Let your next job find you

Tips on cultivating your personal brand, crafting a stellar LinkedIn and more.

Everyone knows that searching for a new job is pretty much it’s own full-time job. The good news is recruiters are out there searching for talent and this is our full-time job. Day in and day out, we’re scouring the web looking for candidates just like you. The catch? We’ve gotta be able to find you.

So here's a beginner's guide to help you get found. If you prefer to fly under the radar, that's fine too. In that case, just do the opposite of what I’m about to recommend.

1) Cultivate your Personal Brand

Your personal brand is defined by the way you share yourself with the world and the impression you make on those you encounter. Even if this is your first time thinking about your personal brand, it still exists and could probably use some TLC..

Start by thinking about how you want to be perceived. What unique traits, values, strengths, interests, and/or areas of expertise come to mind? Pick what feels most authentic. These will be the key pillars of your personal brand.

Once you've established your personal brand, use your digital footprint to set the stage. Start with the places where your presence is most public, then move into more discrete corners of the web. Each platform provides a new opportunity to curate content that tells your story while guiding the perceptions of others. Use this to your advantage in crafting a digital footprint that cultivates your personal brand.*  

*Job Seeker Tip #1: As you grow and evolve, stay engaged online and take a pulse check every six to nine months. Has your personal brand shifted? Is your digital footprint still aligned? You’re sure to find a lot has changed.

2) LinkedIn is your new best friend

Your LinkedIn profile is the first place your professional network and potential employers will come to check you out. This is your space to infuse your professional image with personality and authenticity. Think of this as your social resume, minus the rigid facade that takes over in "job seeker" mode. Yes, you'll still want to keep things professional, but equally as important, you'll want to be yourself. Refreshing right? Tackle each of these sections and you will be on the right track:

• Profile Picture: It should be clear, professional, and appropriate for your industry. Everyone looks best in natural light, and if you can, have a friend snap the photo for you (and save the selfie for your Instagram).
• Headline: This can be your current title or a creative tagline that will draw people into your profile. Whatever you choose,, be sure to keep it current.
• Summary: You have 2,000 characters to tell your story so be compelling, authentic, and conversational. This is your chance to share your personality and unique quirks alongside your accomplishments. This is the section that separates you from every other person on LinkedIn (no pressure). Have fun with it, be yourself, and don't sell yourself short.
• Experience: Always make sure the dates and information line up with your resume, otherwise it may raise flags. As on your resume, use this space to showcase your accomplishments and contributions from each role.*
• Education & Certifications: Keep your education and certifications up to date. If you’re particularly proud of your GPA, go ahead and include it. Be sure to also include any certifications that are active and relevant to your field.
• Skills: Make sure they accurately reflect your areas of expertise. Want to bulk up your endorsements section? Endorsing current and previous colleagues is a great place to start.  Most people are happy to return the favor.

*Job Seeker Tip #2: Highlight keywords that you would use in your job search. For example, if you're interested in project management opportunities within digital advertising, make sure these keywords appear in your profile. These will be the same search terms recruiters use to source candidates for these openings.

*Job Seeker Tip #3: If you’re actively seeking new opportunities, LinkedIn recently added a new feature to let recruiters know you’re “open to new opportunities.” This privately signals users with premium "LinkedIn Recruiter" accounts, while hiding this detail from everyone at your current employer. Simply click on Jobs > Update Preferences > Scroll down to: Let Recruiters Know You Are Open > Toggle on/off > Let the jobs come to you.

3) Linking your social platforms together

Now that you've crafted a digital footprint you're proud of, let's link it all together to create a wholesome, accessible online presence. Link your portfolio to your LinkedIn to your blog to your Twitter… you get the idea.

Developers, beef up your Github and StackOverflow, then link them back to your portfolio and/or LinkedIn. Creatives, make sure your portfolio page is up-to-date with relevant work, then link it back to your LinkedIn.

Not a developer and don't have a portfolio page? You may want to think about investing some time in a blog. Blogging is a great way to share your expertise and begin creating content that highlights what you're passionate about. Not ready to go all out with a personal blog? That's fine. LinkedIn allows you to can create blog posts that are hosted right on your profile page.

The best way to become easily recognizable at a glance, is by keeping your profile photo consistent across channels. You'll also want to make sure whatever content follows is supporting your overarching personal brand. No matter what digital platforms you choose to express yourself, make sure they're all connected and compliment each other.

4) Finding your Slack communities

If you’re not on Slack yet, what are you waiting for? Used by over three million people every day, Slack is a digital workspace used to better team collaboration and communication. What you might not know is here's also hundreds, if not thousands, of online Slack communities for sharing ideas, expertise, and networking. Communities form around a shared interest, branching out into different channels for discussion. So start broad, then spend time exploring the different channels within each community.

So where are these communities and how do you join? Standuply has pulled together The Full List of 1000 Slack Communities. From programming to exchange trading, there's a group for everyone. Looking for something closer to home? Dig into your local meet-ups, there’s sure to be a slack channel attached.

Not only will you "get found" by people who are well connected, with jobs in your field, but recruiters are also part of these Slack communities. Mostly on the "job opportunities" channel of course, but we’re also actively forging relationships with industry thought leaders and great talent. So start exploring, find your communities, check out the channels that interest you, and join the conversation.

5) External job boards

Finally, the OGs of job-hunting: Indeed, Monster, and CareerBuilder. They’re all well-known resources, but they’re also the noisiest platforms for recruiters. That said, there are a few tips and tricks that make these resources a bit more effective for you as a job seeker.

• If a job is online, chances are it's also on Indeed. Indeed bots are actively scraping job boards and career websites for new jobs across the web. As a new opening arises, it automatically posts to their database. This means that as a job seeker you can explore thousands of new jobs right in one place, which is a huge time saver.
• Savvy recruiters use saved searches to receive email alerts when candidates with specific skills and experience share their resume on Indeed. By setting up predetermined searches, we're able to target certain skills and requirements. If a newly submitted resume matches our criteria, it's sent straight to our inbox.*
• Want to get picked up in these saved searches? Make sure your keywords are on target using a word cloud generator. Start by finding the job description for a role you're interested in, then paste it's contents into the generator. The words that appear largest showcase the most highlighted characteristics for that role. To get picked up by recruiters and saved searches, you'll want to work these terms into your resume. Afterwards, paste your resume into the generator and compare the two clouds. If the they don't share a similar theme, you may want to make more changes.

*Job Seeker Tip #5: Besides finding new talent, recruiters can also configure saved searches to keep tabs on their current team. So if you don't want your employer to know you're looking for new opportunities, proceed with caution.