Apparently some Tokyo IT Headhunters have a sense of humour – judging by the “Pre Great Depression 2 Party” email I got from one I know quite well.

It’s been a challenging 2008 for him and others here as many “Gaishikei” (foreign companies) have frozen both temp and permanent IT hiring plans. Ouch!

Seems like 2009 is already shaping up to be a backdrop for something like that Monty Python’s “Always look on the bright side of life” sketch.

Still, I considered it my professional duty to at least support and encourage him and a group of mostly gaijin IT workers in a Tokyo watering hole on Saturday evening.

Of course, in the spirit of our future barter economy (joke?!) I was willing to trade career coaching wisdom for quality liquid refreshments. (These days, 2 pints and I’m just about done for the night!)

As a warmup to that “session” (and I was home before 11pm, honest!) I also caught up with some former IT colleagues at a Tokyo fish restaurant, Friday evening.

Can you name the yellow-ish ‘fish’? (see ‘pps’ below)
(the hot wasabi is the green paste bottom right and just above that’s fresh ginger)

I remembered to take my camera along and got a couple of snaps – on my social media to-do list is creating a Flickr account so I can share more of them.

- Mark McClure

PS – The $29.40 Laser Focus career consulting session special offer for blog email subscribers has finished.

I‘m now running a 48 hour special for all blog visitors until midnight Thursday 18 December, Japan time.
Get 1 of 5 Laser Focus sessions available for just $89.50 – that’s 50% off the standard price of $179. (not $147 as I mentioned in a previous post).

Updated 19 December 01:17 hrs – this special offer is now finished.
The Laser Focus session is available for $179 – please see techcareerzigzag.com for details.

PPS – The ‘yellow-ish’ fish is Japanese sea urchin – ‘uni’ which I cannot eat. I liked everything else on that dish.
Here’re some photos from the Uoshin Fish Restaurant.

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For some months now I’ve been replying to career and coaching-related questions in the Q&A section of LinkedIn. I’m up to the grand total of 30 which impresses me but pales in comparison to those who do that many in one day!

I’ve learned a lot from many of the comments left by others – as well as from how some of the more prolific posters ‘work the digital room’.

A good example is when I reply to one of their questions and then get an email through the LinkedIn system both thanking me and inviting me to connect. (The really savvy ones ask me to send the request so – I guess – they reduce their risk of being ‘reported’ for alleged spamming.)

After a few of these ‘out-of-the’ blue connection requests (after all, I don’t know these folks and their email reply often gives no compelling reason why I should accept) I realized that I too was at fault….

… because my own LinkedIn ‘virtual real estate’ is distinctly under developed and gives no clue as to my personal rules on accepting requests and on making future recommendations on their behalf to valued contacts within my network.

Well, that’s going to change by the turn of the year because I’ve come across the excellent work of ‘brand engagement strategist’, Krishna De.

She’s based in Ireland and if you go check out her LinkedIn page, just look at how she’s presented herself in the Summary, Experience and Additional Information sections.

Krishna has clear and precise guidelines for how to engage with her ‘personal brand’ and her ‘tribe’ on LinkedIn. I like that.

Now compare with my ‘boarded up’ precint: <sigh>

‘Creativity tension’ is a wonderful thing – or, as my teacher would write in big red letters back in the non-PC Tom Brown’s school days of the 1970s – “McClure, you can do better”

There’s enough information on Krishna’s blog site to pull together a revamp of my LinkedIn offering. And I’ll take a crack at that over the Christmas/New Year break.

(Note – I am going to model my profile on her design but not copy it. Ideally, I’d love to insert a mindmap image file haha! Maybe LinkedIn v3.0, heh?)

When’s the last time you reviewed your LinkedIn page through the eyes of a “personal brand” marketer?

I’ll plan to post a LinkedIn update in early 2009.

- Mark McClure

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