As a professional, you represent a brand; your
personal brand. Okay, I know, this might sound trite, nevertheless, it is
a fact that you should think of yourself as a brand. You have a reputation that must be
managed. As with any brand, the message
you are sending must be clear and consistent. Your resume, cover-letter,
and bio must reinforce your message. Thank you letters should reinforce
the key points you want the hiring manager to remember. Likewise, your
on-line message must resonate with the same message. Your brand must be
clear and consistent.
It is not uncommon to learn of job-seekers who have
been successful putting their total job-search efforts into a LinkedIn
campaign. If you are not on LinkedIn, you
should be. Ensure that your profile is
complete. Otherwise, you are hurting yourself. Employers are
looking for you, but they cannot find you or if they do, your profile may not be
impressive enough to be of interest. Now is a good time to join and
become active in those groups that parallel your interests. Position
yourself as a thought-leader. Consider a paid subscription to LinkedIn to
gain access to more of its capabilities. It is not yet the most effective way of landing a job, but you must
factor LinkedIn into your job-search.
Take LinkedIn very seriously!
Like your resume, your LinkedIn
profile must be interesting to read. Large paragraphs tend to make the
reader's eyes glaze over. Your message may never be read, or get
through. White space is very useful to keep the reader's attention.
Mixing up short paragraphs with bullet points will keep the reader
interested. Your LinkedIn profile must mirror your resume and other
biographical information. Since more and more employers and recruiters
are using LinkedIn to source candidates your resume must be available on
LinkedIn and it must be consistent with the one you are sending to prospective
employers.
Ensure that your contact information
is up to date. If prospective employers are looking for you, then make it
easy to find you. It reinforces your status as a professional and will
ensure that you are contacted about interesting situations.
On the issue of contact information
your email needs to have a complete signature section. Telephone numbers,
email addresses, and the link to your LinkedIn page should be available.
Remember, today much of our interaction is via cell phone, so make it easy for
cell phone users to contact you.
I have not heard of anyone landing a
job through Face Book but I suppose that is possible. If you are active
on Face Book it is probably a good way to keep your network up to date on your
progress. It is probably safe to say that if you are over 50, your
Facebook page is more about your children and grandchildren than more esoteric
pursuits. That is good news. Prospective employers will take a look
at your Facebook page to get more insight into you as a person. I have
checked out candidates in the past, and some have sent me friend
requests. I can say that I have learned things about some candidates that
I wish I had never known, which raised questions about their suitability to
work for my clients. Make sure your Facebook page is interesting, but
neutral.
Google+ is becoming more important,
so it is a venue that you should consider. When setting up your Google+
homepage, ensure that it is complete and also mirrors your resume and your
LinkedIn profile. You may also consider starting a blog and developing
your own website to further your on-line presence. Send notice of your
blog posts to your network. It is good
marketing.
Remember, employers are looking for you.
You need to help them find you. On-line
tools can be very useful to your job-search campaign, but only if there is
consistency between them and if your message is the same across each venue.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.
Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
www.newcenturydynamics.com
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