Social media is just one of the tools used when searching for jobs. But to do it correctly, you need a strategy.
If you decide to change profession or company, you will have to invest time and effort in it. And do it regularly — daily or weekly (depending on your goal).
For example, on Monday you will update your resume, on Tuesday you will create and fill out your LinkedIn profile, on Wednesday you will attend a professional event in your field, etc. The key to success is regularity of effort.
Before starting the search, you need to ask yourself two questions: “Who am I?” and “Who are they?”
Question #1: “Who am I?”
Who are you as a specialist? Write down all your experience – where you worked, what you did in each position and what results you achieved. This will help you realize what kind of background you have and remember what you can do better than anything else.
Then highlight your strengths. You probably have a lot of knowledge and skills – today’s work requires a wide range of skills from us – but what exactly is your strength? Maybe you’re great at connecting with other people? Does no one understand a particular topic better than you?
The third component is the answer to the question ” What do I want?” » . It’s clear that you want to find a job, but what kind of job? In what field, company? Make a list of criteria that are important to you – distance from home, manager’s qualities, possible prospects, etc.
Question #2: “Who are they?”
Who are the companies or people you want to work with? Let’s say you dream about the IT field. In this case, Google the 10 best IT companies (after all, if you go, then only go to the best, right?) and start researching them: the problems and specifics of their work, the specifics of this particular company, what is happening in it, and what vacancies are open . You will offer yourself to them as a Folsom SEO specialist who will solve certain problems with his work, so it is important to understand what these problems are.
So, you know who you are as a product that is going to enter the job market. You have determined who they are – hypothetical buyers-employers. Now you need to choose a search strategy.
Passive — post your resume on job sites and wait for the employer to write to you. And also from time to time view vacancies.
An active strategy is to use all available resources for searching: go to profile events, make useful acquaintances, connect social networks – Facebook and LinkedIn.
How does networking work?
Networking is the art of establishing and maintaining relationships with people. It is often misunderstood in our country. A networker is imagined as a person who can approach a stranger, put in his business card and start ” steaming ” something . But it is not so. The main rule of competent networking is to be able to tell about yourself and convey your benefits.
When a networker is in a room full of people, he sees not boring strangers, but a million new possibilities. He knows his goal (in our case — finding a job), and he knows that everyone around him is working somewhere and has information that can be useful. These are opportunities that are right in front of you, so it’s important to learn how to use them.
Why is personal branding so important?
For many people, building a personal brand is associated with bragging rights. But this is different.
We live in a dynamic world of opportunities—changing projects, workplaces, fields, and even professions. The idea of a personal brand is that people know who you are as a specialist and what you are capable of. This is not bragging, but a way to demonstrate your authenticity, to share information about who you are, what you want to do, what you want to achieve. Of course, first of all, you need to convey it through actions, and then through words. That is, it is important not only to talk about yourself, but to act (!) and then talk about it so that people get the right impression.
Potential employers and partners will definitely look for you on Facebook and LinkedIn — so why not make an effort to look like the professional you are? Make sure people around you know who you are and what you do. Then they will turn to you when they have opportunities that match your professional qualities.
About the author: Louis Sawyer is a professional writer, editor and a web design expert. She loves writing about technology trends, web development, mobile games and business issues.
Also, Louis works as a proofreader at Computools.
