Blog

Social Networking

Viewing posts from the Social Networking category

18 Jun 2015

How Instagram Can Work to Your Advantage to Land the Job You WANT

By melanie

Thea8273

We all know that to be relevant in today’s working world, companies need to maintain their social media presence. It not only helps them differentiate their company culture in the marketplace, but provides a softer platform to market themselves in an easily accessible way to the masses. Now the question is, how do you use this to your advantage and why should you care?

You should care because, as an active job seeker or someone who has their eye on a future career prize and wants to stay on top of the marketplace and trends, it is imperative that you get a sense of whether you are a good cultural fit as well as using this “insider” information on a prospective upcoming interview with your dream company. Nothing says “I’m impressed, this candidate did their research” more than mentioning during an interview how much you love the company’s culture of doing philanthropic walks together as a team unit. It is a sure-fire way to turn a 1-way interview into a dialogue amongst two people assessing if they are a mutual match to work together.

To get started, make a list of the companies to which you’re applying, or if you’re happily employed, the companies to which you could see yourself in the future. Then Google “company name” + “Instagram.” Even if a company doesn’t have its own Instagram, there are methods to the madness. Get on a company’s LinkedIn or the company’s “Team” page to find four or five employee names. Then, Google “employee name” + “Instagram.” Start monitoring trends for your own personal and professional edification and to keep this information in your back pocket for when you will need the ammo! And, always remember to keep it on the side of being an enthusiast- everyone always loves a fan, not too many people appreciate a stalker! Moreover, enjoy the process and feel great knowing you have great tools at your disposal to help you chart your professional career forward.

27 Aug 2014

Why you should keep your LinkedIn profile up to date

By melanie

It is very important to keep  your LinkedIn profile updated  in terms of current employer, title, and even including personal email address. LinkedIn has become a very active and important professional network for candidates and clients. Whether you are actively exploring new opportunities or happy in your current role, you should always make sure that your LinkedIn profile is current as this is a prime “hunting” ground for recruiters as well as a place where your entire professional network can view your work experience in detail.

Today I received an email from a candidate saying that I had targeted him for a role that was too junior given his experience. However, his LinkedIn profile was outdated in terms of title and there was no detail whatsoever included. He was open to new opportunities and eager for me to contact him with great roles—which would be impossible for me to do if I didn’t know his proper title and really had no concept of his previous roles and responsibilities. This is just one example of how an outdated LinkedIn profile can hurt your chances of being tapped for new and interesting roles at your level.

Also the more information you provide in your profile, the better—I suggest including a summary of your experience and a career objective, key words, and critical  highlights beneath each role—accounts managed and skillset, for example. It is much easier to understand your experience and target you for relevant opportunities if you include a detailed description of your previous roles.

In terms of including your personal email, I strongly urge this if you are open to being contacted by recruiters. By including your personal email, a recruiter does not have to guess what your work email address is and your company will never have access to your correspondences.

27 Aug 2014

How to make the most of your LinkedIn profile

By melanie

I am often surprised when I meet with candidates and discuss their job search and the approach they are taking to finding a new job, to find that they are not on Linkedin or when I view their profile, to see what limited information they have presented. LinkedIn is the most valuable resource out there to both job candidates and recruiters. For a candidate, it is like free advertising.  Personally, I hardly ever advertise any of the positions that I am working on. Why not? I am generally looking for a very specific type skillset and individual, and if I post a job, the moment people see the words “fashion” and “beauty” , I get hundreds of applicants applying. 99% of them that are not going to be suitable and I definitely don’t have the time to open and read 99 resumes to find one good one. LinkedIn allows me to target candidates, good candidates, most of whom are currently working. I can search for candidates in different ways.  I can search by title and location, “Marketing Director” and “New York”  for example. If I am looking for someone with fashion experience, I select the “apparel and fashion” category whilst doing this search as well as the above criteria. I may also add selections under the keyword option such as “social media” for example, so it is a good idea to make your profile as detailed as possible, so that any of these words can be captured in a seach. A lot of agency candidates make the mistake of not including the accounts they work on in their profile. If I do a search for Account Managers working at JWT, and fifty profiles appear in this search, I am going to be more interested in and most likely to reach out to the ones who have their accounts listed, as I have a better idea about their experience.

When setting up your LinkedIn profile this is an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your experience to potential employers. Therefore, you should pretty much cut and paste your resume  and make your profile look as interesting as possible. Also, under the specialities section you should include any keywords that highlight your particular experience (“CRM, e-commerce etc) so that your profile will appear should anyone include these words in their searches.

Make sure that you always selection the option that you are “open to hearing about new opportunities”. LinkedIn is not a job board, it is a professional networking site so there is no need for anyone to feel nervous about having their profile there.  If I am headhunting into one company, Donna Karan for example, and two Marketing Directors have come up in my search, I am not going to reach out to both of them. When deciding between the two, I will make my decision based on who has more detailed information available to me on their profile, and if one says they are open to hearing about new opportunities and the other is not, I will of course reach out to the one that is open to hearing about roles. Even if you are not actively looking for a new position, you should always choose this option. Why not? I may be contacting you about your dream job.

Another thing about LinkedIn that I am realizing not a lot of people seem to know, is that the more connections you have, the wider your network. Why is this important? LinkedIn is different from Facebook, when you are “friends” with someone on facebook, thats where your relationship ends. However, when you connect with someone on LinkedIn, you are given access to their network. What does this mean to you? Well, going back to my earlier example of me doing a search for “fashion” and “marketing director”, 300 names might come up. and the ones at the top of the list are going to be those that are closer to me in my network.  Those are the people that I am going to be reaching out to first. 300 names is not a lot of names for me to get through, however it may take me some time, and by the time I get down to contacting you who is down the bottom of the list at  number 299, I may have already filled that dream job……

Here is another good article that explains the benefits of LinkedIn and how to best use the site as a job seeker – <a href=”http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/index.htm”>http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/24/technology/linkedin_social_networking.fortune/index.htm</a>