Everyone else is taking about social media – so I’m thinking the HR Chick should too. Being that you are here reading my blog, you are probably pretty savvy on the social media front already. You had to get here from somewhere, and most likely it was Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook. So I’m not going to go into detail – you can Google all that yourself. I am simply going to give you some tips to help you with your job search.
If you are looking for a new job, I can not stress the importance of an awesome Linkedin.com profile enough. Yes it takes time to set up, but do you want a job, or do you just want to complain about how hard it is to get one? Linkedin is like a giant, free recruiting database. And yes, it serves many other networking purposes, but really it’s a recruiters dream come true. And yes – I invest a ridiculous amount of time on the site – but that’s why companies hire me. They don’t have time to mine the profiles and contact people. They have time to look at the few awesome resumes I can produce as a result of pouring over thousands of profiles a day. Oh, and one last piece of advice beyond Linkedin. If you have a Facebook profile, make sure your profile settings are all set to private and you have a nice profile pic (since that is all anyone will see). Save the picture of you doing body shots for another time and place.
Back to Linkedin. If you are looking for a job, follow these simple suggestions:
1. Post your resume or at least put some detailed info in under your previous positions. Job Titles and Dates of Employment don’t tell recruiters enough.
2. In your summary section let people know the type of position you are looking for, and that you are open to being contacted. Posting your email address is the best way to get people to contact you. Inmails cost money, so the more people a recruiter can reach without using their allotment up, the better! (You may want to set up a separate email address for your job hunting so it doesn’t clog up your regular email.)
3. Join all the groups you can find in your area of expertise. It expands your network exponentially!
4. Network! The more people you are connected to, the more people can find you through 2nd and 3rd connections.
5. If you have specialized certifications or something like a security clearance, make sure that is in your summary as well.
6. Lastly – keep your profile up-to-date. When you do land that job, update your summary section. I appreciate when I see things like – “Thank you everyone for all your help in finding my new position. I am not currently open to being contacted by recruiters.” It really makes things easier for all involved!
Happy Job Hunting! You can always check my profile for the positions I am recruiting for. And please – invite me to connect! You can find my profile at www.linkedin.com/in/swanhrconsulting.
