Following up on my June post, Heat Up Your Job Search: Avoid Job Boards, this post offers 5 PROactive (vs. REactive) approaches to a successful job search.
A reactive job search puts the job seeker in the position of only reacting to what they find posted on job boards. This costs them time and energy, and hides the majority of job opportunities from them. It also puts them at the mercy of whatever is posted and available where they are looking, and it puts them in the most competitive job marketplace. All negatives.
A proactive job search puts the job seeker in charge, is much less passive, less discouraging, and, even, less competitive – often MUCH less competitive.
So, How Does a PROactive Job Search Work?
1. Focus the job search -
- Determine the target job and industry so that search efforts can be focused and the resume can be effectively polished and tailored specifically for those target jobs (not more than 2 or 3).
- Select the preferred target employers – ask around: check the local chamber of commerce, look at the companies supporting the local PBS channels, scan the yellow pages in the local phone book, ask friends and colleagues, and keep researching.
- Research the employers and visit the employer Websites regularly looking for postings there and news about new projects, products, services, and employees and officers.
2. Expand network and knowledge:
- Join or at least visit local business or professional organization meetings.
Volunteer to help in some way. Attend meetings as a way to learn and keep up-to-date with best practices, news, technology, people, growing businesses, and more - Volunteer for the local PBS fund raiser, where local movers-and-shakers tend to hang out, or for another favorite cause or charity.
- Visit industry trade shows and local business expos to see what new businesses have appeared, what the latest news and trends are, and who seems to be doing new and/or interesting things.
- Help a favorite candidate to win (or try to win) an election.
- Collect information. Ask for information, NOT a job!
And, the more information; the better! Talk with people to collect information on good employers in the location and industry or field. Look for trends, news, new people to meet, and new ideas to consider and discuss. - If the job seeker has attended a college or university, regardless of graduation status, the school’s career center may help alumni. Check the alumni directory for other alums who work for one of the preferred potential employers or in the preferred career field.
- Look for a local job search support group where job seekers, lead by a career professional, review resumes, exchange leads on potential employers, share information on networking organizations, and more. Find them through the local places of worship, public library, or even city hall.
3. Leverage LinkedIn and other social media -
Truly! LinkedIn is where recruiters are looking for people now! Let them find you!
- Be sure the LinkedIn Profile is 100% complete (including a photo + 3 LinkedIn recommendations).
- Add contacts to expand the reach of the network.
- Use the advanced People search to find people working for the preferred potential employers and the target job/job function.
- Join relevant and appropriate industry, professional, and location-focused Groups.
Participating in the Group Discussions can be important personal reputation building. Also check each Group’s Job postings to find more employers and opportunities.Consider joining Job-Hunt’s Job-Hunt Help Group on LinkedIn, but do NOT limit LinkedIn Group activities to the job search Groups.
- Respond thoughtfully and thoroughly to the questions in Answers, and carefully post a few well-considered questions.
Hundreds of employers skip the cost of job boards and use Twitter to Tweet their latest hot job postings, and they also have company pages on Facebook where they recruit new employees.
Note: Use the same “avatar” image, preferably a headshot, on all the social media so your friends will recognize you no matter where they find you.
4. Find new potential employers.
- Use the “job aggregator” Websites, like Indeed, SimplyHired, and JustJobs which collect job postings from job boards as well as employers and associations in one gigantic database searchable by keywords (like job title) and location.
- Check out LinkUp.com, which aggregates job postings from thousands of employers, and JOBcentral, which is a Website run by an organization of employers. Also excellent sources of new employers.
Be wary of getting caught in the search-online-and-apply mode, though. Use these sources to identify potential employers which can then be approached via a network contact.
5. Monitor your online reputation.
Ignore people who might tease you about “vanity Googling” – Google your name often to see what is attached to it in Google, because 80% of the time employers will Google you before they respond to your email or ask you in for an interview.
I have seen bad information about someone with the same name really mess up a job seeker’s job search, and it took the job seeker months to find out. They waited way too long before they finally Googled themselves to see what was going on.
MONTHS were lost because of confusion around the job applicant’s name!
Set up a Google Alert to monitor your name so you know when trouble appears – someone with the same name is accused of molesting a child or robbing a bank. You need to know so you can respond!
Review the information in the Online Reputation Management post for more information and some strategies to deal with “digital dirt.”
Bottom Line
A proactive job search, largely disconnected from traditional job boards, is more effective and less competitive. If you are in a job search right now, try it for a week and see what happens.
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About the author…
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
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Terrific advice here, Susan!
Another good strategy is to look at the LinkedIn profiles of the people you’ve found who work for or are somehow connected to your target companies, find out which LinkedIn Groups they belong to, join them yourself, follow the discussions, and add value by contributing your subject matter expertise. You will be noticed!
Do the same for the key hiring decision makers at your target companies, once you’ve identified them.
Meg Guiseppi, Job Hunt’s Personal Branding Expert — http://www.job-hunt.org/personal-branding/meg-guiseppi.shtml
Wow! I love this no nonsense approach to job hunting.
Proactive indeed! Thank you so much.
Kathy Aguiar RI