The Essential Guide to Social Job Hunting

The Essential Guide to Social Job Hunting

Overview

Job hunting has changed over the last 18 months but I don't think we've caught up yet. Before a hire is made regardless of the process or the application format your LinkedIn profile will be checked out.

Your LinkedIn profile speaks volumes about you as a person; so much more than your CV. How's that I hear you ask! Well for a start when I check someone out on LinkedIn i look for two things; firstly their profile, how they come across how they present themselves, the detail they provide and also ...and most important the readability and interest they have generated. Do I want to read on? We'll cover that bit later.

Basically, in my mind, there are two types of job hunter;

Type 1 & type 2 Job Hunters

  1. Those that apply for jobs that are advertised (The Shoal) and
  2. Those that go out and hunt for opportunities (The Sharks).


The Shoal feeds off the scraps that the Shark leaves behind!


There are also, in my opinion, three types of hirer;

  1. Those that post a job advert.
  2. Those that discreetly scan the market for the best candidate before they advertise.
  3. Those that are potentially going to hire in the future but are just waiting for that little nudge.

If you're the Shoal you will only be thrown in the melting pot with all of the other applicants that Hirer Type 1 is looking for. Your chance of success is around 2-5% ...you are a reactionary.

If you're a Shark you will, as part of your strategy, scan job adverts but your behaviour is proactive, you are standing out, you have a cracking profile which is working for you 24/7, you are active on social media you are posting insightful content,

If you're a Shark then you will, as part of your strategy, be scouring the jobs market BUT your primary 'active behaviours' will be target identification and acquisition. In other words you will be visible to Type 1,2 and 3 Hirers.

So, forget swimming with the Shoal ....become a Shark ...HOW?

Step 1 - Have a Strategy

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This is the illustration of the strategy model I've developed to help those in Military Transition, or indeed at a career crossroads, to identify:

1. What they want to do.

2. What they're equipped to do.

3. Who to target in civvy street.

4. Further & Higher Education options

Looks complicated? It really isn't as long as you approach it in a structured way.

It allows service leavers to focus their activity and, when combined with the programme I've developed aims to get people in front of potential employers......sometimes even before the job is advertised.

It's used to constantly refer back to when I am taking them through the Social Media Influencing Programme for Job Seekers and works equally as well for anyone looking for work or a career change.

BUT before we start the targeting they need to go through the program which allows them to stand out and get in front of the right people in their target organisations.

The targeting session comes at the start BECAUSE it provides context and focus for the subsequent sessions of the programme.

Once you've completed your strategy keep it to one side and constantly refer back to it as you progress through your Social Transformation.


Step 2 - Develop your Brand

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So how to create a strong personal brand!

1. Passive Presence

Primarily your profile; this works for you 24/7 basically when you're not there it's bigging you up but it's not just a regurgitated CV cut & paste into LinkedIn you need to bring YOU into it. CV's are bland, boring, two-dimensional....you're not!

NOTE: IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED??

Unless you have creator mode enabled when a recruiter lands on your profile, without scrolling, they will see 3 main things:

  • Banner
  • Headline
  • About Section

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So let's dissect a little:

BANNER - make it memorable, representative of you. A picture paints a 1000 words ...so effectively you have a 1000 words + here!

Use canva for example and don't be afraid to add a little text.

HEADLINE - What makes you different from every other Project Manager or Customer Service Rep or Business Development director or Engineer!

ABOUT - NOT a repeat of your experience section that's for.....your experience section. Tell us something, interesting, tell a story, this is your hook.

Its really important to get this right If they like it they'll read on!

What you are doing here is creating a hook; you have 5-10 seconds before people scroll on so make them want to read on draw them in to you as a person. More and more nowadays organisations are looking for cultural fit; if they buy in to you as a person they will get to your qualifications and experience. Remember quite often there may not even be a job description; if you look at recruiter type 2 & 3 they have not yet got to the point of advertising a role ......THEREFORE YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO INFLUENCE WHAT THAT MAY LOOK LIKE.

Once you have completed the immediate actions you can move to completing the rest of your profile; a thorough job history, get and give recommendations, Make sure everything that can be filled out is filled out.

2. Active Behaviour

Your activity and engagement on Social Media gets your message out and will lead people to check you out; its easy to check people out just one click on your name and they're at your profile. Create insightful content and conversational comment that intrigues!

What you are trying to achieve here is demonstration that you are willing to enter debate, discuss topics of interest; you are showcasing your talents and skills. Show people you know what you are talking about, consistency here will lead to people coming to you as an authority on a particular subject.

3. The right message (what do you want to be known for)

Really think about this one as it will need to be reflected in your profile and behaviour.

What do you stand for, what do you want to be associated with. Highlight your skills & experiences. If you're job seeking it's geared towards your skills and what you would bring to an employer. If you're prospecting its about how you could make your potential clients lives easier or solve their problems.

As a starter print the triangle off, make personal notes about the vertices and then transfer into your LinkedIn activity.

4. Use word clouds ...are you sending the right message

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What you say about yourself isn’t always the same as what people say about you!

It’s all about perception.......

When you write a CV it’s a good idea to pop it through a word cloud and do the same with the Job advertisement.

That way you can see whether your CV is hitting the Keywords that the Job description is looking for.

BUT the only way you can change how other's see you is to change your behaviour.

I’ve a few recommendations on my profile now but I wondered whether the external impression was in any way similar to the message that I put out about myself.

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It’s a worthwhile exercise if you are job hunting to compare all 3:

  1. Job Description
  2. CV (or LinkedIn Profile)
  3. Recommendations

You can change 2 but you can’t change 1 & 3.

Use 2 & 3 to complement each other & help you Nail 1!


Step 3 - Start your Engagement

Engagement Triangle

Engagement reinforces your personal brand; its like walking up to someone and introducing yourself or speaking at a conference or having a chat with some friends. The more you do it and the more consistent and interesting your message or conversation the more people will like you or want to hear what you've got to say.

Engagement is not only the act of you interacting with those people that have liked, commented on your content or viewed your profile and sent / received connection requests....... it’s more than that......and like the Brand Triangle We'll look at the vertices.

1. Supply & Demand

Your active behaviours and passive Social Media presence are used to showcase your skills and show potential employers or clients what you can do and let them see that they can’t do without you.?

By creating insights and sharing information you are enlightening other platform users that either they need your skills (supply) or highlighting that you are the answer to their problem (Demand).

The constant tug of war between supply and demand means that there is a balancing act and you may need to tweak your message depending on the environment.

2. Personal Brand

A strong brand is one thing but unless you are engaging with the right people then it's less likely to get you anywhere unless you are found.

Engagement increases the likelihood of having those conversations that lead to success.

Engagement is also the act of using those search functions to identify and interact with people, sometimes it may directly result in a hire or a sale but more often it will lead to an expanded network who can help you or who you can help.

The whole purpose of this activity is to get you having conversations that lead ...well wherever they need to go.

BUT remember engagement isn’t just about creating content and making new contacts it’s also about maintaining dialogue with your existing network.

For example, without hashtags, LinkedIn only pushes your content out to the top 10% of your contacts!?So you are reliant on 10% of your network to propagate your message. By using hashtags your content is visible to those who follow that hashtag.

Step 4 - Connect and communicate

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Steps 1 to 3 above will set you up nicely for your hunting and now we can revisit your strategy and the target organisations that you have identified. There are tools within LinkedIn to help you identify people to connect with or showcase your services:

  • Search Function
  • Find an expert
  • Offer a service

.......the aim is to connect and engage with people within your target organisations but its not the 'gis a job approach we are connecting with people to grow our network, have conversations which may lead to other conversations; it may not be the 1st level connection that offers you a job but they may well be the connection that refers or recommends you.

Let your profile work for you but record your activity and periodically track your performance:

Step 5 - KPI Yourself

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The Social Selling Index.....one of the tools you can use and its free!

You're selling your services so why not use it to measure and track how you're improving on LinkedIn!

Social Media, LinkedIn especially, is one of the most important opportunities you will have to ACTIVELY engage with hiring managers.

OK so you're not a salesperson....or are you? If you're job hunting you're selling yourself!

Data doesn't know whether its a kettle or a yacht...its all binary! Use the index to Improve.

Broken down the SSI allows you to see where you stand alongside colleagues, your industry and more importantly there's a component breakdown on the right hand side which is the key bit.

A typical score for the Armed Forces is 28-35. and that's only for the 5% that use it!

A typical Score for Business Development Managers is not that much higher!!

The SSI is free to check and you can check yours by clicking the link below (once you've read the rest of this blog):

?https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssi ?

Step 6 - Improve

Check your SSI periodically as it will change, use the insights to refresh steps 1-5 ...it's a constant cycle but having those conversations at step 4 is really important.

So get cracking!

  • Step 1 - Have a Strategy
  • Step 2 - Develop your Brand
  • Step 3 - Start your Engagement
  • Step 4 - Connect and communicate
  • Step 5 - KPI Yourself
  • Step 6 - Improve

Good Luck!
Timothy "Tim" Hughes 提姆·休斯 L.ISP

Should have Played Quidditch for England

3 年

Great advice

回复
Chris K.

Technology Risk @ Franklin Templeton | Risk and Controls | Governance & Oversight

3 年

Really applicable for me at the moment Matt Pybus . Superbly helpful. Very much appreciated! ????

Suzan Brown

Helping SMEs and large Supply Chain Owners with a Certified Net Zero Solution

3 年

Advice that is supportive and has been thought through and developed. Commendable work Matt Pybus and seeing it on a Monday being a shark, not complaining just going around biting stuff.

William Shorten (PCC)

Creating safe spaces to enable individuals and teams to learn, grow and develop. When not doing that cycling, reading and drinking wine...

3 年

Great idea Matt to bring all of these streams together in a guide. Love the proactive message, especially the idea of putting yourself in the right place at the right time. Even more so with those who are not actively recruiting but could be interested in who you are based on the strength of following the steps in this guide.

Carina Smith

Helping To Change The World One Lip At A Time ?? GMB/Labour Party/Retail Manager/Make Up Artist/Blogger/Trainer/Luxury Retail Store Manager

3 年

This is gold Matt thank you!! I didn't know this about hash tags I hardly use them! Rookie mistake??

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