- Job Search Starts With Web Search - Matthew Bowden
Many job seekers jump into the job search process using the web without first understanding the management of their personal, publicly displayed information on the web.
Today's social media websites, simple web content editing tools, and easily created blogs and personal website applications give job seekers the ability to add content and manage their personal brand and search engine results as never before, but one must first know their existing web presence before creating anew.
Search Engine Basics
Job seeker, search thyself. Using Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines, job seekers may search their own identity and results, and address any issues accordingly. Doing this at least once a month helps the job seeker to stay aware of how their personal brand is being communicated on the web.
For those that have a common name that returns thousands of results, none or few of which may be relevant, narrow the search criteria to include a middle name or initial, and surround the search term in quotes – “Jane Millicent Doe.” Use this method of including the middle name or initial in all future documents, accounts, web activity and social media to distinguish and establish a personal brand.
Creating and Nurturing a Web Presence Through Social Media
For job seekers that find no information about themselves on the web (or information that is dated, irrelevant or negative), the creation of new, fresh content that is user-generated and user-managed is the best approach. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways:
- A Current LinkedIn profile: Create or update a LinkedIn profile that is consistent with the resume. More important, explore the Groups, Jobs, and Company information sections on LinkedIn, and use the Update feature at least once a week to keep a profile fresh. Take advantage of the integration of blogs, presentations, Twitter, and other tools LinkedIn offers, all of which are indexed by search engines, and benefit a user's web visibility. While LinkedIn is and should be about relationships, the added benefit of built in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes LinkedIn a powerful job seeker tool.
- Create a Google profile page: A Google profile benefits the job seeker in that it allows greater control of Google search results. Write a short Bio, display a full resume, and easily create links to all social and business websites. As described by Google: “With a Google profile, you can easily share your web content on one central location. You can include, for example, links to your blog, resume, and other profiles such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. You have control over what others see. Your profile won't display any private information unless you've explicitly added it.”
- Explore Naymz: The Naymz philosophy is “A good professional reputation is the key to effectively networking with other professionals.” Naymz describes itself as: “… a powerful tool for any professional looking to advance their career to the next level...It's our mission to simplify the process and give professionals a better, more effective way, to manage and build their professional network.” Naymz also includes a Reputation Monitor, real-time monitoring tool, to help their users stay aware of what is being said about them online across various sources such as blogs, news sites, social networks, and other online content.
- Using a web-based resume, such as VisualCV from Visualcv.com allows those on the job hunt to control how resume content is presented, accessed and shared, and allows users to take advantage of VisualCV's SEO strategy as well. VisualCV also has management and report tools that display how often a resume has been viewed and by whom. The drag and drop elements make it easy to create and maintain, and best of all, it’s free.
- Create a Twitter account and interact and engage in a professional, meaningful way. Start by “following” Suite101 on Twitter, and reading a great article from Suite101 – Using Twitter for Beginners by Simone Preuss.
- Job seekers who read and research professional, highly trafficked blogs that are specific to their industry, stay on top of current trends in their industry, and have the opportunity to increase their visibility to potential hiring managers through intelligent, thoughtful comment. These comments are picked up by search engines, and increase web visibility. Rather than post anonymously, use a real name and favorite profile link. Create an account (if required) that links back to a web profile such as LinkedIn, Google, a web-based resume, or Twitter. If there is a field for a full profile, complete that as well.
- Comment as above on articles of interest on News and Media websites. The Wall Street Journal has nurtured a large, collaborative web-based community in this way, and is exemplary in this regard.
- Recommend others on LinkedIn and other social networks, and request recommendations in a polite, professional and respectful manner. Many LinkedIn-only job postings require recommendations as criteria for responding. A "give value first" philosophy is a must to remember while nurturing and expanding a network, and these items also appear in search engine results.
The beauty of utilizing the web and social media tools for job search is that these approaches allow job seekers to move from passive content management - allowing others to create information about them, to active content management – user created and controlled content.
Using social media and sound content management, control of search engine results and information is managed by the job seeker, allowing them to actively direct people to the information they deem most relevant. Start the year off right with some general housekeeping now, and the job search will be more organized and effective going forward.
Karen Masullo - KAREN MASULLO has more than 25 years experience as a creative and innovative Human Capital Transitions expert with key technology tools ...
