Once a month I get The Social Media Monthly magazine which covers a plethora of topics regarding…social media. Well, in March the entire magazine was more or less focused on securing a job via social media, developing your career through social media, how to use social media to make employers chase you…the list goes on but I think you get my drift. This issue was right up the alley of this blog.
For this week’s posting I decided to focus on sharing Erik Deckers article on the Five Steps to Find Your Next Job with Social Media.
1. Identify the Influencers - “The great thing about networks like Twitter and LinkedIn is that when you want to connect with people, including C-level executives, their administrative assistants aren’t gatekeeping you out…Be sure to rewrite the connection message on LinkedIn to explain why you want to connect (don’t mention the job; mention any connections you have)…To find these people on Twitter, don’t search for them there…Instead, Google their name and “Twitter.” Or do a bio search on Twellow.com.”
2. Connect with Them on Google+ – “Google uses something similar to “Balance Theory,” a communication persuasion theory, when compiling your search engine results pages (SERPs)…If you’re job hunting…share your items-especially the ones you wrote-frequently on Google+. It increases the odds that your connections will see your content in their search results, and they’ll assume you know a lot about the topic.”
3. Use Google Author Rank - “When you find blog posts and magazine articles on Google SERP, you will occasionally see the author’s photo and name next to that entry. That’s showing up thanks to Google’s newest algorithm, AuthorRank…AuthorRank is like Klout for writers…Protect your AuthorReputation…by only publishing good, valuable, sharable, non-spammy work…write good stuff that people want to share…make sure you have a decent-sized network of people who find you interesting…Don’t stuff posts with keywords…Don’t won a blog or website crammed with ads and poor-quality links…hyperlink your name in your bio to your Google+ profile, and include the rel+”author” tag…next, go to your Google+ profile, and update the Contributes To section to include that particular web address.”
4. Set up a Private Listening Column on Twitter – “Set up a list on Twitter.com (make it a private list, so no one else can find it), and add people in your target group-potential employers, colleagues, or even clients. Communicate with these people as it’s appropriate; answer questions, make recommendations, retweet their blog posts and reading recommendations…set up more lists for industry-related terms, conferences, or issues, including hashtags…”
5. Blog about the Things They’re Talking About – “The best way to show people what you’re good at is to regularly blog about it. It establishes your credibility, and it gives people a place to find you online…don’t be afraid to disagree if the situation calls for it…”
So what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with these points? With the world becoming more social this truly does look like the way that the job search is heading. It’s so much easier to connect with someone on line. I remember when I was job searching, I’d seek out the HR or hiring managers on LinkedIn and write them a personal note. Now, I didn’t follow rule number 1 down to the T as I did mention that I had seen a particular job posting and hence my reaching out to them but none the less. I think the point is to not use that incredibly generic, and in my opinion annoying, sentence of “I’d like to connect with you LinkedIn.” There is no quicker way for me personally to delete your request to connect than if you were to send that to me. If you can’t take two seconds to tell me who you are and why we should connect then that tells me that you’re just looking for more friends, and quite honestly, that’s not being professional.
What did you do today? Did you reach out to someone on LinkedIn? Did you set up a private Twitter column?
