The Savvy Networker
Eight Little-Known Tricks for the Job Hunt
Liz Ryan
Sunday, February 22, 2009
PRINT E-MAIL SHARE COMMENTS (0) FONT | SIZE:
(02-22) 04:00 PST 02/22/09 -- You're up to date on the latest job-search ideas, right? You're responding to posted job ads. You're crafting smart and incisive cover letters to accompany your resume on its travels. You're networking like crazy. What else can you do?
You may be leaving a few essential job-search stones unturned. Here are eight less-well-known ways to get the word out and jump on job-search opportunities:
Add a signature line to your outgoing e-mail messages. This reminds your friends and contacts that you're on a job search. Much as they love you, it's easy for our friends to forget our day-to-day priorities, including a job search that feels like a life-or-death proposition to you. Add a signature line to your e-mail messages that reminds your friends what you're after.
Include your LinkedIn profile URL in that signature. You can customize your LinkedIn profile's URL (as soon as you set up a free LinkedIn profile) to something that sounds logical, like www.linkedin.com/in/yourname. Add this to the signature line I recommended a moment ago. Might as well make it easy for people to check out your credentials.
Use Twitter to keep your fans in the loop. A daily (or even more frequent) "tweet" from you keeps your cronies and well-wishers abreast of your latest job-search happenings. If you tweet to say "Got an interview at Apple tomorrow morning," then your friends with friends at Apple can jump into the scene and help you out with a side-door connection or referral.
Make your Facebook page work for you — not against you. Smart job-seekers fill their Facebook pages with useful and relevant information about what they've accomplished and where their strengths lie. Using Facebook effectively in a job search requires more than just taking down the party-animal photos. Prospective employers are bound to see your online persona, so you may as well make it one that moves the ball forward for you.
Add a quote to your resume. Got a favorite quote (in writing) from a boss who praised your work? Add it to your resume in place of the tedious "References available on request." Everyone knows your references are available. Tell us (in twenty words or fewer) what one of those people actually said about you — the more specific the kudos, the better.
Get a Moo card. Job-search business cards are great tools, because they're easy to pass to a conversational partner at a networking event (no one wants to take your resume in a setting like that). Moo mini-cards are cooler than regular business cards, because they're small and attention-grabbing. If your field is creative, techie, or you just want to stand out a little, order your mini-Moo cards online at www.moo.com.
Put a voice on your job-search profile. Too shy to appear on camera? Add an audio file to your LinkedIn, Facebook or other social-networking profile to help job-search targets and influencers get a feel for who you are and how you think. Buy a headset for a few bucks and download Audacity for free to make high-quality audio files. You can even send your podcasts to iTunes and build a following.
Rewrite your resume so it sounds human. As a career expert, the biggest job-search stumbling block I see is a boilerplate-laden resume that sounds like every other resume I see. Yank the boilerplate out of your resume and give it a human voice, replacing "results-oriented professional" with "I'm happiest solving thorny technical problems that slow down product development" or whatever (human) statement describes you.
A job search doesn't leave room for error these days. Details can make all the difference — better put every tool to work for you now and put your job search behind you sooner.
Liz Ryan is a 25-year HR veteran, former Fortune 500 VP and an internationally recognized expert on careers and the new millennium workplace. Contact Liz at asklizryan.com or join the Ask Liz Ryan online community at www.asklizryan/group.
YAHOO! HOTJOBS is a weekly advertising feature produced by the marketing department of The San Francisco Chronicle. For advertising rates and information, contact Joyce Garmon at (415) 777-7340 or jgar...@sfchronicle.com.