With employment rates still drastically low, competition is fierce for job seekers nationwide. To standout for the pack many job seekers are turning to technology to introduce themselves to potential employers. By turning to online resources and tools, job seekers have greater control of the online findings employers come across and can communicate their personality alongside their accomplishments. If you have not yet created an online professional profile, consider some of the ideas below.
Professional Social Media
Many HR professionals search for candidates online via professional social media sites such as LinkedIn. They could find you by searching for connections you have in common, or they could be performing specialized searches. This makes it important that you not only have an updated LinkedIn profile, but that if you are job seeking you take the time to stay active on your account. If you opt to use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter for job searching, ensure that your public profile and exchanges are professional and not personal.
Professional Websites
Even if you utilize social media to create an online professional presence, many job seekers take things one step further by creating a professional website. You can create a website from scratch using a blog or site that has easy to choose templates that require less back of house work. A professional websites allows you to present yourself in a less formal, yet still professional manner. You can even create separate tabs to showcase individual projects you have completed. If your work is visual you can add a photo or video portfolio too.
Self-Marketing
Self-marketing is another way of attracting attention both to your online professional profiles, but also to you as an individual. You could self-market by creating business cards, professional head shots, video presentations, and via press releases that promote your work or skills. Ensure that all of your self-marketing posts link directly back to your primary online professional profile or that they include your email address or phone number.
Networking
Networking is a job seeking strategy that will always be of great value. However the ability to network has drastically expanded with the advances in technology. While you still want to reach out and do face-to-face networking at events and social gatherings, you want to network electronically too. You can do this by reaching out to former colleagues, friends, and classmates via their personal and professional profiles.
When you reconnect with someone take the time to see what they are up to, and let them know that you are seeking employment and request any tips, suggestions, or connections to new contacts. The more people that already know your personality, work ethics, and skill set that know you are job hunting the better as they can vouch on your behalf to potential employers.
The methods above can be used for job seekers of all ages and all professions. If you are a job seeker that does not have the skill set to create the online professional tools you desire reach out to a local resume writer who specializes in online resumes and portfolios. Make sure that links to your online professional profiles are included with all outgoing resumes and emails that you send.
This article was provided by one of my writers, Tad Johnston, marketing intern and master networker. If you’re like Tad and marketing and networking are skills you have, or perhaps you are a company looking for services that provide those skills, Tad recommends BQR Advertising.
