Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Toronto, March 21st, 2012 - How can you use social media to find your next role? Even if you are not currently looking for that role at the moment, the skills necessary to be competitive in the job hunt can be monumentally important. And with so much activity online, where will your efforts have the most impact?
Randall Craig, Web and Social Media Strategist, and author of the Online PR and Social Media series, states, "Given the competition and the tough economy, all of the stars need to align to best give you a chance. " He offers seven quick points to test yourself: how many of these steps have you really done well?
1) Complete your LinkedIn profile: This means adding more than your experience. Soliciting meaningful recommendations, adding "real" connections, and using descriptive keywords so that you can be found when searched are all recommended actions. It also means adding a summary, education, certifications, etc.
2) Clean up your social thumbprint: Have you considered who might read our personal profiles? And whether what is posted – by us or by others – might possibly disqualify us from consideration. Cleansing your profiles of out-of-brand pictures and inappropriate content is a great first step. Managing your personal brand proactively and strategically is far better. And if you understand the privacy controls, use them.
3) Migrate from passive to active: It makes sense to search for the interview contact in LinkedIn to identify the common relationships before the meeting. Instead of clicking "connect", pick up the telephone and ask your connection about the person you are going to meet. This will yield a significant benefit for when you meet, and will also strengthen your relationship with your connection.
4) Stay current: Keep up-to-date with the latest issues and trends in your industry, through LinkedIn groups, by following thought-leaders on Twitter (find me at @randallcraig…), by monitoring Twitter hashtags, by participating in web discussion groups. Nothing shouts relevance like a person who understands the issues, and their impact.
5) Strategic Status updates: Most social media sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn allow a status update. Use your Tweets and Updates to showcase your value and connection.
6) Start a blog: Social media and your resume have one thing in common – they speak to what you have done. A blog speaks to how you think, and allows your network to understand the depth of your expertise and it can improve your profile significantly. A simple blog where you write 3-4 paragraphs weekly is all that is necessary to gain these benefits.
7) Monitor and respond: Listen to what is happening on the web using monitoring tools including Google Alerts, and Hootsuite. Beyond monitoring your own name, monitor for positions requiring your expertise, target companies, and key industry terminology. Finding out what is happening in real time means that you can be the first to share that news with your network… or the interviewer.
Craig adds: "Interestingly, the same things that will make you more valuable to another organization, will make you more valuable to your current one. And the more valuable each person is to his or her current employer, the more valuable the entire organization becomes." Which of these seven steps have you not yet addressed?
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Since 1994, Randall Craig has advised on web and social media strategy. Craig is author of six books including the Online PR and Social Media series. Visit Randall's blog at www.RandallCraig.com.
For information contact:
Randall Craig
416.256.7773 x101 /
Randall@ptadvisors.com Carolyn Bergshoeff
416.256.7773 x 103 /
Carolyn@ptadvisors.com