SOCIAL MEDIA
INDEX 1. Get Found Confessions of an ex-headhunter 2. 6 tips for better networking 3. The right social media for your career search 4. Candidate screening through social media? 5. How to stand out?
GET FOUND CONFESSIONS OF AN EX-HEADHUNTER Finding a job can be a real pain. We have all been there; Going through hundreds of job ads and writing just as many applications, trying to find our perfect match without ever hearing anything back. But what if you did not have to apply for your dream job what if the dream job would find you? Written by Anna Danielsson As a job seeker scanning the web for different job opportunities and openings, it is easy to underestimate the power of the tools that are out there for you to use in order to market yourself. I have spoken to so many people who say they do not benefit from platforms such as LinkedIn. But when asking how much time they invest in LinkedIn, the answer is usually none. I spent some time working as a researcher within executive search and headhunting. This meant exclusively spending my days tracking down people who were more or less a perfect match for a certain role for a certain client. Everything from length of work experience to personal traits and skills, was specified down to the smallest detail. My most important work tool? LinkedIn Regardless of whether you are using LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo or another Social Professional Network, I would like to share some advice on how to use it in order to get the most benefit. 1. Update, update, update If your profile does not display what sort of education you have and its length, or if you have not updated your profile to contain your current employment, it may raise concerns. For a Head Hunter, this could mean that you are not their first choice for the short list. For you, it would mean that you are out. They cannot see your potential unless you give them some background. Keep your profile updated at all times. Make sure you display dates and avoid leaving gaps in your resume which could raise suspicion. 2. What is the purpose? This is a question which, from my experience, few people considered. What is really the purpose of your profile? If you are looking for a job, then the purpose of your profile is to attract recruiters. So, everything you write and display should be targeted towards them.
GET FOUND 3. Don t just write it show it! What are the skills and qualities you have that you want to show? It is not only about what you write, but also how you show it. For example, you state that you are a goal oriented person who always deliver results. Great. Now, to show this, you could describe your past employments by putting focus on the results you have produced. Or if you are a design nerd display your work. Be as concrete as you can and let your personality and ambition shine through. 4. Short or long? Normally, I like to keep things concise, short and clear, and this rule also goes for your profile on LinkedIn. However, as a Head Hunter I would always use a range of key words in my search for the perfect candidate. For you as a job seeker, this means you should try to use as many key words as possible and of course they should be in line with the type of role and organization you are looking to be employed by. This increases you chances of being discovered. 5. Network your way forward - offline and online My second most important tool as a Head Hunter was networking. I used to talk to someone, who then referred me to someone else, who then referred me to a third person and I found a perfect fit! For all networking activities, my advice is to treat others the way you want them to treat you; be generous! Do not lose faith, your perfect match is out there. Help it find you!
6 TIPS FOR BETTER NETWORKING WITH TEMPLATE «It s not what you know, it s who you know». Recruiters love referrals. More than 80% of job opportunities worldwide never see the light of a screen, as they are available only through networking. It s not that you don t know networking is important. It s that it feels awkward to do it. If you find it hard to put together a brief message to write to someone who could have a big influence on your future, remember the 6 tips below. Written by Alexandros Kilmpasanis 1. Show your value Experienced professionals always have their antennas open. Nevertheless, they know how to manage their time and when to say no. When reaching out to someone with more experience and knowledge than you, don t feel shy to introduce yourself and make them care about your background. Ex. «Hello (name). My name is Alex and have I been studying/working on Marketing for NGOs for over a year now. I m reaching out to you because you have had significant experience in this field and I would like to learn from your expertise.» Bonus points: You have researched their work and can relate it to your own interests. Also mention where you got their details from. The shorter and more efficient the message, the more likely it is to receive a reply. Be clear on what you are asking for and go for the small «Yes/ No» answers. Ex. «How is the working culture in your team like?» - Long reply that demands time. Try something like: «I m reaching out to learn more about the culture in your team. Would you be available for a call?» And on that aspect, keep the tone of voice casual, but professional. Too many formalities can come across as cold. On the other hand, you are not their friend. 3. Respect the other person s time When proposing a call or a meeting, keep in mind that the other person has a pretty busy agenda. At the end of your message, include suggested timeslots, but also show flexibility. Ex. «Would you be available for a talk this week? I m free anytime after 3 PM. Please let me know what time works best for you.» 2. Be specific, brief and professional
NETWORKING SKILLS 4. Offer a way out Sometimes a prospect connection will not be able to help you. No need to take it personally. That person might just not have the time, resources, or be familiar enough with your work to help you. At the same time, no one wants to be impolite by having to decline an otherwise honest request. Be flexible with your request. Don t demand an outcome and offer a way for your contact to say no. It might be discouraging in the beginning, but it shows respect and puts you in a positive light. 5. Check your grammar No comment. 6. Enjoy it! Remember that the outcome of successful networking is not to find a job. If you burden the relationship with expected outcomes, it will never feel beneficial for both parties. Propose a lunch or a meet-up only to get to know someone and learn from their experience. Enjoy your time and don t forget that if they reply to your initial message, they are as open to learn from you as you are open to learn from them! Dear Mr. Kent, My name is Peter and I have had experience in. I ve read about your work in. /found your contact details on/through (mention source or referral here) and I thought I could reach out to you to learn from your experience in (field). Would you be available for a talk this week? If yes, I would recommend Tuesday at 3 PM. Otherwise please let me know when it would be more convenient for you. Thank you for your time. If there are any questions from your side, I d be happy to answer them. Best regards, Peter Parker.
THE RIGHT SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR CAREER SEARCH When you are looking for a job, internship or a company that matches your interests, it s sometimes hard to know where to start your search. Most companies have a career website, but the number of companies and employees using Social Media for recruiting or communication purposes is growing. How to use these channels in your search for the right career? Written by Elise van den Berg Where to find employers on Social and Professional Media? When you visit a company s career website and can t find all the information you are looking for, it s worthwhile to check out their profiles on Social Media. When you want to join a company abroad, keep in mind that companies might use different channels or use the channels you are familiar with in a different way. Below you can see which Social and Professional Media channels employers use and where.* Where to find what? LinkedIn: insights & jobs It might not be a surprise that the number one platform employers use is LinkedIn. The vast majority of employers around the globe are on it. Did you know that over 91% of companies in the US and Asia, and over 86% in Europe post their open positions on LinkedIn? LinkedIn is great to check recent updates from companies and to find out who is working for the company. You could even get in touch with one of the employees. When using LinkedIn, make sure you have an updated profile yourself, since more and more companies use LinkedIn during the application process to screen a candidate. One more recommendation: join some company groups on LinkedIn, where knowledge and information is shared between job candidates and employers. YouTube: testimonials YouTube is mostly used by companies to post video testimonials from employees, providing you with additional insights into life at the company or useful tips for the recruitment process. Try it out yourself and search on YouTube for companies you would like to work at. It s a perfect way to find out if their company culture or work life fits you. Twitter: jobs & events When you are looking for jobs, Twitter is a good place to search. Use hashtags like #job, #internship or #career to find opportunities yourself, or follow a company to make sure you don t miss out on the perfect position. Also, many employers use hashtags to inform about current and future events on Twitter. Asia 51% 41% 51% 89% Europe 49% 43% 59% 95% United States 74% 64% 69% 95%
SOCIAL MEDIA & CAREER SEARCH Did you know that some companies even organize virtual career fairs on Twitter? When using the right hashtags, you can seek advice, discover vacancies, get application tips and take part in Q&A sessions during these online events. Facebook: insights & answers Facebook is the best place to find news updates about a company, information about recruiting events or insights into your future work place and the company culture. But, did you know that Facebook is also a good place to ask questions to employers? 21% of employers in the US react to questions on their timeline within 3 days. In Asia 9% and in Europe 18% of the employers manage to do the same**. Sina Weibo: insights and interaction When you are looking for a position in China, Sina Weibo is the most used platform by employers. You can see it as a combination of Facebook and Twitter. Employers mostly use Sina Weibo to share insights, events and news about the company. You can also interact with employers on Sina Weibo and ask questions to employers Instagram: personal insights Have you ever used Instagram to get to know a company? No? Try it out and check if your potential employer has an Instagram account. If you are looking for an example, check out EY s #EYInstaTakeOver, where EY s employees take over the official EY account for 1 week and share insights into their day to day life at the company. For more great examples check out the Instagram accounts of Oracle or Warner Bros. Where to interact with companies? We now know on which channels you can find companies and what type of information they share where. The remaining question is how to get in touch with them? Of course you can call a recruiting hotline or send an email to the recruiting team. But you can also get in touch with them on Social Media or Professional networks, right? Research by Potentialpark showed that actually only a small percentage of companies make it possible to be contacted by candidates on LinkedIn or Facebook. Therefore look at a company s career website or contact details in a vacancy % of companies sharing contact information about recruiters on LinkedIn** Europe 1,4% United States 1,6% Asia 2,7% % of companies offering the possibility to contact their recruiting team Europe 30,2% United States 25,3% Asia 37,1% Final advice? Finding the right information online can be easy when you know where to search. Hopefully these insights will help you to get started. Always make sure, to prepare your search well and make up your mind about the type of position or company you are looking for. When you only know the field or industry you want to get started in, use Professional Networks like LinkedIn to find a list of companies in that specific field. Then go to their career website to find out more about their mission, vision, open positions and insights on the work life. Good luck! References: Potentialpark Online Talent Communication Study 2016. Based on the top employers of Potentialpark s Career Website ranking. **Of companies with a LinkedIn/Facebook channel
CANDIDATE SCREENING TROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA?! Day by day technology achievements open doors to the future of Social Media. As people share valuable information through this websites, employers are now rapidly adapting and improving their screening skills. Gathering significant online information about their candidates seems to be the new thing! This article will guide you through tips on how to deal with this new reality! Written by Manuela Lima The nature of Social Media is characterized by the chance of creating a public or semi-public profile. But, what makes these profiles so special? Well, nowadays, Social Media work almost as digital identities, basically an online ID. We display basic information such as name, age, country, and we add thoughts, moments, hobbies, pictures and even professional and academic background. Facebook is one of the top Social Media in the market. Considered as the most popular one, Facebook ranked 1billionregistered users in 2015. LinkedIn, a more professional oriented but still Social Network Site, has also been actively growing, achieving in the same year 350 million registered users! (Statista.com) That said, it is no more surprising that organizations are benefiting from the nature of these sites nature along with its huge number of users. But then you ask what has that to do with candidate screening? And, actually, what is screening? Well, organizations, their Human Resources departments, recruiters and overall employers have also realized the impressive tool that Social Network Sites can be for their work. In fact, these professionals have innovated their practices, and included Social Network Sites as means for the process of attracting, selecting and recruiting candidates, just like you! Here is where screening takes place. But first lets explain it better. Oxford dictionary defines the word screening as the evaluation or investigation of something to assess suitability for a particular role or purpose.
BE PREPARED In this context, screening is linked to Social Network Sites and concerns the practice of evaluating and investigating the profile of a possible candidate, for instance, in order to understand if you are a good fit for the position and overall for the organization s culture. Strongly, Facebook & LinkedIn have been considered really effective tools for this purpose. Besides being the perfect job-advertising platforms, research showed that 51% of organizations believe that screening Social Network Sites may reveal if whether the candidate presents himself professionally (65%) or if it is a good fit for the company culture (51%) (statista.com). As an already present reality, the main issue that is often brought up is if whether professionals are screening jobrelevant or job-irrelevant information. It is for this reason that you should be aware and prepared for possible check ups, not only in the more obvious professional Network Sites such as LinkedIn, but also on the ones more social oriented, such as Facebook and Twitter. But then you ask What can I do?! Well, researches have showed what these professionals aim when screening profiles. In that sense, here follow some tips that you should carefully revise: 1. Be aware and face it employers most probably will check your profile before hiring you. 2. Be precautious Make sure that you are not sharing with public anything that you do not wish to and lock down your accounts for maximum privacy. 3. Be careful Especially with the pictures you post. Employers do not appreciate anything that reveals extremes: too much exposure, alcohol, drugs, etc. 4. Be wise Keep your professional network sites up-to-date, meaning as much complete as possible! 5. Be effective The same way employers check you, you might also check them. Embrace the possibilities of networking, and use Social Network Sites as possible channels. 6. Be proactive - Use all the functionalities of Social Network Sites to shape your professional Network. Use LinkedIn as a handy tool to connect to companies, recruiters of this same companies. So, to wrap it up: Social Network Sites nature of creating an online profile where individuals share personal and professional information have opened doors to a new activity: screening. In this article we concluded that you should be aware and prepared for that. Also that you should be more careful with what you share, and to do it wisely. Lastly, as this can work in both ways, you should be pro-active and effectively benefit from the network chances that these network sites offer. References: http://www.statista.com/statistics/260143/reasonsfor- recruiters-to-look-up-candidates-on-social-networks/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/204035/leading-socialnetworks-for- candidate-screening/
HOW TO STAND OUT? The choice of the perfect candidate is not always easy. One of the big issues that recruiters face today is the large amount of applications sent by numerous job seekers. Because time is money these professionals are doing everything they can to maximize the effectiveness of the process. In the middle of hundreds of applicants, you want to stand out, right? Follow the tips below. Written by Manuela Lima Recruiting is considered one of the most important activities within an organization. Therefore, recruiters, defined by the business dictionary as the individuals responsible to fill job positions are constantly trying to find the perfect fit between a certain position and a potential employee. Considering the frequently considerable amount of applicants, these professionals tend to spend an average time of 5-7 seconds looking to your CV. The ugly truth of this fast scan on your CV might be scary and quite frustrating, especially when you have been putting a great effort in that application! Therefore, and secondly, you should stay positive and keep reading. What do recruiters look for? 1. Online and Updated Platforms Recruiters enjoy tools that are fast and effective. This means that you should be present on social and professional network platforms. LinkedIn is considered one of the most used tools for professional purposes. First, create it. Second, update it. You will benefit from an updated profile. Recruiters usually have a name for this kind of profile name 2. Keyword search Think about the key words that you might use both on your CV but also on the different online platforms such as LinkedIn. Recruiters use the option of key words especially when aiming for specific skills. Good examples are: MBA, JavaScript, leadership and team leader. 3. Relevant Experience Recruiters normally are trying to find out what relevant path you may have had. Was there any progression from job to job? Have you become more responsible in your tasks? If you keep these questions in mind as you create and update your CV and LinkedIn profile, you will provide the information that recruiters are looking for.
THINK LIKE A RECRUITER 4. Recent job Your most recent role as a professional is the main target for most recruiters. The reasons for that may be many: for instance why are you applying for a new position? Are you still working there? Were you just at the company for a few months, or did you spend time and develop in that position? Show your tasks and responsibilities clearly. Make sure you are being honest. 5. Gaps Recruiters will try to understand why you have not been working for even a few months. Try to explain why. Gaps within jobs may be due to several reasons, maybe you have been traveling to get personal experience, or you might have been trying to develop you own professional project. It is better to explain it briefly, than to make recruiters wonder. 6 Education Some recruiters will value educational background more than others, but as a student it may be your most relevant experience. You should obviously include it in your CV and online platforms. Although the advice is: do not include anything before college or university, unless it is really unique or stellar. Recruiters are trying to find out relevant information and thus good examples are: bachelor's degree, master s degree, and doctorates. 7. Good references Recruiters appreciate references. Whether in your CV or in your LinkedIn you will only benefit from good references. If you do not have references do not worry! Do not reference anyone without having his or her permission. 8. Speak and get heard Try to play with your network, and take advantage. If you go to an event within your industry, try to talk with relevant people. Make yourself known. This might also be significant when relating to LinkedIn connections. Recruiters are interested in knowing about you outside of your job, and also who is interested in you. 9. Consistent brand Try and do what you can to stay consistent, of course you might highlight different achievements on your CV depending on the job you are applying for. But when possible, try to capture a similar tone and highlight interests, character traits, and key experiences, across your social and professional networks and in your CV. And remember the best way to be consistent is being truthful to who you are. So, if you have carefully read this article you are now much more informed about recruiters practices! To sum it up, the main tips were: update and get online, keep track of your key words, make sure you only include relevant experience, be keen on the description of your most recent role, try to explain your gaps between jobs, dedicate some time on your overall CV organization, do not forget to include your basic information, refer only to relevant educational achievements, do your homework and work on those references, and, finally, keep your brand consistent! Go for it and good luck! References: http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/infographic-recruiters-spend-5-7-seconds-reading-your-cv/ http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/at-first-glance-what-do-recruiters-looks-for-in-a-resume/ http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/7-secrets-making-recruiters-find-you/