Friends, Connections, Followers! Leverage Your Social Community

So much information on how to get a job today it could make your head explode. Searching Google and Bing you will get millions of results and all the information seems to contradict each other, things like “Resumes are Dead” and “Update Your Resume” or “Use LinkedIn” and “LinkedIn Is for Recruiters not Jobseekers”. No wonder job seekers are frustrated, it’s too much.

Well, let me help you. I drive a consistent message here on the Résumé Crusade and that message is, the job market is STILL mostly traditional, which means you need to use traditional methods with a slight twist to maximize your job search. And here’s the twist, you’ve got to merge the old and the new to cover the most ground. The first step is having a great resume. I’ve said it before, all this talk about the resume being dead is nonsense – it may change a little bit but you will need a resume. Of course there maybe some careers where you do not need a resume but that’s the exception and not the norm.

Even LinkedIn, the world’s biggest professional network, is basically your resume online but when you apply to a job, the employers will ask for a resume – they need it for documentation purposes and consistency.

Next thing you need is good interviewing skills. You have to be comfortable telling your story. Yes, your story – why are you looking for a job? What do you bring to the table? How can you solve their problem?

If you have those 2 things, then it becomes about your search. Where are you looking? Have you told your trusted friends? Do you have trusted friends?

You need to leverage your networks. ALL OF YOU NETWORKS! This means you have to create a list of contacts; co-workers, former co-worker, former bosses, business associates, LinkedIn connections, and friends that you can inform about your job search. I hope that you have college classmates, professors, professional development connections, affiliations and associations that you have made connections which that you can call upon. What’s the point of having hundreds or thousands of friends if they can’t help you find a good job? Same applies to LinkedIn connections. You join these groups and associations to build connections to leverage for opportunities - so do it.

The referral is still the most valuable and reliable recruitment tool. Why? For companies it just makes sense to use referrals from their best employees. When a top performer refers a good candidate for an open position, many of the concerns of attitude, character, work ethic and reliability are answered. Referrals are hire 55% of the time and they are brought through the hiring process faster.  So that’s why you want to surround yourself with good people with good connections. It’s simple really, get your credentials together, look for work and call on your friends, connections and followers.