When a position appears on a job board that you're interested in applying for, do you just submit your resume and cover letter and hope the company or organization will contact you about scheduling an interview?
With over 13.5 million people still unemployed, you need to take a more pro-active approach if you want to get in the door for that interview. You need to determine who can help connect you with the hiring manager, the internal recruiter or some key individual in that company or organization, and social media sites provide a way for to happen.
Identify Your Connections
Your first step is to research your prospective employer on sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn provides you with three categories of individuals from that company: 1.) People in your network (1st through 3rd level as well as people in LinkedIn groups you've joined); 2.) New hires at the company; and 3.) All employees.
"If there is a company I am interested in, I search by company name, and see the employees listed with them," says Samantha Shaw, national account manager, BBW International, Toronto. "From that, I either find a way to network with them face-to-face, or send an introductory e-mail to them, asking their advice. I find that most people are receptive to LinkedIn requests as it is a business forum."
Individuals from the LinkedIn or Twitter groups you've joined are valuable to reach out to especially if you've been actively asking or responding to questions. Your participation helps establish your credibility with members of these groups.
Sheryl Sookman, CMP, is principal of The MeetingConnection, which offers career coaching and resume design services to individuals in the meetings industry. Sookman presents workshops, keynote speeches and webinars on career- and employment-related issues. Her book on career strategies and resume design, titled Who's In Charge of Your Career? Creating a Strategy for Success, is available through www.amazon.com. You can reach her by e-mail at sheryl@themeetingconnection.com or at 415.892.1394. The MeetingConnection's website is located at www.themeetingconnection.
"I find most of my work through industry relationships that began on Twitter," says Adrian Segar, Segar Consulting, Marlboro, Vt. "The #eventprofs group on Twitter has made it possible for me to meet people interested in my work who I believe I would never have known about me otherwise."
Consider joining groups that reflect your background and experience, including alumni organizations, former companies, organizations and industries where you worked, and groups related to specific industry designations or professional associations. Once you're in these groups, be sure check out their job postings as well.
Another way to flesh out job posting is to sign up at http://tweetmyjobs.com. You'll receive notification about jobs that match with your specifications: location, type of job, etc.
Companies and organizations also have a presence on social media sites. In one instance, I found a link on Facebook to a company's microsite that contained examples of registration pages for different programs its Event Marketing department planned. This was beneficial for two reasons: 1.) I could see how this company markets their programs through their online registration sites, and 2.) it provided me with names of the meeting planners in charge of the different programs. Using LinkedIn, I could determine if any of these individuals could help connect me to the hiring manager.
Nurture and expand your connections
You need to nurture your existing professional and personal relationships and expand your connections.
"I make sure to nurture the relationship and make the connection about the relationship and not about getting work," says Renette Grace, freelance trip director/on-site support staff, Duluth, Minn. "As a result of the relationships I made, I received the contract."
Get the word out about your job search. On LinkedIn, be sure to update the status on your profile. If you want to be more private about your search, then send out messages to everyone in your LinkedIn contacts (limit of 50 connections at one time). Use Twitter in the same way to communicate about your job search. For example, you could say, "looking for FT/PT/#freelance roles in meeting planning."
Create a 360-degree personal brand
Make sure you communicate a consistent message about your personal brand on every social media site you join. Test the waters and search for yourself on Google or Bing to see what information you're pulling up. Sign up with Twilert to find out when someone tweets about your brand.
Consider hiding or making private any profile that doesn't convey a professional image. That holds true for any "friends" where images of you appear in a less than favorable manner. That's because hiring managers and internal recruiters use social media sites as well to learn about prospective employees. Doximity, a company based in San Mateo, Calif., even requests your LinkedIn profile URL and Twitter account as part of their online application.
Another way to enhance your personal brand is by starting a blog. If you're not ready to maintain one on a consistent basis, consider joining Tumblr. Once you create your Tumblr page, you can share your viewpoints, quotes you find interesting and links to articles, photos and videos. Whenever you post to another site, you can have Tumblr automatically import that information to your Tumblr blog. It's another way for hiring managers to gain insight about your capabilities, and they'll see how well informed you are about using social media.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to utilizing social media to find your next job. Ask friends and former co-workers how they've leveraged social media to expand their network. LinkedIn and Twitter both have tutorials that will help increase your search skills on their sites. The key is to identify the people in your network or friend list that can help connect you directly, or through one of their connections, to the person you ultimately want to reach—the hiring manager.
