What Comes With Your Free LinkedIn Account

There are some well written articles on why active and discreet job seekers should create a LinkedIn account.  I'm also an advocate of LinkedIn however; this post is not about why you should create a LinkedIn account but how to leverage your LinkedIn account during your job search.

The LinkedIn tools that I am going to describe are F-R-E-E with your F-R-E-E account (we like free).  You may not find all of these tools suitable for your search strategy so I'll sort each tool in separate buckets making it easy for you to read and decide which ones you do want to use.

*IMPORTANT NOTE - If you have not created a well written profile read Alison Doyle's article called "LinkedIn Profile".  At the time of this post Alison's LinkedIn profile ranked #6 when I did a Google search for "Alison Doyle".


Groups
Groups can strengthen and extend your existing network and link you to like-minded professionals.  As a group member you can invite other members of your group to become part of your network.  Once they accept your invite you'll have someone within your network who can "introduce" you to others within their network.  Here's an example of how I would use my group during my job search.

Sally is a recruiter for a company that I would like to work for however; Sally is not part of my network nor is she part of my group.  Robert is connected to Sally and Robert is a member of my group.  I send Robert an invite and after he accepts the invite I can direct message him asking for an introduction to Sally. The concept is the same when you go to a party.  If you want to meet someone you find someone you know at the party who knows that person and get an introduction.

Groups can also keep you updated on industry news and trends.  You don't want to go into an interview using buzz words that are no longer in style or you're unfamiliar with the newest industry related technology, software, or best practices.

Being a member of a group also enables you to build your own social brand by starting conversations and commenting on other conversations.  By contributing to group discussions you are displaying your knowledge around a particular topic.  I am a member of a couple groups and I provide resume and cover letter writing ideas, job search techniques and other related topics to my group's discussion boards 1-3 times per week.

Some groups post job openings that a job seeker could be missing out on.

LinkedIn has over 12,000 groups with the keyword "jobs" that are all free to join.  Don't be overwhelmed with the number.  Choose your industry and then find 2 or 3 groups for job seekers that has the largest number of members.

Following Companies ("Company Pages")
The Company Page offers businesses a platform to present their brand and service.  As a Recruiter I follow my competitors to see who was promoted and who departed.  As a convenience I receive an email summarizing the company's activities and I am able to set the frequency of the emails.  As a job seeker I would follow a company that I would like to work for to find decision makers and find new job opportunities.  Someone who leaves a company may mean a new job opportunity for you.  If you are connected you could send your resume and cover letter expressing an interest in applying for the role that John Doe vacated (provided you are qualified) before the position is posted externally.

Search Profiles
LinkedIn profiles are searchable but in order to contact the user you must be connected directly.  If my background or interest is IT and I am interested in connecting with IT recruiters I can find 44,000+ recruiters who recruit in the IT industry.

In my instance I have 12 recruiters in my network and 8, 562 recruiters who I have group relationships.

LinkedIn Answers
LinkedIn Answers is another space where you can build your own social brand by answering questions posted by others, showcase your knowledge and stay abreast of industry news.

Your answers to questions are fed to your homepage profile, added as your network status update and your answer is emailed to the person who asked the question. 

Merely creating a LinkedIn account is not going to attract staffing personnel to your profile.  You need to brand your profile, establish your credibility and connect with others.  All of the features I mentioned will do that for you.  And the beauty is all of them are free and low maintenance.

If you use LinkedIn please share your best practice(s) in the comment section below.

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Build Your Twitter Profile For Your Job Search

If you want someone to think of you when a job opening surfaces you need to be on Twitter.  For starters, make sure your Twitter profile is presentable (professional) and optimize it so that will attract staffing personnel and managers.

Don't protect your tweets.  It prevents your tweets from being indexed by Google, and from getting discovered by recruiters.

Don't mix business with pleasure.  If you plan to tweet a lot about your personal life create a second account.

Don't use inappropriate pictures in your profile or a picture that is not you.

Do choose an identity wisely.  Select a professional screen, whether it's your first and last name or one that captures your industry (i.e, marketing_professional, finance_person).  The latter is best for passive job seekers who want to be discreet.

Do make use of the web link.  Insert a link to your online resume or LinkedIn profile.  Don't have an online resume? Check out any of these free sites: Blogspot, Wordpress, or VisualCV

Do think about keywords you would want your profile to show in a search.  It's not necessary to use hashtags (#).  Your words will show up if keyed in a search.  Adding hashtags in your profile only takes up the 160 characters we are alloted. 

Do include your actual geographical location (city and state) rather than "USA", "Everywhere", "The Planet".  If you are open to relocating write "Open to relocation" in your profile.

Do use a standard background.  One that will permit you to give more details about your background.

Do measure the power of your profile.  Go to Twitter Grader.  My profile grade is 97.7 out of 100.

This is all you need to do to your Twitter profile to make is discoverable.

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Ten Steps - Step 1 - Importance of Networking

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Leveraging Your Online Social Networks

Facebook has emerged as a household name and now has more than 60 million active users. Facebook is the 4th most trafficked website in the world and the most trafficked social media site in the world. Over 55,000 regional, work related, collegiate, and high school networks. More than half of Facebook users are outside of college.

MySpace is the largest Social Network in North America maintaining a dominant position as a media site primarily aimed at youth. MySpace has more than 110 million monthly active users around the globe.

While online social networks are useful in terms of helping you make connections, developing a great "brand" identity and maintaining a good online reputation is of critical importance. This article will provide strategies for creating online social networking that will help you build your reputation and leverage your contacts.

1. Be Selective. It's not who you know, it is "who knows you back." Connect only with friends and colleagues who will speak favorably of you, and who you will recommend to others.

2. Be Polite and Cautious. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it all. Remember that adding comments (lewd and vulgar language) to blogs and uploading risque pictures can leave a permanent trail and written record. Posting information online is like sending a postcard -- anyone can see it, and it could get in the hand of the wrong person. A good takeaway: A recent study by the executive search firm ExecuNet found that 77% of recruiters run searches of candidates on the Web to screen applicants; 35% of these same recruiters say they've eliminated a candidate based on the information they uncovered.

3. Be Vigilant. Many employers search the Web prior to making interview invitations or employment offers (reinforces previous paragraph). Be careful how you share personal information. For example, never Twitter (a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows it's users to send and read other user's updates by answering a single question, "What are you doing right now?") about a job offer until you've accepted, or Tweet about a resignation. Negative comments can spread like a nasty pandemic. A general rule of thumb: if your mom would be embarrassed, publish under a nickname if you must. Set up a Google News Alert to monitor information about you that is available on the web -- and request removal of negative comments or inaccurate information.

4. Be Transparent. Share information about your career, your interests, and what's important to you. Update your info regularly with care. The more your contacts know of your interests, the more they can be of help to you.

Summary: When looking for a job, especially in these tougher economic times, the trick is to cast as wide a net as possible. Start networking today!

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How to Survive a Layoff

Every time I tune my TV to the news (my favorite news channel is CNN) someone is commenting on the economy and the total number of job losses. It's depressing news and I can empathize with those who are out of work. It triggers a time when I was laid off during a recession period in 2001.

I was seeking a career with a company that would have a strong business plan and provided an unique service to consumers. I found my ideal company 20 minutes from home. It was a start up company that was in business 2 years prior to me joining. The company offered resume writing, job search and job placement services to people who were long termed unemployed or laid off. Goal -- get people back to work. My recruiting experience and background was a perfect fit.

It was the summer of 2001. It was a Friday and I wanted to get an early start on the day. I arrived at work an hour before anyone else. Activity during the day was normal. It was also payday. All of us were looking forward to getting paid before going into the weekend. As he normally did the President of the company had our payroll checks prepared in the morning and would come by our desk with our checks right after everyone came back from lunch. He would always spend a few minutes talking with each employee (only 7). It was his 1:1 connect time with his staff. But the conversation on this day was different. We got the news that the company would be closing it's doors (going out of business) at the end of the day. Talk about a shock! No one saw it coming. We were instructed to contact every one of our clients before the end of the day and inform them that the business was closing due to lack of funding. We were about to find ourselves in the same population as our clients. Our clients relied on us for support and assistance in getting back to work. How ironic and weird!

I collected unemployment insurance for 3 months while looking for work everyday. I got up every day the same time I did when I was working and I focused on finding my next career. I planned my day and I was deliberate in executing my plan.

1. I would get up every morning confident I would find another job. I kept reminding myself that I have skills!
2. I started my job search the following Monday. If you can afford to take a couple of days off before searching use that time to rest, refocus your energy, reassess your career goals and strategize your search.
3. I made a list of targeted companies, searched their career sites for openings and tailored my resume to fit the opened position(s).
4. Not only did I post my resume to national job boards like Careerbuilder, Monster, and Yahoo!Hotjobs but I also subscribed to their email alerts so openings would come to me.
5. I contacted my references let them know that I was back in the job market and that I was counting on them. I provided them with a copy of my resume.
6. I asked my ex-boss to write a recommendation letter that also explained why the job loss occurred and how it was not my fault.
7. I practiced my interviewing everyday to keep my confidence level up.
8. I applied to temp positions. Sometimes they can lead to a permanent position.
9. I filled out at least 5 applications per day and/or passed out 5 resumes per day.
10. I attended local job fairs with a list of companies that I wanted to target. I arrived before the doors opened. My strategy was to speak with the recruiters/hiring managers before they were bombarded by other applicants. Having attended hundreds of career fairs as a recruiter I could remember how drained I was after 2 hours into the event. I made it a point to stop by the booths of those companies I was interested in before I left the fair.
11. Network - I was always networking. If I shopping, getting my car repaired, or eating at a restaurant I was always asking people if they knew of anyone needing my skill sets.
12. Newspaper - I did not limit my search to the classifieds. I searched the Business News section and (this may sound morbid) the obituaries. Sometimes I would find job leads.

My plan paid off. I secured a job in the first week of September the same year. And I successfully negotiated my salary increasing it 50% more than my previous salary.
I shared some methods that I would agree sound desperate but these are dire times. You must have a creative and aggressive job search plan in order to secure a job in these volatile times. And just as important you must keep your chin up and stay positive.

If you decide to use any of these methods please come back and post your success so others can benefit.

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