in an economy where jobs have gone missing.
Work every day on a well-rounded approach that emphasizes face-to-face networking, social networking, web tools, online identity building, and professional associations while still briefly touching on less viable elements such as job boards and print ads.
Enormously popular social networking sites and social media are poised to gain even more fans in the employment process. Chapter 2 reports on the state of the industry and suggests how you can “go social.”
I expect a never-ending stream of new technical bells and whistles in social media. Location awareness is one example of what’s rapidly gaining in use. When Facebook launched its Places feature in late 2010, social media expert Charlene Li explained: “Until now, Facebook knew who you were, what you are doing, and when you did it. Now they add an even richer dimension – where you are – that completes the picture.” Facebook added Places to its posts, a smartphone app, and a mobile site.
How can a location-aware feature facilitate a job chase? Suppose you’re looking for a retail or restaurant job in a given locale. The activity stream of a location feature indicates which restaurants and retail stores are the most popular – and, thus, good prospects for employment.
✔ Mashable (www.mashable.com) is a top guide to social media and a hub for those looking to make sense of the online realm.
✔ Altimeter Group (www.altimetergroup.com) focuses on all things social, including the new field of social commerce. Be sure to read the Group’s admirable disclosure policy.
Chapter 5 discusses ways to keep your online reputation in good shape for the job search.
Smartphones came on fast. Tablet computers are all the rage. Mobile communication is here to stay. Even when you’re not rooted to a desktop computer, you can send and receive e-mails, network online, and download apps. Chapter 3 examines the latest in mobile job chasing.
In this employers’ market, you need to become 100 times more strategic and savvy in writing OnTarget resumes and getting them to the key decision makers. The generic resume has become a nonstarter, and successful seekers are writing customized resumes.
But have no fear: In Chapter 9, I take you through how to turn a one-size-fits-all Core resume into OnTarget resumes with ease.
The short professional bio is making a comeback as a social profile (see Chapter 2). The short bio helps when you want to apply for a job, network, post on a guest blog, and so on. It tells people quickly who you are, what you do, and why they should care.
More people are living their lives on the Internet, and episodes of name high-jacking are rising. Realization is mushrooming that controlling the exclusive online rights to your own name makes sense, even if you’re not a business owner.
You can protect your identity in its purest web form by buying a domain for your name – YourName.com. You can also purchase a URL (web address) for your resume – YourNameresume.com. See Chapters 2 and 5 to find out why owning your own name has gained red-alert status in a digital age. Claim your name!
Chapter 2
Finding Your Next Job in the Wide World of Social Media
▶ Appreciating what social job search can do for you
▶ Tying into top-rated social networking sites
▶ Creating profiles you’re proud of
The familiar adage claiming the secret to landing a good job “is not what you know, but who you know” is hereby officially stamped incomplete in this era of online social connectivity. Consider this revised version: The secret to landing a good job is what you know, who you know, who knows you, and who your friends know.
All this knowing is exploding on the web’s social networking sites, a big part of social media. The terms overlap in popular usage and definitions vary widely. Here’s my take:
✔ Social networking sites are web venues with huge online databases of information individuals have uploaded about themselves. They do it to mingle with other people in the site’s database – to put themselves “out there.” Their autobiographical information is public or semi-public and usually includes a description of who they are (a profile) and/or a short biography (a bio).
Many social networkers just want to hang around with each other. Others aim to grow their circle of acquaintances. Still others are interested in a specific subject (like dating or business). Social networking sites typically have a personal focus, but a growing number operate with a professional purpose.
✔ Social media is a set of technologies and channels that enable a virtual community to interact in the same space. Social media includes a wide variety of forums, ranging from social sharing sites, such as YouTube and Flickr, to social networking sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
There’s little question that two-way communication on the interactive web is dramatically changing the game for job seekers and recruiters alike. If you’re scratching your head about how social networking actually works, and are unsure how to use it to find a job and promote your career, you won’t want to miss this chapter.
The Sweeping Reach of Social Networking
Reflecting the shape of job search now and job search to come, social networking dominates Internet use. At a half-billion strong, Facebook alone claims 72 percent of the world’s Internet population as visitors. Bigger than most countries, Facebook has more users than the United States has citizens.
What’s more, the growth rate of social networking is startling: The number of people visiting social media sites keeps rising in all age brackets. Social networking is not a fad but an honest-to-goodness paradigm shift in the way people do business around the globe, including the business of finding employment.
Think about how to harness this power that offers a double rainbow of job-search help – from direct access to hiring managers and quick identification of potential allies at prospective employers, to easy look-ups on company profiles and obtaining posted endorsements from your network. Just to keep it interesting, different services offer different features. (Similarly, some charge fees, and others are free.)
But, at root, the many benefits of using social networking
