2. Agenda
What’s changed regarding social media and
the job search.
The benefits of using LinkedIn for your job
search.
What’s important to have on your profile.
How to use Company Pages, Tags and your
connections for your job search
LinkedIn is such a vast resource for all aspects of business, including a job search. In order to be effective, you must begin to move beyond just connecting with people, and start to use the other aspects of LinkedIn. Ultimately most people get their next position from a recommendation of another person rather than over the internet. Social networks like LinkedIn allow you to start to build those relationships that lead to your next position. Building relationships online is the same as building relationships offline. You find things in common and build on that.
Because of increased spam, commercials and advertising, people are moving to social networks for their one on one communication. They are doing so because: They can have direct communication with people without spam. They can choose who they want to communicate with and who they want to listen to. They are creating their own communication channels. They can also disconnect with people who aren’t communicating effectively more easily than unsubscribing to email blasts, block people and report them for spamming. There’s an increased ability to connect. People can connect with people who in the past they might not have had access to. They can also connect with strategic people at organizations, in certain positions, etc. Finally they can re-connect with people they’ve lost touch with. The key to developing a strong connection list, is to understand who your connecting to and why your connecting. Use this criteria every time you make a connection and you’ll build a connection list that can help you and not spam you.
People are doing more research because of the internet. Recruiters are using the internet to find qualified candidates as well as verify information on candidates. Companies are using the internet to find what might be changing within other organizations that they should consider in their own. Job Seekers are using the internet to find out more about companies beyond general research. With social networks, they can find out about the company corporate culture, departments and even in some cases what it’s like to work for certain people. This can effect their job search.
The Rule of 150 quoted by Robin Dunbar in The Tipping Point says that human beings can only maintain 150 close relationships. In the age of social networks people can expand that principle. They still can only maintain 150 close relationships, but they can drip on 1500 or more. To drip on an extended network is to stay in front of them, to stay top of mind. For the Job Seeker – you want to leverage your 150 strategically for your job search and drip on the other 1500 by commenting on their updates, posting relevant status updates and sharing helpful information. There will be times when someone from your 1500 becomes part of your 150 based on how you build your relationships with those people.