Starting around 2008, many organizations’ human resources departments needed to eliminate their own staffs, and thus many of the traditional human resources functions got bounced over to the respective hiring managers. Unfortunately, those discrete departments couldn’t always afford expensive job boards, so they needed to think out of the box in order to meet their staffing needs. That need accelerated the use of social media for staffing purposes. At the same time, recruiters, too, felt the same financial pressure, and the result was that 80 percent of them started using social media as well for the same purpose. That new reality was welcomed by practically all sides because it facilitated two-way communication. Plus, social media enabled seeing applicants not only in terms of their skills such as via résumés but also in terms of revealing their personalities for assessment of cultural fit. From a candidate’s point of view, it represented mostly an advantage, but at times, it backfired.
The advent of social media as a staffing medium from the recruiting vantage point as well as a networking tool for candidates necessitated learning to use new tools. And not only that, but the tools are continually evolving, with new ones frequently surfacing to make the old and familiar ones instantly obsolete.
Despite the steep learning curve, however, candidates welcomed the new medium—in many cases if for nothing else because they did not have to meet people in person. In the American culture, as opposed to certain other cultures people typically feel uncomfortable initiating communications with someone else, especially if the two have not been introduced by a third party. Online networking provided candidates with several advantages: it’s free; it allows researching the other party before even initiating a first communication; it’s learned quickly; it’s relatively easy to use; and, if applied right, it’s effective.
Networking is all about building mutually beneficial relationships, but it’s practically worthless unless the other party is willing to refer the first party further—to other people. Since networking is time-consuming, the introduction of efficiency tools into the process is reasonable. Several free tools are worth exploring. Gist.com and Batchblue.com are robust and can help those who want to put some time into learning how to use them. Both of those tools are modified customer relationship management tools, with heavy emphasis on social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Logically speaking, extensive networking is virtually impossible to carry out while people are employed, even though it’s very important to keep doing and is time-consuming. However, when people are in transition, networking is an absolute must. People will not remember you unless you remind them of yourself periodically. An efficient way to do that is via a program called MailChimp.com. Once it’s been set up, this program is easy to use and can potentially prove very useful as a social networking tool.
If you have been unemployed for some time now or a recent victim to this economy, there is one thing that you can do to keep your resume current. Instead of having a gap from your last job to your current status, how about volunteering and adding that to your resume? It will make a great topic with hiring managers and HR when interviewing. One thing it will show that your not sitting on your ass collecting unemployment and trying to convince people that all your time is being spent landing your next job.
Let’s face it, it doesn’t take 8 hours a day to find a new job. In-fact you’ll go out of your mind not to mention bored to death! You’ve heard the saying “busy people get things done”. We’ll get busy and go volunteer your time for part of the day. It really doesn’t need to be in a specific area but more about a passion that you have. Volunteer in an area that you will enjoy and feel productive. This will give you a sense of purpose and will help you stay positive during this frustrating time.
As a recruiter I see unsolicited resumes everyday and 80 percent of them are from people that are not currently working. About 79.999 percent of them tell me that all of their time is spent looking for a new job. They all tell me how their time is spent. Checking ads, networking and sending resumes out via email. Really??? Come on, go do something! Go work in a shelter or a food pantry. Get involved and become creative. When you finally do get an interview it can truly be a highlight and might give you an edge over your competition. A breath of fresh air for hiring managers I’m sure. Plus you never know it might just lead to your next job or business!
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I am a practicing career coach and have noticed that in most cases, I guide my clients through 10 certain deeply held beliefs of mine that have evolved over my years of practice. I decided to call the concepts the Landing Expert Principles—naming them after my Web site, www.landingexpert.com
- Job seekers should have their résumés written by a recommended, professional résumé writer known to produce excellent résumés. In today’s economy, just plain “very good” résumés don’t make the cut.
- Based on the theories of Albert Mehrabian, professor emeritus of psychology at UCLA, an interviewer judges a candidate 55% on visual appearance, 38% on voice, and 7% on words.
- The interview is a competition. The winner is the one who outshines other candidates, who knows the rules of the game, and who knows how to deploy all the tools.
- The hiring decision is made during the interview, based on the impression the candidate leaves behind, which in turn is based primarily on the interviewer’s gut feelings. Unfortunately, such decision making is certainly not pure science.
- The interviewer knows the candidate is there to sell himself, but the interviewer is not ready to buy everything the candidate wants to sell—except when two conditions occur:
- The candidate recites facts and gives evidence about career background and ability to do the job.
- The candidate uses adjectives or other kinds of self-descriptions in sentences that are in the third person—that is, the otherwise self-descriptions were said by others.
- Interviewing is like dancing: it cannot be learned from a book but only from practice. The more one practices, the better one becomes at it.
- Interviews are counter-intuitive: they’re not about the candidate; they’re about the candidate’s skills and experience as they relate to ability to solve the interviewer’s problems.
- The interviewer is listening, but his hearing is selective: that is, when the candidate talks about himself, the interviewer barely hears it; when the candidate talks about how he can solve the company’s problems, the interviewer becomes more interested and attentive and is thinking, “Louder, louder!”
- Before you answer each question during an interview, ask yourself in turn the question “So what?” which will force you to recount significant and meaningful examples pertinent to the questions.
- To convey the most credibility as a candidate, provide facts via success stories from your professional past. Often use the expression for example and then (1) briefly describe a job situation needing resolution, (2) list the specific actions you took to resolve the situation, and (3) end by pointing out the resulting benefits to your team or employer.
JTL Services, Inc. today announced a new division that is going to assist job candidates in their search efforts.
To be considered for this program candidates must be qualified. Submit all resumes for review to: jeff@careercoachplus.com or jeff@jtlservices.com
Entertaining, empowering, no BS answers to your questions based on 22 years of working with hiring authorities. You’ll find them addicting – many of the same people attend whether they have questions or not. Recording always provided. Register at www.AskFindthePerfectJob.com
Thank you for providing the Q&A sessions and the recording. This was my second Q & A teleseminar with you. I asked you a question about some things you can say to a first time contact at a networking meeting, which you answered and provided some examples of how one could bring up something in a conversation with a first-time contact that the other party might find interesting (if not useful). It was a helpful answer and also told me I’d better start networking now to avoid finding myself in the same position again down the road. Thanks for your passion.
—Ed B.
Judi Perkins
The How-To Career Coach
www.FindthePerfectJob.com
