How To Land A New Job Through Social Networking

Social networking is the new way to get a job, and it will be for the foreseeable future.  Bold statement, but it is true.  Your connections are extremely valuable and are often privy to positions you don’t know about but definitely want to.

You are building your connections on any social networking platform (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, etc.) for the future.  If you are only looking at “collecting” connections then you are approaching this thing the wrong way.  By just lurking in the background, you are missing excellent opportunities to engage. 

Your connections add value to your career every day, not only in what they have to share with you but in who they know.  The cool game is no longer the six degrees of Kevin Bacon but it is the six degrees of you!  Who do you know?  Who knows you?  How can you elevate yourself to Bacon status?

You should leverage your connections when it comes time to look for another position. The network you have built up and actively engaged with over the years is an asset, and now is the time to utilize it!  And remember, the one of the best ways to forge a strong connection is to afford your network with the same assistance you expect them to provide you with.  Just think, if you gave someone a lead which led to a job, they would likely go out of their way to help you in the future, much moreso than someone you just added on LinkedIn then never had any contact with.

Now, let’s delve a bit deeper. If you use a service like LinkedIn, you are able to figure out who in your network is connected to someone within a particular company.  Pretty cool if you are looking for a new position. Through this search you are able to check out the titles and responsibilities of people within the target company and maybe even find someone in a role in which you would be interested in working.  If that person happens to be a second degree connection (a friend of a friend), consider asking for an introduction.  An easy way to get a foot in the door!

Alternately, once you’ve found that networking target, you can dig through their social media history… maybe come across a blog they own or a Twitter feed.  You can begin to interact with them directly without letting any intentions be known.  Over time and through your conversations, you can further develop the topics into your more specific interest and even a play for an interview.

Sound a bit far fetched?  Not so much.  As a corporate recruiter, I become flattered when someone takes the time to do their homework on me first.  It shows that not only are they interested in my company but they are willing to take extra steps to make a positive first impression.

Social networking gives you the tools to find people of interest and make a great first impression.  It is up to you to make the most of that impression, and parlay it into a strong contact for your future or immediate benefit.

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Follow Keith on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

Alternative Personal Branding Books

There are countless books available on a number of social networking or personal branding topics, with more and more hitting the shelves every week.  When I am looking for my next book, I look to my network for recommendations.  Sometimes I just take a risk and make a purchase based upon either the author or the material covered.

Over the past 6 months, I found myself reading more than I ever have before, trying to keep updated on the latest trends, technologies, and their practical applications.  The energy of the authors and topics discussed certainly keeps me interested.

I wanted to share with you a few books that are strong in both the personal branding and social networking spaces.  I am not ranking the books, just sharing five that I believe are very much worth reading.

Crush It (Gary Vaynerchuk) – It is all about following your passion and Gary is an absolute leader in following your passion.  Be passionate about you and what you choose to do with your life.  If you follow your passion and put everything you have into whatever that may be, success will come.  Translate this into your personal brand and become even more passionate about you.  Gary also provides great suggestions on ulterior sites to consider which may help you expand your presence into niche or emerging networks.

Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Dan Schawbel) – I am not a Millenial or Gen Y but I was able to learn quite a bit from this book.  Dan provides great insight into the “whys” of personal branding and, as you would expect, a “how-to” plan.  This is an excellent resource for anyone who would like to gain a better understanding as to where to begin or to further enhance your personal brand.

Trust Agents (Chris Brogan & Julian Smith) – Chris and Julian get straight to the point of social networking: build trust.  Everything you do online starts with building trust and engagement.  Before anyone will respond to you, you need to add value to your network before you ask for anything in return.  Same with your personal brand, establish your authenticity online (do not pretend to be someone you are not) and develop your brand into something that others will trust.

Socialnomics (Erik Qualman) – Erik provides interesting case studies into people and companies and how they leveraged social networking.  There is a heavy dose of Barack Obama and his use of social networking during his campaign, which is fine (though just a little redundant), but he includes other case studies as well.  Erik’s insight into using social networking for business, or elections, is highly useful and you are able to pick up techniques to use in your own branding strategy.

The interesting fact is that all of these books are not specific around personal branding but absolutely incorporate similar concepts in business as in your personal brand.  When you read a social networking or marketing book, always think of how you may incorporate it into your strategy – either for business or for your personal brand.

There are exciting things happening every day, take an active approach and try new techniques.  Absolutely nothing to fear while exploring new opportunities and creating a niche while you continue to brand yourself.

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Follow Keith on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

The Importance of Mentors

Regardless of where you find yourself in your career (recent graduate, mid-career or executive level), there is always a need for you to surround yourself with mentors.

It is important that companies offer a mentoring program so that employees have a resource to expand their knowledge as well as to have a “go-to” person for any questions that are encountered.  It is also a great program for new employees to be able to grow within an organization, plus it shows that the company is invested in its employees.

But, not all companies offer a mentoring program.  You may find yourself either in a company that does not have a formal mentoring program or you may neither have a mentor nor know where to begin looking for one.

I firmly believe that everyone should have mentors.  Notice I said mentors, plural.  You may have one person you speak with more often than others, but you should have more than one mentor to leverage.  Why?  Each mentor will be able to add a different value to your career and add a different perspective to help you grow.  Do not limit yourself to one person and do not try to latch onto everyone you encounter.  Find a few (two, three, four) professionals you connect with very well, whose opinions you trust and value.  Try your best to forge strong relationships with them.

Who you should look towards to be a mentor:

• College Professor – A great individual to keep in touch with as a mentor.  Academia is a fantastic way to keep in touch with trends and professors are always reading and writing as a part of their profession.  They also instruct many others and will keep in touch with a diverse group of former students.  Staying connected and having a support structure in place when you graduate will certainly help your career foundation.
• Colleague (or former colleague) – You will work alongside many individuals throughout your career and you will learn which ones are genuine in their desire to see you succeed.  These are the people you want to associate with over the years.  Share ideas, talk about new opportunities and discuss innovative thoughts in a mentoring exchange.  You will both be working to advance each others’ careers while building up mutual respect.
• Manager (or former manager) – This is someone who has already been in your role and who has worked to overcome hurdles similar to those which you are involved with currently.  Managers often make great mentors because they not only have been in your situation before, but they have a vested interest in seeing you succeed.
• Third Party – This is a catch-all group for anyone else you may encounter.  You may have met someone through a networking event.  At a mutual friend’s gathering.  Or maybe through a social networking site.  These are excellent individuals for you to connect with because they can provide a more varied knowledge base than those who work at your company .  There may be more of a feeling out period as well as a growing trust factor.  However, these relationships may be the most valuable because of the vast range of information that you will be able to share with each other.

Who should you avoid as a mentor:

• Family Members and Friends – These will most likely be the first groups you will look towards to use as a mentor.  However, friends and family are usually not the people you want to turn to in order to get honest, impartial feedback.  Due to the nature of your relationship, it is likely that a certain level of emotion will find its way into the conversation. While it is obviously worthwhile to have an open and honest relationship with your friends and family, they are not likely to be an ideal sounding board for business and career ideas.

One common theme you will see in all of these mentoring roles is a strong need for trust.  If you are able to wholeheartedly trust your mentor and they trust that you are listening and incorporating their ideas, these are relationships that have limitless boundaries.

As important as it is for you to have strong mentors, do not forget to be a mentor to others.  Share your knowledge and experience to help others develop.  Also remember that everyone you help will become someone that will be willing to help you out when they have the chance (hopefully!).  Surrounding yourself with smart people, whether they are helping you or you are helping them, will only further help you grow.

Pay it forward.

Create a Remarkable Web Presence at Brand-Yourself.com

After identifying and consulting your mentor on a regular basis, it’s time to create a visible web presence to further benefit from this relationship. Did you know that more than half of employers are more likely to hire you if you’ve spent time developing your personal brand across social networks? To help you do this, we built a platform to manage your online reputation from one central hub. Create your Brand-Yourself account today and see how our tools can help you build, optimize and promote a remarkable web presence that gets you hired.

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Follow Keith on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

Adopting Social Networking for your Job Search

Many of you are probably familiar with the Technology Adoption Lifecycle, which demonstrates how different waves of users welcome new tools at different points in time. Some people love gadgets, and want to be among the first to have them.  Others prefer to wait until a product has proven its worth before they purchase it. I believe that this framework can just as easily be applied to an idea, in this case social media. Let’s take a look at how social media adoption parallels product adoption:

Social Media Classifications

• Innovators. Those who have a strong brand and do not need much social networking to secure a new position; social networking is their exclusive search technique
• Early Adopters. Those who use social networking early in a search and network every day
• Early Majority. Those who hear that social media works and will try it as a supplement to more traditional job searching techniques (i.e. job boards and directly applying for positions)
• Late Majority. Those who use ¨traditional¨ job search techniques and dabble in social networking as a test but feel they need to because everyone is talking about it
• Laggards. Really do not like the idea of social networking, prefer the tried-and-true ways to find a job

When you are either passively looking or actively looking, where do you find yourself on this curve?  Now be honest, we would all like to be in the ¨Innovators¨ or ¨Early Adopters¨ categories but that just isn’t realistic.  Most of us will find ourselves in one of the ¨Early Majority,¨ or ¨Late Majority,¨ or even the dreaded ¨Laggards¨ category.

Given where you think you are in this curve, pick where you want to be.  Once you figure out your target, then plan on how to get there.  Yes, plan - otherwise the chances of getting to that position are slim.

How might you improve your position?

1. Do the personal brand worksheet to uncover what makes you uniquely you
2. Now that you know how to compellingly talk about yourself, spread that message by making yourself visible online
3. Grow a relevant LinkedIn and Twitter network and start tapping social media to find and secure new opportunities

I recommend reading blogs like Mashable to keep up with the latest trends.  Investigate if any may be right for your personal brand.  You cannot be everywhere, nor should you be on every single site.  Investigate the value of each site and consider your options.  Have fun with it, even try it out to see what you think and then cancel your account if you don’t think it will work.  Test the waters!

Here’s one final tip: start thinking about using video in 2010!

Create a Remarkable Web Presence at Brand-Yourself.com

Once you’ve leveraged your social network for your job search, it’s time to create a visible web presence to further differentiate and brand yourself to prospective employers. Did you know that more than half of employers are more likely to hire you if you’ve spent time developing your personal brand across social networks? To help you do this, we built a platform to manage your online reputation froCm one central hub. Create your Brand-Yourself account today and see how our tools can help you build, optimize and promote a remarkable web presence that gets you hired.

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