Online technologies and social media have changed the job hunting landscape….are you prepared?
If you are really serious about finding your next role it’s not good enough to wait for the perfect advert to appear online and apply. If that’s what you are doing you are only touching the tip of the iceberg. An increasing number of roles are no longer advertised as companies and recruiters look to reduce their advertising costs and more effectively target the candidates they are interested in. So if you really want to scratch the surface of the job market and find these ‘hidden’ roles you need to stop hiding from view and make sure you have a comprehensive, up to date and professional online profile across all social media platforms.
Recruiters, particularly those adept at research or engaging specialist online research companies, will search social media platforms, online networking forums, corporate websites and search engines to find the profiles of potential candidates they are interested in. You need to be visible, professional and have your profile current to ensure they make initial contact with you. In this new world of recruitment it is all about how well you have marketed yourself. Does your LinkedIn status tell potential recruiters what you do for a living, where you live and more importantly why you’re better at what you do than the next person? Is that photo of you on your wedding day really the best profile shot to use? Are your qualifications, the key projects you have undertaken and key marketable skills all on there? Have you updated with your latest professional training? It may come as a surprise to some people but all this information is searchable to recruiters – and they are searching daily so, if you want to be found, you need to feature in their searches.
Ok as Brits we hate putting ourselves out there, telling everyone what we do and how brilliant we are at doing it. But as the next generation of savvy social media users joins the workplace, totally confident in sharing everything from pictures of their breakfast to what an “awesome” day they had in the office, we can either shrink and revert to complaining about not being considered for jobs, or we can take the bull by the horns and ensure we have updated profiles that highlight the experience and professionalism that still have a high value in the workplace.