What use is a shop window if it’s down a back street and no-one sees it? Your Linkedin profile is just that. Like any online activity, you need two key things – visibility and a great advertisement for your skills, but also having this presence seen by lots of the right people. In the case of job hunters, that’s recruiters, HR staff and networking contacts.
Just putting up a profile on Linkedin will NOT get you seen by the people that matter – or at least not much. Firmly tie your Linked in profile to your professional blog, Twitter and Facebook and you are suddenly into a different league. Recruiters just like everyone else are looking for fast, cheap and efficient ways to get their job done and the internet is their key tool to do that.
The way that social media is synergistically inter connected allows you to create a personal brand that works really hard for you. I think of it as passive vs. active marketing.. Passive marketing involves setting out your stall and waiting. Active marketing puts your stall in the best place, has referrals from neighbouring traders and tracks down potential customers by word of mouth.
Not only will you get more visibility this way and hence more opportunities, you’ll be demonstrating that you are tech savvy and up to date with the online world. And this kills possibly the biggest objection for many over 40’s who are often perceived by potential employers as technically out of touch.
You cannot tell which contact or conversation is going to ultimately lead you to that job, but remember you only need one job!
So if you are job hunting in 2013, here’s my five-point must do list:
Ensure your Linkedin profile is up to date
This is your shop window, your free advertisement. So it must show not only that you have the key skills, it must also show that you’re a great person to have on the team. Develop your connections and make sure you have plenty of endorsements and recommendations from people you’ve worked with. I am consistently amazed at how many great people I have in my network who have absolutely no recommendations on Linkedin. I know they are great at what they do, but who else does?
Have a professional blog
You have expert knowledge in your specialism. Share it and connect with others in your field. Most people may not be interested in your specialist field, but those who are in the same occupation will be. This engagement will position you as an expert in your field. The more you post, the more visible you become on the search engines. And when a prospective employer encounters your profile, do you think they will Google your name? You bet they will, so ensure that what they find reinforces your credibility.
Use Twitter to engage …
with recruiters, HR specialists and those in your field and market sector. Not only will this enhance your network, it will drive traffic to your blog and heighten your personal profile. Moreover, Twitter is a great way to keep up with the current thinking of the leaders in your field.
Participate vigorously on the specialist forums in your field
Not only will this demonstrate your knowledge, it will connect you with many more valuable contacts.
Think of yourself as a brand
You are marketing yourself. So you must understand who you are looking to sell yourself to and understand deeply what they need and match yourself to that need.
There are many more online tactics you can deploy to achieve your goal use and David Perry’s great book Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0 is the latest and most up to date guide to the most powerful online strategies. Here’s a short film which describes some of the basics from the book.
Follow these steps and I guarantee you will uncover more opportunities than you ever thought possible.
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