, as are countless others with the same issue.  You are not alone.  So much so that interviewers have become experts in recognizing resume gaps.  They are paid to notice these and ask about them; they are not required to rule someone out because of them.  They simply have to ask, so first, ‘fess up:  “I have been unconventionally employed.”

“I’m not that kind of guy.” The terrified smile suggested this man of influence and considerable decision making authority had considered the question, decided against it, and would not, for any reason, be persuaded to change his behavior. The firm stance would have been perfectly appropriate if the individual were facing any of the inappropriate proposals businesspeople are often handed. This time, however, the question was, “How does your company employ social media?”

Technology is moving so fast that it can seem like one of those sound barriers along the freeway. It divides. And those who suddenly realize they are on the wrong side of the barrier are slow to move forward and are hard-pressed to find a way over or around the wall.

When I first discovered LinkedIn, I was linking in a rural network landscape - a few people out there, but not many. A person could check their LI messages once a week or so and keep up with expectations. Kind of like looking out the window over your farm fields and feeling thrilled when a car turns up your dusty road. Well, times have changed, and small-town LI is now a sprawling suburban network, verging on a becoming a city in itself.

LinkedIn is getting crowded, and the newest users have suspicious motives. "If someone connects with me on LinkedIn," says one manager, "then I know they are looking for a job." How can an honest networker escape the assumption that all newcomers to the countryside are evil? Your best bet is to take a two-tiered approach: use it, and personalize it.