Allison Primack

Posts by Allison Primack


Think about the last time you met a professional contact at a conference. Did you only talk about your most recent project at work, or did you delve into topics like your family or favorite television shows? My hunch is that you blended the personal and the professional as you built the initial rapport of the relationship.

Why do organizations expect their employees to interact on social networks — whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or an internal collaboration tool like Yammer — as if they are any different? Why do they force employees to focus only on work topics and fend off the family photos, recipes and recent celebrity buzz? Keep reading →

It is no secret that social media has been widely adopted by government agencies. The question is: why would a government agency want to be connected to constituents round-the-clock? The answer: it is a relatively cost effective way to engage with the public.

The challenge (and the hidden cost) is that consistently keeping up with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GovLoop, or any other social media accounts can be extremely time-consuming. Building on high rates of unemployment coupled with current students and recent graduates looking for any work they can get, many organizations are adopting what appears to be an easy fix: hire a social media intern. Keep reading →

When USAJOBS — the online portal for federal jobs — shut down for a few days in October to launch it’s new website, government job seekers and recruiters had high expectations for the potential features and functionality. With fresh updates that included the ability to upload several resumes, determine an applicant’s hiring eligibility and conduct a more advanced search, users were excited to test out “USAJOBS 3.0.”

Unfortunately, the honeymoon period was short-lived. Users were faced with several frustrating issues and, at times, applications were not being successfully delivered to the agencies — partially due to the unprecedented number of visitors that bogged down servers and hindered optimal site functionality. Keep reading →