Approximately
65% of a job search is networking (21% through direct contact to
company, 2% through ads, 12% through agencies/recruiters), but I
won’t differentiate between what percentage can/should be done
online or in person. I believe that you cannot hide behind the
Internet but since the majority have adopted it as their main mode
of communication, it cannot be ignored in putting together a robust
and balanced strategy. I am all for clients having strong local
face-to-face approaches but today it can be that much easier to
perform that type of necessary search with the power of the Internet
behind you.
This is a huge
topic, but here are some ways the Internet is useful and necessary
in augmenting a face-to-face job search:
(1) you meet
someone in face-to-face networking and want to learn more about
him/her or their company – you go to the Internet;
(2) you want to
find people in your local, regional, national, or global market for
face-to-face networking or info interviews – it can be much faster
these days to go to the Internet first to find them in order to make
face-to-face contact and find out about them to be seen where they
are seen, etc.;
(3) you need to
get up-to-date as many of your local colleagues have moved more and
more of their communications online and you must be there too;
(4) you need
salary data, company data, competitor data for a job offer or
interview prep;
(5) you want to
have a presence online, such as a web resume or LI profile where you
could take an interviewer during a phone interview for more info
before they invite you to be face-to-face;
(6) building on
#5 – you want to be found by local employers and recruiters who
source for local employers….
Also, do you want to think beyond your client’s job search to
issues such as – a client comes to you wanting to learn more about a
different profession, what it entails, and how to break into it? The
course has segments that let you teach him/her how to do it
themselves and find this info or how you can do it, and thus charge
for the time of putting said materials together.
Or, a client comes to you with no internet presence EXCEPT
everything that is out there from when he was very vocal in his
fight against prostate cancer, which he has now beat. He is looking
for work and he is very concerned because when employers Google his
name, All they see is HE HAS/HAD CANCER. He is concerned this will
hurt his chances of getting hired and isn’t sure what to do. The
course teaches strategies for burying this and all other kinds of
digital dirt (since it is rare to get it removed it must be buried).
This takes your client or you online so they can do a more effective
local face-to-face search. We cannot turn away from the fact that,
as stated in my email about the course, 80% of employers use
LinkedIn to check out a candidate before hiring. Not on LinkedIn?
They are going to Google. Since this accounts for face-to-face,
local, and long-distance, the bases must be covered for a client to
be safe and successful.
I could go on with this one, but that should give you some
ideas.
Job Boards: Most job seeker think they just post a resume
online and will get a call. Again, 40,000 people add a resume to
Monster each day which means your clients like mine have to be
re-educated as to what and how. You’ll learn about niche job
boards and the valuable purpose of job boards (there truly are
some, but it is rarely finding open jobs). There are tools like
competitive analysis and ranking among others that are valuable.
Plus, you can educate clients on-the-go about mobile apps,
should they decide to incorporate this into their search and
networking strategies.
Professional Associations: Learn to use them beyond the local
chapter (although that is still recommended) for job search,
networking, recruiter ID, etc.
-
Research / data
collection - Help clients prepare for an interview, find
companies, evaluate companies, or find out about their existing
or new career fields (such as education offerings, associations,
certifications, etc.). I have used this to be paid to:
(1) apply
online for open positions for clients – not something I
recommend;
(2) put
together data packets on a target career field so a client
understood what his/her interest led to – ed requirements,
certifications, schools and degrees, salaries, work conditions,
etc.;
(3) put
together a competitive analysis portfolio of companies. For
example, had a surgical device client with little time and a top
salary who when he interviewed would have me pull a 3-ring
binder of data together on the products of the target employer’s
competitors. He would study it on the plane and be sure to put
it in plain site at the interview so the employer could see he
was invested. Very easy to do;
(4) perform
something similar to #3 but on a company and it’s competitors to
help a client prep for important interviews and negotiations;
etc., etc….
FURTHER, you don’t have to do the research/data collection
yourself. You can, instead, teach your clients to use the
techniques in the course to do this themselves in a coaching /
educational process (paid, of course).
-
Create an
Online Presence / Bury Digital Dirt Online – see #1 above for an
example of digital dirt. AGAIN, like any of these items, you
could either do the service for the client or the client could
be taught in a session / workshop / coaching process how to do
it him/herself.
Either
way, 83%
of recruiters are using the Internet to source job seekers and
80% of employers are checking out prospects before hiring, so it
is critical. The course walks you through everything from
showing the client how visible or invisible they are online
(this process takes seconds but produces an impressive report
page online) to creating an implementing a strategy to give them
a basic to an extremely advanced presence. If you have new grads
(millennials), techies, executives, consultants, freelancers,
artists, or solopreneurs working with you, these are some areas
who will expect this. Others will probably need to be taught to
understand the need and value.
-
Here are the 23
things you will gain from the social module, Module 7, that each
could be turned into something you do for a client or coach a
client on, for a fee (a few repeat the content above):
o
Determining a client’s existing online identity.
o
Creating LinkedIn profiles for clients (includes sample
profiles).
o
Assisting clients in finding contacts and getting endorsements.
o
Assisting clients in joining LinkedIn groups and attaining expert
status by answering posted questions.
o
Teaching clients how to use LinkedIn to search for contacts at
companies.
o
Using
Apps to Enhance LinkedIn Presence (add your blog, add video,
sync with Twitter, show/sell your books).
o
Guiding clients to establish a presence on Twitter and then
creating an information campaign of expertise.
o
Helping clients to use Twitter to monitor industry activity
and opportunities with various job search and monitoring tools.
o
Showing clients how to become active on Facebook, especially
those in consulting or self-employment.
o
Helping clients to establish a blog presence or become a content
curator to showcase their expertise and become known in their
space.
o
Teaching clients to make networking contacts through discussion
groups and ListServs while establishing their expertise.
o
Advising and assisting clients to clean up (and avoid) digital
dirt on the Web.
o
Positioning clients to go viral with their expertise (or at
least information share).
o
Teaching clients about the do’s and don’ts of online video.
o
Using
free tools to create a web portfolio / web resume and online
presence.
o
Reselling (affiliate relationship)
online job search tools and hidden job search training
materials.
o
Gaining media attention from journalists to get quoted on the
Web and in print.
o
Publishing articles on the Internet as well as press releases and e-books.
o
Providing advice to clients on starting radio shows and creating
podcasts.
o
Exploring new revolutions in resumes to adopt, follow, or fight
– the scoop, how-to, and samples on Facebook Resumes and LinkedIn
Resumes.
o
Applying QR Codes
for added marketing for job seekers and businesses.
o
Exploring Facebook Apps
(Continued from Module 6 - job boards & search apps).
o
Leveraging Mobile Job Search Applications, mobile job boards, and mobile
social networking.
No, this is a
fallacy. In fact, I just had a member trying to decide what course
to take first because she likes working with new grads and
20-somethings. I stressed to her that if she cannot demonstrate she
operates in their space, the online world, she will never gain their
trust in creating a balanced search, which should be face-to-face
and online. Everyone is online today. A few of the individuals I
mentioned weren’t typically great candidates for some of this
content are your basic jobs – secretaries, dental assistants, sales
clerks, summer jobs – like movie theater workers, or lawn
technicians. But, summer interns at big companies? Executive
secretaries at big corporations? Techies of all types; freelances
and small business owners/solopreneurs; artists and creative types
with portfolios, anyone in sales, marketing, pr who needs to show
they understand the new marketing world; etc.
I can’t really
think of arguments not to be prepared beyond the few above. In fact,
even in some of the unexpected markets, there is room and need. The
longer the online trend persists, and it is not going away but
instead growing larger and more encompassing for anyone in the
employment market, the more you as a career professional and coach
must be prepared to operate in their space.
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