Steve Jobs to Take Medical Leave of Absence with Flic Social Media

For the second time in two years, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be stepping down from handling day-to-day operations due to undisclosed medical complications.

Jobs, whose last medical leave in 2009 was due to a liver transplant, sent the following e-mail to his (fellow) employees:

Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy. More about Flic Social Media

Steve

While this will certainly stir debate–will Jobs return? How severe is the problem?–and controversy–How does this affect Apple going forward?–our usual indicator of “relative” success, the stock market, will not be apparent until tomorrow morning, when trade for the week begins.

Job-Seeker Social Media Tips

DailyFinance has posted a concise but great tip list for the unemployed to use social media as an additional method to solicit new work:

1. Build Your Contact Network Early and Aggressively – With the variety of sites available now, from Linkedin to Twitter and Facebook, it is important to reach out to these outlets and start building up contacts and self-promote as early as possible. Even if you find yourself employed, it is still important to keep plugging away at your own personal brand to others so that if you do lose your job, there is already a system of people aware of your qualifications.

2. Embrace Facebook Responsibly – As the largest social networking site in the world, Facebook can be invaluable to your efforts. To be safe though, it is important to set your privacy settings accordingly so that any potentially embarrassing material can be viewed by only those you trust. At that point, your page can be reset to reflect your current career aspirations and experience as well as other personal

3. Always Pay Attention – Since social media sites operate as an ongoing, 24/7 conversation amongst users, it is important to keep on top of what is going on at all times as news and job opportunities can appear often and disappear just as fast. Following the right industry people and recruiters can provide a steady stream of new openings and opportunities available but it is up to you to keep abreast of their postings.

4. Be Personal Not Generic – It is easy to forget that behind a Twitter profile or Linkedin page is a living, breathing person. Therefore, when reaching out to someone through one of these websites always remember to make your message as personal and specific as possible. Sending out generic messages without personality or attention to detail will be ignored for sure. However, once a connection is made, it is important to leverage that into a real world meeting.

5. Reciprocation is Key – Remember too that while you are soliciting contacts, others may be seeking to interact with you as well for their own purposes. You may be requested in a Linkedin invitation or asked to provide feedback to them for potential prospects. It is easy to blow these kinds of requests off from essentially strangers but, as in regular life, good deeds do not go unrewarded. Your willingness to engage with others will certainly be appreciated if one of these same strangers has an opening available and remembers that you, unlike many others who chose not to, responded to his or her queries. Such a distinction may seem small but in this highly competitive market, any edge counts.