As a virtual recruiter I am paid to find the best candidate for the job. I spend a lot of my time searching for candidates via referrals, help from other recruiters, cold calling and most importantly using various social networks.

Did you know it takes the average job hunter over seven months to find their next job? Do you know why it takes that long? It’s because recruiters and hiring managers can’t find you. Hiring managers and especially recruiters don’t want to use huge job sites like CareerBuilder, Monster, or Workopolis because each job that is posted is flooded with hundreds of resumes and no one is interested in sorting through that mess.

Here are the tips you need when you’re looking for a job:

Make Yourself Easy to Find

What happens when you Google yourself? Does your website come up? Probably not because most people don’t have a website or don’t own “yourfullname.com”. Creating your own website using wordpress is actually simpler than you think. Does your LinkedIn profile come up? If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile you NEED to build one.

Make sure you make your profile public and create a profile that is 100% complete. It doesn’t take long to write a few sentences about yourself and tell people what makes you unique or describe what you specialize in, ask for recommendation and post your resume. If you want you can even create a new email address and make it the preferred method of contact for the social sites that you join.

Create a Brand for Yourself

When your creating profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, About.me etc. Make sure when you build those profiles you use every keyword that best describes you. Think about yourself as a product. You want to look modern, clean and most importantly you want people like recruiters/hiring managers to know exactly what you’re all about in a matter of a few seconds.

Don’t be Afraid of Recruiters

When I contact folks through various social networks I am always VERY polite. I am usually asking for referrals or trying to find out if a person is interested in a job opportunity. It wouldn’t hurt to respond to a recruiter. Corporate recruiters and staffing firm recruiters are both trying to fill a job. When you reply with a quick thank you but I’m not interested at the moment note we will then be more likely to think of you when another more suitable opportunity comes up. We would be even more inclined to think of you if you referred someone to us 🙂

At the End of the Day

You don’t need to stay away from all job boards. Specific niche job boards are great because they post for a specific industry/field. You are better off having your own website or making sure that you are easy to find by creating a profile on LinkedIn. DON’T create a page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cocacola. The point of your own website is that it represents you. You don’t want people to try to find you through someone else’s website, which not only makes money through advertising but it can recommend other people to look at. You never know what your website can turn into so keep is separate from Facebook or other social networks.

There are hundreds of headhunters out there looking for candidates to help them find jobs. Why wouldn’t you want to get emails or InMails (LinkedIn) from recruiters who have job opportunities for you?

Photo by: kennymatic

Are you looking for a job or have a referral? Check out the job board for job opportunities and I pay a generous referral bonus 🙂
Contact me for more information.

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