Twitter Lists and Coworkers.com

In addition to using Twitter to share information and provide updates on Coworkers.com, we have also been building various Twitter "Lists" that follow career and job related users. Take a look, we hope you will find them useful - http://twitter.com/coworkers/lists

Also, please let us know if you have any suggestions for people to add to these lists, or if you'd like us to track additional topics! You can email us via the site, or DM us on Twitter @coworkers.

Request Professional Feedback & Coaching via Google Buzz

Coworkers.com now makes it easy for you to share your feedback requests via Google Buzz (in addition to Twitter & LinkedIn). Our Get Feedback tool helps you quickly configure a request for feedback regarding: your work performance, a document or deliverable, an event or milestone, or even just ask a simple question. With one click, you can share that request any way you want - via email, URL, Twitter, LinkedIn, and now Google Buzz!

To Buzz your request:

• Choose "Get Feedback" from the "Feedback" drop-down menu on the site
• In the "Ask Via..." options, make sure "Web..." is checked
• Finish setting up your request, and you'll be presented with one-click links that let you share your request via Google Buzz & other services (see screen capture below)

Happy buzzing

Coworkers.com introduces affiliate program

Affiliates generate revenue with referrals

Coworkers.com is pleased to introduce a new program that allows affiliates to earn money through referrals. The program is targeted primarily at career and job experts such as consultants, coaches, recruiters, and trainers. By referring paying customers to Coworkers.com, these people can supplement their income with no obligation and little effort.

“Since we launched our Professional (subscription) service in November, we have been approached by many career-focused business people who tell us that our service facilitates exactly the type of interaction they already recommend to their clients: ongoing, constructive, multi-party feedback” said founder Jonathan Clay. “Since these experts are already effectively selling what we offer, we decided to give them a way to profit from it.”

The affiliate program offers a one-time, 15% “bounty” to affiliates when they refer new customers who sign up for Coworkers.com’s Professional Edition. Each affiliate gets a unique “discount code” which is used to tie referrals back to them. Suggested methods of promotion for affiliates include blog entries, podcasts, and e-newsletters.

“This is truly a win-win deal,” said Clay. “With this program, we provide enterprising small businesses a way to generate passive revenue streams. End users get a substantial discount via the affiliate who referred them. And of course, we are happy to have a new distribution channel that will help us spread the word about Coworkers.com and gain new customers.”

Program details can be found at http://www.coworkers.com/affiliates

Interesting iPhone Apps for Jobs & Career Development

NOTE: All links will take you to the app directory website Appolicious, where you can read more about each app, and also download directly from iTunes if you wish.

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Audio Job Interview: The iPhone will audibly interview you and record your responses as if it were a prospective new employer. Choose from a library of common interview questions to build your own interview template.

myinstantCOACH™ is an application that is a revolutionary first of its kind, providing you access to your own Certified Professional Coach – delivering support, guidance and insight to help you remove the barriers that have you stopped, stuck or simply unhappy.

JobCoach helps you focus where you need help the most, shows you how to refine your search, and gives you more than 75 strategies to get your name to the top of the stack. Learn new skills and brush up on tried-and-true techniques whenever you have a free moment – on the train, in line at the store, or waiting for an appointment.

Career Patterns is an app designed to measure your interests and preferences for a variety of vocational and job skills. The underlying career interests survey measures three dimensions of personality that correspond to seven occupational dimensions, from Adventurous jobs to Helping professions.

Career Rescue was developed by Kim Thompson, a career counselor with extensive experience in the marketplace, working with job candidates in private, public and non-profit industries offering them “real time” hands-on career management information.

Indeed.com Job SearchFind jobs from your iPhone or iPod Touch with Indeed, the most comprehensive search engine for jobs. In a single search, Indeed offers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites and job boards.

Beyond.com Search Jobs & Find a Career The application allows users to search thousands of jobs across more than 25 industries by location and keyword, review detailed job descriptions, save jobs to a list of favorites and share jobs with friends. In addition, users can browse valuable career articles for advice on job searching, resume writing, interviewing, networking and more.

Careerbuilder.com Jobs iPhone application offers a unique way to search nearly 2 million jobs on CareerBuilder.com, the US's largest job site. Users may search for jobs by keyword, read job descriptions and salaries, save jobs to a list of favorites, and email job links to anyone on their contact list.

Real-Time JobsIn a single search, this App allows a job seeker to search hundreds of thousands of job offers, view a job description, and apply for their ideal jobs. The TwitterJobSearch App is not just for Twitter users and makes use of proprietary QuickPitch technology to do this.

JobCompass JobCompass is the only application on the iPhone that searches millions of jobs, locating and plotting them on a map showing you exactly where the jobs are in relation to your current position. When you find a job that you are interested in you can email it to yourself, to a friend and even apply online.

LinkedInLinkedIn for iPhone puts your professional network just a touch away. Walk into any interview or client meeting with the ability to look up the details and connect with over 55 million professionals worldwide. Get the latest updates and messages from your network and keep them up-to-date with your status in real-time.

That's just a few, let us know if we overlooked any of your favorites.

Use your LinkedIn Account to instantly Sign up for Coworkers.com

We're excited to announce that new website visitors can now use their LinkedIn account information to sign up instantly for a Coworkers.com account. This is made possible thanks to the recently announced LinkedIn API.

How does the sign up process work?

If you have not yet registered with Coworkers.com, you can do so quickly, without a password, by signing in to your LinkedIn account. Simply visit our Free Registration page, and click on the "Connect via LinkedIn" link at the top of the page. We will import some information from your LinkedIn profile, such as your name, location, and work experience - so you won't need to enter it again. After you have registered, you can log back in to Coworkers via LinkedIn.

What about people who already have a Coworkers.com account?

If you have already signed up with Coworkers.com but have not yet filled out your profile, you can do so quickly by clicking on the "Import from LinkedIn" link on the Account page. This will instantly transfer information such as your industry, company, and work experience from LinkedIn.

Over time, we plan to add tighter integration with LinkedIn to include features that will benefit existing Coworkers.com users. We will continue to develop simple and effective tools for analyzing and improving your work, while leveraging the networking and messaging capabilities of LinkedIn, as well as other sites. We will keep you updated as we roll out new integration features, so be sure to login in to your Account Settings and sign up for our newsletter by selecting the "Send me periodic web site announcements" option - if you haven't already done so.

What is the difference between Coworkers and LinkedIn?

We realize that professionals use a portfolio of online services and tools to advance their career. Coworkers.com and LinkedIn work well together. LinkedIn is primarily used for networking – finding and connecting with other professionals, with whom you may or may not have work experience. Coworkers is focused solely on the people you have close working relationships with.

While LinkedIn has the concept of "recommendations" which are focused on personal marketing, Coworkers greatly expands the range of collegial input you can receive and share, giving you privacy control, the option for anonymity, templates, analytics, and other features focused on professional development. Bottom line: LinkedIn and Coworkers have different missions and serve different purposes, and we think you should use both – which is why we've made it incredibly easy for you to do so!

Feature Update: Feedback Template Library

We've made it even easier to browse, preview, edit, create, and share Review and Feedback templates. You'll find a number of predesign templates covering everything from in-depth 360 degree work performance reviews to simple forms for getting feedback on a meeting or presentation.

Our users can create their own templates by either modifying an existing one, or building one from scratch. If a user decides to, they can share their custom templates so that they appear in our ever-growing library. As always, our templates fall into the three major categories of:

1. Work Performance
2. Event/Milestone
3. Document/Deliverable

Visit our Template Library today!

Get Valuable Input, on Autopilot: Schedule Feedback Requests

Have a weekly meeting that you manage or attend? How about a monthly or quarterly milestone? Do you wish you could setup an annual or quarterly review request today, that will go out on a future date?

Coworkers.com PRO users can now Schedule Feedback Requests. This is a helpful way to get into the habit of collecting ongoing comments and ratings from your colleagues. Simply use our Get Feedback wizard and include the optional scheduling information. Set it up once and you can:

• Schedule a one time request to go out on a future date
• Schedule a recurring request to go out: daily, weekly or monthly
• As always, the feedback you receive can be private, and people do NOT need to be Coworkers.com members to respond to your requests

Find out more about Scheduled Requests and other great features included in our Professional Account.

Five tips for incorporating work feedback into your daily routine

The most effective individuals and companies share a common trait. They encourage frequent, honest feedback. The key to evolving beyond the dreaded periodic performance review, is to make workplace feedback more granular, recurring, and measurable. Here are some tips for leveraging professional feedback in order to improve the work you do.

1. Foster a feedback-friendly work environment. Tell your colleagues that you think an ongoing, open, honest, and informal peer review process is good for everyone. Don't be afraid to get the ball rolling without a formal process. Lead by example and start off by requesting feedback on a recent meeting, project, presentation or other current bit of work you have been involved with. Something specific and timely may be an easier starting point than than requesting a general work performance evaluation. Feedback should be exchanged frequently in all directions. When asking for feedback, focus on results and quality, not just on how hard you work or how nice you are.
2. Anonymity is your friend. When requesting feedback, try to share your request with as many people as is relevant to the question at hand. If possible, let people know that they are not the only one being asked, and allow them to respond anonymously. This helps people open up and underscores the non-threatening nature of the process. You are looking to gather unbiased constructive input, so do what you can to make people comfortable.
3. Be quick and proactive. If problems are exposed, don't let them fester, deal with them early. Don't complain about coworkers behind their backs. It is better to discuss concerns with them directly and get issues out in the open. Always try to resolve problems unofficially first. Only go to HR as a last resort, because then it becomes a matter of record.
4. Be honest with yourself. Get in the habit of doing regular self evaluations. You will often be your most honest and thorough critic. Taking the time to reflect on your work, a few times a week or month, is a lot easier than waiting every quarter or longer. No one is perfect, and your boss(es) will appreciate that you take the time to set the bar for yourself.
5. Analyze and learn. You can't manage what you don't measure. Repeat the process frequently, track the results. In reviewing your feedback over time, you will be able to spot strengths and weaknesses. You can keep an eye on trends, and set personal development goals more effectively. When you have greater insight into your abilities, you can present yourself with a confidence that gives you an edge.
   

'Tis the Season to Give & Receive (Feedback)

As 2009 draws to a close, it's important to look back and review the things that you and your colleagues have achieved. Reflecting on things that went well, or maybe not so well, can help you better understand how to make 2010 even better. If you're already sharing ongoing feedback with the people you work with - good for you! If not, make it a New Year's resolution that you will actively gather input in order to improve your career.

Give feedback to a colleague

Request feedback from the people you work with

P.S. Get 25% off your first year annual Pro subscription - only $29.95/yr while our promotion lasts (use discount code EARLY). At less than $2.50/mo for advanced workgroup features, analytics, and more, it's a great present for yourself that will last all 2010. Order Now or Compare Account Types first.

Share your feedback requests on LinkedIn

You told us we should do more mashing with other sites, and we heard you. You can now share your feedback requests with your network on LinkedIn, as well as Twitter.

To try it out, just create a new feedback request (be sure to keep the "Web" option checked), and then follow the instructions on the confirmation page. Have fun networking!



NOTE: This feature is also available for your previously-created feedback requests. Just login to your account and go to "Requests" in the Feedback drop-down menu. Click to view a particular request, and you will now see the new LinkedIn sharing option in the Details screen.