Wouldn’t it be GREAT if you could have a steady stream of up-to-date, current and relevant information about jobs, really good jobs, as well as information about the people doing the actual hiring, coming directly to you on a regular basis? Well, there is indeed a way you can do precisely that, by setting up what I refer to as anInbound Marketing Plan.
Here is how to get started setting up your IMP:
In addition to establishing a strong, well-developed, professional presence onLinkedIn (if you don’t already have one), you should immediately investigate and consider including in your repertoire of great sources of job/career opportunities news these online sites:
- www.indeed.com – This is one of the easiest jobs sites to navigate on the Internet. To get started searching for job/career information, you merely provide the information for the “what” (job title, keywords, company name, etc.), the “where” (city, state, ZIP). You can post your résumé on the site and set up automatic alerts on career opportunities you want to consider.
- www.gigalert.com (formerly known as www.googlealerts.com) – (FREE and paid versions available.) This site offers up-to-date, relevant job information coming directly to you on a daily basis.
- www.google.com/alerts – This site is owned by Google and can provide a steady flow of current, relevant job/career information coming directly to your email in-box, either on a daily or an “as it happens” basis.
- www.bizjournals.com/search – This site allows you to keep fully and completely up to date on and informed about what is happening across the spectrum in business circles. You can learn which companies are growing, information about new products/services, emerging new markets, etc. That can make your job/career prospecting much more efficient and effective. You will also be able to find people in these companies whom you can link in with on LinkedIn, use the information to launch a powerful direct mail campaign, etc.
- www.nicheboards.com – As the name implies, you can also consider posting your confidential résumé on niche boards, which can more tightly focus the information you will be receiving.
IMP Most Effective for TOP Candidates
As you begin accumulating and evaluating the information coming directly to you from these online sources, you will then begin reaching out to the hiring professionals and companies offering the career opportunities that most interest you. But be forewarned, to gain the attention, and keep the interest, of both the hiring companies and the professionals representing them, you will gain maximumadvantage from an IMP if you have clearly positioned yourself as being among (and are perceived as being among) the TOP 20%, of all candidates for any given position.
In broad, general terms, the following factors are strongly considered by hiring professionals and the companies they represent when they seek out the TOP job candidates for positions they want to fill:
- The quality and thoroughness of your LinkedIn profile.
- The quality of your résumé and your targeted cover letter.
- The specific accomplishments and achievements you’ve made in your career up to this point.
- The degree of your involvement and professional contributions to your profession.
More specifically, to take maximum advantage of the constant flow of career opportunities information generated by your IMP, you should also have . . .
- Branded yourself as a professional who has both current and relevantexperience for any positions/career opportunities which may interest you or about which a hiring professional may contact you.
- Positioned yourself as a candidate who can a.) make a company money; b.)save a company money; or c.) do both.
- Created and diligently maintained a powerful LinkedIn profile, one that not only has IMPACT!—and one that makes it easy for “headhunters” like me and other hiring professionals to contact you about career opportunities!
Another Important Advantage of an IMP
In addition to the obvious convenience and usefulness of having great career opportunities news coming directly to you on a regular basis, setting up and maintaining an IMP also quite effectively addresses a key axiom in today’s job market. It used to be said that, “It’s not what you know that helps you get a job, but rather, who you know.” Today, the new, far more accurate axiom goes like this:
“It’s not what you know, or even who you know, that helps you get a job. Rather, it’s who knows you and can you be found?!”
By making sure you have a high profile and well-maintained presence on LinkedIn and similar sites, which are literally first-stop shops for hiring managers, “headhunters” and in-house Human Resources professionals in search of TOP talent, you certainly can meet this important new requirement.
Avoid Becoming a Passive Job Seeker
Once you’ve set up your own IMP you might be sorely tempted to become essentially a passive job seeker, just sitting back and waiting for a hiring professional to contact you. And, if you are indeed among the TOP 20% of candidates, some hiring professionals may very well initiate contact with you, but passivity still is not a very reliable job search strategy.
Or, if you are currently employed and are more or less satisfied with your current position and feel it is “safe,” you might also be tempted to just sit back and adopt a wait and see posture. If it turns out that your job wasn’t’ quite as “safe” as you supposed it was, that could easily backfire on you!
The best way to look at an IMP is not to embrace it as a viable substitute for a well-thought-out, well-executed job search. Rather, an IMP should be viewed as just one more important arrow in your overall job search quiver.
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This post is an excerpt from Career Stalled?, Skip’s latest book in the“Headhunter” Hiring Secrets series of Career Development & Management publications. Click HERE to watch a one-minute video preview of Career Stalled? on YouTube.
Going on a job interview soon? Know someone who is? Download Skip’s FREE “How to ACE the Job Interview!” publication by clicking HERE. Learn how to interview the way Superstars do!
