Title:To Be Hired: Be Found Where Recruiters Look
Author:Susan P. Joyce, © 2015 All rights reserved
Date:December 2015
Source:workcoachcafe.com
Today, if you aren't easy for recruiters to find and obviously qualified for the job they are trying to fill, you are not visible to them. If you aren't visible, you won't be hired for the job you want.
Understand two important facts:
- Recruiters today are in a hurry to fill their jobs. The reason they don't take more time is simple: the majority of recruiters are measured on their "time-to-hire" — how quickly they fill job openings. So, most recruiters don't have, or take, the time to read a complete resume or social profile to determine if you would be a good fit for the job they are trying to fill. If you aren't obviously qualified for their job opening, they move on to the next applicant or candidate.
- More than 90% of recruiters today use Google to find qualified job candidates. They are searching through Google's gigantic database, and they are also often using Google to search through LinkedIn's database of over 300,000,000 professional profiles. So, if you are a job seeker, you need to be easy for them to find quickly.
How to Be Easy to Find in 5 Steps
Your goal is to be found on page one of Google/Bing/LinkedIn search results since very few searchers check the second or subsequent search results pages.
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Know the job you want.
Being easy to find is not really very difficult, but you must know the work you want (at least for this moment) to be found on the first page of search results. Without focus, you won't catch that busy recruiter's attention because you won't have the right keywords for your job (more on that next) and you won't make your qualifications for that job visible and obvious.
You can change your mind about your target job next week, or even tomorrow, but for an effective job search today, you must know the job you are targeting. Vague I-don't-want-to-limit-my-options goals are a waste of time now.
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Know the best keywords for that job.
People often use vague language in resumes and social profiles in the hope that they will be considered for many different kinds of jobs or because they aren't sure the job they really want. Disaster!
Recruiters aren't searching using vague language, like "marketing professional" or "experienced manager" because the requirements in job descriptions are not vague.
Remember that recruiters are in a hurry, so they are looking specifically for the job titles and skills required to do the job they are filling. So, for example, when filling a job for a "social media marketing analyst," they will search on that job title and the skills required to do that job rather than vague (and possibly unqualified) "marketing professional."
When you have identified your current target job (more specific than "marketing professional"), spend some time analyzing how employers describe that job. What skills, education, and experience are specified in their job descriptions? What job titles are used by your preferred employers for that job?
[For details on how to use Indeed to analyze job descriptions, read How to Identify Exactly the Right Keywords for Your LinkedIn Profile on Job-Hunt.org.]
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Use your best keywords in your professional visibility.
For employers using Google and LinkedIn to find the right candidate, include your target keywords in your LinkedIn Profile, Google Plus, and other professional visibility online.
- Include your target job title (keywords!) in your LinkedIn Professional Headline.
- Describe your qualifications (with quantified accomplishments) that demonstrate your fit for your target job — more keywords.
LinkedIn is the 800 pound gorilla in the professional visibility marketplace, currently, so start there. Google Plus is owned, obviously, by Google, so it's a great spot (the About page) to tell Google what you want it to know about you.
Many other sites can provide you with good visibility to support your LinkedIn and Google Plus profiles. See Reputation Management for a list of sites where you can establish solid professional profiles to support your job search.
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Use the appropriate keywords in your applications / resume submissions.
If you are applying for a specific job, mirror the keywords used in the job description for the resume you submit. Maybe your current job title is "Admin Wizard" but you are applying for an "Admin Assistant" job which is essentially the same job with a more commonly used job title. So, combine the terms in your resume or application — "Admin Wizard / Admin Assistant."
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Stay active and keep your visibility up-to-date
Posting a LinkedIn Profile and walking away is a waste of effort. LinkedIn is a "social network" and to be effective, you must visit it several times a week (daily is best). For a successful job search, my recommendation is to spend as much (or more) time on LinkedIn as you do on all your job boards combined.
Successful Job Search Today
Today's job search is more complex than in the past. For both a successful job search and career, being visible is a requirement (except for spies). So, build your visibility while job hunting and then maintain it for your career to continue building your online reputation.
More About How to Be Hired Today
