Podcasts

Woman Around Town’s Editor Charlene Giannetti and writers for the website talk with the women and men making news in New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the world. Thanks to Ian Herman for his wonderful piano introduction.

Wall Street

The New American Dreamer: Ready for Your Closeup?

06/13/2016

Staying with our LinkedIn leg of our journey (read our previous story) let’s get to uploading a photo of yourself. As much as we don’t like it this photo is a key piece to your profile. If a picture is worth a thousand words than a really good picture of you may be worth a thousand bucks or more. OK maybe that is an oversimplification, but we all know that today’s world is visually driven and that the Internet has only raised the stakes, so let’s take a moment to look closer at choosing a photo.

When looking to make your way in the business world you can help yourself by finding an image of you that shows everyone looking at it that you are professional, presentable and most of all, that you understand how to choose a professional photo. Once the photo has met those criteria and only after that should you get “creative” with your online photo.

What I mean by this is that your best bet is to simply take a great color photo of your face, looking happy, and just start there. Smiling is always a plus. This photo can be, or might be, one that you see next to your bio on a company website. These types of photos almost always work best for a LinkedIn profile unless your last job was at Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Of course there are exceptions. If you’re in a creative position such as Graphic Designer, you might do something tasteful but keep it simple. Sometimes simply going all B&W on us is enough to stand out in a distinct and interesting way. But if you’re searching for a position on Wall Street or looking for a business partner for your bakery, my advice is to first keep it simple and think about some things to avoid:

Shots of you sitting on a park bench eating lunch. Seriously keep it to your face, no body shots and no funky backdrops.

Looking hysterical, it’s better to just smile or appear neutral.

Shots of your pets, a sock puppet or an avatar. (You’d be surprised.)

Changing it every month. This shows indecision and insecurity. Keep a photo up for long periods of time so people can learn who you are.

Special effects. Save the sepia tones for your Facebook page.

Now please hear me: You do not have to hire a professional to get this photo done! If you have a professional photograph that you like that’s great but this is not necessary.Have a friend do it. If you hate it, you can change it just don’t keep changing it. Most photos taken by a friend should be easily uploaded to LinkedIn but there are technological specifications.

Your LinkedIn picture can be as large as 4MB in size and can be in the following file formats: GIF, JPG, and PNG. It must also be within the maximum limit of 4000 x 4000 pixels. To upload a photo to LinkedIn simply go to your profile page and click on the space where your photo would be that says “Edit Photo”.

If you’ve been reading along and perhaps have your own business and want to start to see how LinkedIn can better help you then click on the solutions page and see ways in which LinkedIn is working directly with small businesses.

But for many of us there’s a one more important leg on our LinkedIn journey that needs discussing next week, that of actually “linking” up with others and getting recommendations. We’re getting there.

So for now just smile and say cheese.

Jason Veduccio is a hard-working entrepreneur following his dreams, and he wants you to dream, too. Drawing on his experiences working with companies on marketing, technology, hiring, and workplace issues, his regular column will demystify the job search process and identify strategies for moving up the corporate ladder. Founder of In1Concepts, Jason also knows the ins and outs of launching a new business. He welcomes your questions and can be reached at jason@in1concepts.com.

Money Monster – Not a Monster Hit

05/13/2016

Neither George Clooney nor Julia Roberts has had a box office winner in the past few years. Their latest, Money Monster, won’t be one, either. The film, directed by Jodie Foster, is a strange hybrid – part comedy, part thriller, part farce. Still, anyone hoping to avoid superhero films this season could do worse than spending 90-plus minutes watching two seasoned actors take on Wall Street.

George ClooneyClooney plays Lee Gates, an over-the-top version of CNBC’s Jim Cramer, doling out stock tips while wearing a silver vest emblazoned with dollar signs and kicking up his heels with a pair of dancers dressed in gold. No one sees what he does as serious business reporting, including the show’s producer, Patty Fenn (Roberts), who is on her way out, having accepted a job at another news outlet.

The stuff hits the fan when a disgruntled viewer, Kyle Bidwell (Jack O’Connell, doing an acceptable Queens accent), shows up on the set with a gun and forces Gates to put on a vest loaded with explosives. Kyle, a minimum wage delivery person, got caught up in Gates’s enthusiasm for Ibis Clear Capital and lost his entire savings, $60,000, when the company’s stock tanked virtually overnight. Ibis’s CEO, Walt Camby (Dominic West), is blaming the loss on a computer glitch, leaving it to his communications director, Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe), to face the press. Before Gates can interview Lester, he’s taken hostage. Kyle wants answers and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to hold someone accountable.

Jack O Connell;George ClooneyWhile the NYPD closes in, Gates slowly comes over to Kyle’s side. And when Fenn, aided by the show’s other reporters, begins to turn up evidence that Camby is covering up what really happened at Ibis, Gates risks his life to do what he’s rarely done – get the real story.

While Clooney certainly has a sense of comic timing, that quality doesn’t come through here. He’s better during the film’s serious moments. Roberts is the heart of the film, directing the action on the set, feeding questions to Gates, and defying the police by staying in the studio after the evacuation.

Money Monster is a soft jab at Wall Street, certainly not in the same league as The Big Short or The Wolf of Wall Street. Yet it hits screens at a perfect time, with voters like Kyle still asking questions about the haves versus the have-nots.

Money Monster opens nationwide on May 13, 2016.