Real-life, Real-time Job Search Experiment: Episode 1

By John Heaney on March 1, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Featured, Interviewing, Job Search Experiment, Networking, Resume, Social Media, The Search, Video

This week starts a new real-life real-time experiment detailing the job search efforts of Tim Krenn, a Cleveland sales executive who like millions of Americans recently found himself out of work and in need of a new job.

Tim approached me a couple of weeks ago asking for advice on how to refine his resume and get the word out to prospective employers who might be interested in meeting him. The more we spoke, the more apparent it became that Tim didn’t just need a better looking or more adroitly phrased resume, he needed a job search strategy that encompassed personal branding, networking and effective use of social media.

I’ve known Tim for nearly 20 years, and I’ve worked with him professionally, so I know how talented he is, I could see the enormous amount of see the untapped potential that could be released with the right strategy and disciplined and consistent tactical execution.

We’re going to be documenting the advice that we provide to Tim, discussing why we’ve selected the strategies, platforms and tactics that we pursue, and track the results of our efforts until Tim lands a new job. It could be six weeks or six months, but we’ll be there to document the highs, the lows, the technical challenges, the mistakes and hopefully the ultimate success.

And as a starting point, I’ll share with you exactly how I started with Tim. Laying the social media foundation that will enable you to create and distinguish your personal brand, build your personal network and start engaging online with professionals who have the capacity to recommend or even hire you.

So, let’s start at the beginning and start building your social media persona.

First steps: create identities for yourself on the three big social media platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Don’t feel overwhelmed by the fact you don’t know how to use these platforms yet, you don’t know how to build a network and you think that Facebook is for teenagers and Twitter is time wasting text messaging. They’re all simply tools that you need in your job search toolbox right now. We’ll learn how to use them effectively later.

Second, find a terrific professional headshot that you can use on all your social media platforms. I want to make sure you heard that: pick one headshot to use across all the platforms. The same picture. This is all related to personal branding and your creation of a brand image that is unmistakably you.  And there’s a reason that I qualify the shot as a headshot, not a full body shot or a full torso. The photos on social media sites are often displayed at 40×40 pixels. That’s tiny, and if you use a large shot, you’ll be unidentifiable.

It’s also crucial that you select a photo that conveys the appropriate professional image. This means that your shot should capture you dressed as you would for work, not at a party or a wedding, not with your spouse or kids and not a grainy shot you grabbed from your laptop’s webcam. Your photo may be the single most important visual element in your entire personal branding effort, so take the time to get it right.

Third, and finally for now, think what topic you can write about and contribute professionally on your own blog. What’s your area of expertise? Where have you had your greatest successes? What aspects of your profession get you excited? Write down some ideas, because your professional blog will serve as the focal point of your job search, will provide the content you need to display your expertise, generate conversations, feed your social media channels and position you as a leader in your field.

So, get busy, start thinking, because tomorrow’s topic is going to be all about the blog as the central element in your job search.