Archive for LinkedIn
Using the internet to find a job
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Many of our career coaching clients are making the mistake of a) not using the internet to find a job or b) using the internet inappropriately to find a job.
Some clients don’t have LinkedIn profiles; others have weak ones that don’t show potential employers their skills and what they might be able to offer. A lot of new clients talk to us about all the job searching they’ve done on the internet, and how all these hours have lead to nothing. Most of the time, those people are doing it all wrong.
I saw this great article on Harvard Business Review’s website – “How to Curate Your Own Personal Job Feed” that gives specific advice on how to use the internet effectively. It’s an article part of the series “The New Rules for Getting a Job”.
Read more here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/how_to_curate_your_own_persona.html
I encourage you to follow through with everything discussed in this article. These are the same tips we give to our clients, specifically her advice on using LinkedIn:
LinkedIn, unlike Twitter, is entirely focused on professional networking so there is no need to separate your job hunting activity. Your starting point for finding listings on LinkedIn is under the “Jobs” tab in the top navigation. At first glance, LinkedIn’s Jobs feature appears similar to other job boards in your ability to search by various criteria, but it offers another important element: the ability to search jobs based on how connected you are to the employer. After filling out your criteria on LinkedIn’s Advanced Search page, you’ll receive a list of results along with, on the left side of your screen, a list of ways to refine your search. When you refine by “relationship,” you can see job postings based on whether you have first, second, or third degree LinkedIn connections into that organization. This is crucial information for determining whether you might be able to ask someone in your network to personally introduce you to the hiring manager or recruiter at that organization.
In addition to searching LinkedIn’s job listings, check out LinkedIn Groups, which also feature job posting areas. Go to LinkedIn’s Group Directory and seek out groups for your industry or other niches. Then, for each group you join, click on the “Jobs” tab within that group. If the group is private, these postings won’t appear in a general Google search, so you may find opportunities that aren’t posted elsewhere.
To add these LinkedIn opportunities to your daily “rounds,” opt in to receive daily job alerts (available from LinkedIn’s main Jobs page) and to receive daily group digest emails from each group to which you belong.
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/how_to_curate_your_own_persona.html
One last important note: While networking online is a good idea, nothing beats networking in-person. Make sure to get out from behind your computer and network!
Hallie Crawford
Certified Career Coach
P.S. Is your dissatisfaction a passing phase or a sign it’s time to move on? Find out if you’re in the right career. Take our free Ideal Career Quiz today!
How to spice up your job search today!
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A key element to spicing up your job search is to ask for information. After working with many career coaching clients recently, I’m finding that people aren’t using the right networking strategy for their job search. Here are some key tips to spice up your job search:
- Informational interviews are resonating and helpful in your jobs search. Talk to the people in your network who work in an industry you want to be part of. Ask them for 15 minutes of their time to learn more about what they do. Don’t ask for a job, ask for information.
- Go places where people are, such as professional associations. Instead of going to job fairs and places where people are unemployed, this can be a great way to make connections and learn more about your preferred industry.
- A good networking strategy is critical and includes LinkedIn. Update your LinkedIn profile right away if you have not done so in the past 3 months. People still don’t get on LinkedIn and use it effectively. 80% of recruiters are searching here. We have a career coaching client who upgraded her account to paid and is reaping the rewards of seeing the actual traffic to her account. There are many ways to use this actively to run your search.
- Soft skills are important, and another area that job seekers often don’t fully understand. Soft skills are skills that an employer can’t teach you like work ethic, management skills, or your ability to work in a team.
I hope these tips are helpful to you. If you are motivated and want to spice up your job search more, contact us today to set up a complimentary consultation.
Hallie Crawford
Ideal Career Coach
P.S. A great way to receive free help regarding your career direction is to our Free Monthly Newsletter. Check it out today!
The #1 way to land a job!
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Here’s a fun article I read that I wanted to share with all of you, 4 Job Search Lessons Learned from Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga’s networking strategy works incredibly well for her, as it would for any job seeker. Appreciate the people who are in your professional network by participating in conversations, helping others in their job searches, and making introductions. The more you put into your network, the more your network will put into you.
Networking is still the best way to get a job, hands down. This is especially true when employers are reluctant to post jobs because of the tough economy. They know once they post to the public, they’ll be flooded with applications and resumes.
In this day and age networking is moving more and more online. While networking online, be sure to leverage social media as this article references. One thing I noticed in this article that I’d like to point out is that people often lump LinkedIn.com into the category of social media (perhaps for the sake of keeping things simple.) Don’t be mistaken though – LinkedIn.com is purely a professional networking tool. Don’t discount how useful it can be!
Most importantly, there are many effective ways to network virtually, but face to face networking is always the best option to make a solid connection. You have to remember that the more you put into your network, the more your network will put into you.
Hallie Crawford
Ideal Career Coach
P.S. If you are looking for more help with networking be sure to check out our Free Resources Page.
Get your online resume ready and get connected!
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I really enjoyed speaking to the Kennesaw State EMBA students, alumni and fraternity members last night at Lenox. Thank you everyone for attending. It was a great group of motivated, committed people.
One of the topics that came up during Q&A was creating an online resume and online PowerPoint for yourself to showcase your skills and experience. It’s a great way to use technology to make it easier for employers to connect with you and understand what you bring to the table. *Be sure to link to your LinkedIn profile.
Here’s a great article about creating an online resume: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/onlineresumes/a/onlineresumes.htm
Check out this great career search tool
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We just came across this interesting tool on LinkedIn.com that can really help you with your job search:
http://www.linkedin.com/careerexplorer/dashboard.
I highly recommend you check this job search tool out. It’s another one of the valuable resources online that can help you with your career change. This will also help you leverage the power of LinkedIn.com. Remember, being on LinkedIn.com is a must in your job search. If you don’t have a LinkedIn.com profile create one today. Be sure to fully complete your profile so that you can use this resource to its fullest potential in your job search.
Also, be sure to check out my YouTube Channel and follow the current series, “Get Your Foot in the Door.” This 4 part video series gives basic tips to getting your foot in the door with companies during your job search. Here is the latest video: Get your foot in the door: Mail in your resume
5 Steps to Re-Inventing Your Career
Posted by: | CommentsSTEP ONE: Define your talents:
Uncover what your unique talents are, how you stand out from your peers in industry, and identify your transferable skills. Transferable skills are those that can translate to other industries.
- Action steps:
- Take 30 mins with your resume this week, with someone else alongside, identify unique skills
- Spend an hour interviewing a friend, a family member, a former co-worker about “your greatest strength” ask them what they think it is
STEP TWO: Brainstorm additional career ideas:
Research and brainstorm other career paths you can take with your talents and experience. Examples: if you’re an architect you could look into green construction, if you were a banker who investigated and researched fraud cases you could look into police work or becoming a lawyer (both things that involve research and uncovering facts).
- Action steps:
- Spend an hour this week searching the ONET database (online.onetcenter.org) using keywords and skills
- Search monster and careerbuilder for job postings in specific industries to get a feel for what’s out there in those industries and if they would be a fit for you. Indeed.com is another useful site
- Talk with friends and family members at social events this week; ask them to brainstorm career ideas with you
Job Hunting Under the Boss’s Nose
Posted by: | CommentsHere is a useful article I found from The Wall Street Journal about the befenits of popular networking sites such as LinkedIn.
As a business professional, I highly recommend setting up a LinkdIn profile. It is one of the best professional online networks and a really great resource for your career or job search. Even if you are trying to keep your search under wraps, there are many ways you can still use online networking to help you out. For some input check out the above article.
1. It shows that you understand and know the current buesiness trends.
2. It shows that you are up to date with technology.
3. It shows that you realize the importance of having a professional image and presence online.
I hope you find this article as beneficial as I do. If you’d like further help in your job search or career contact me to sign up for a complimentary consultation.
