Using Social Media in the Higher Education Job Search

Using Social Media in the Higher Education Job Search

by Jenna Spinelle

As the use of social media continues to grow, so too does its use in recruiting and job searching.

With Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many other tools in cyberspace, the need for both recruiters and job searchers to be strategic is greater than ever. Both job seekers and university employment professionals say that clear objectives and goals — not number of followers or fans — should drive social media efforts.

Jennifer Pedde, a Syracuse University graduate currently looking for a job in higher education, joined Twitter a year ago after hearing about its power as a professional connection tool.

“I lived abroad in Korea for two years and wanted to start making contacts when I came back,” Pedde said. “I found that it’s been the biggest help in my job search because it’s so easy to connect with other people — if you start following someone, chances are they’ll follow you back and respond to your messages.”

Pedde also participates in Twitter’s Job Hunt Chat, an event held every Monday at 8 p.m. where the community weighs on questions posed by job seekers. Although a Twitter account is required to participate in the chat, anyone can follow along by searching the hashtag #jobhuntchat on Twitter’ssearch engine.

Jacqui Washington, an Atlanta-based career coach, said she encourages her clients to use Twitter to connect with companies and, if possible, recruiters and hiring managers. She also maintains a Twitter account that she uses to find leads for her clients.

“I encourage people to think outside the box and work toward creating the job they want, rather than waiting for jobs to be posted,” Washington said. “These tools can help them take those steps.”

While Twitter provides quick connections and communications, LinkedIn allows job seekers a chance to list more detailed information about themselves and their companies, connect with current and past colleagues, and have longer conversations in groups geared toward specific professions and interests. Rebecca Martin, a career coach and founder of Dear Jane Inc., said an updated and polished LinkedIn profile is nearly as important as a resume in today’s job market.

“If you don’t have an updated LinkedIn profile, it really looks like you don’t know what’s going on,” Martin said. “Recruiters and hiring managers are starting to consider a LinkedIn profile just as important as a resume.”

Elements of a good profile, Martin said, include clearly-defined career summaries and objectives, information about non-work activities, and mentions of any awards or honors received.

“Most people don’t sell themselves enough,” Martin said. “If you don’t put the information out there, recruiters and hiring managers may never know about it.”

Pedde said she uses LinkedIn to connect with people she meets on Twitter, so that she can learn more about them and they can see more detailed information about her and her career objectives. Her social media efforts recently landed her a spot on “Extreme Candidate Makeover,” an online talk radio show where job seekers have their resumes reviewed by job coaches.

“They gave me a great set of tips and a lot of new ideas to think about and it was all because of a post I responded to on Twitter,” Pedde said.

 

 

 

Indeed provides jobs and hope for people!

Indeed provides jobs and hope for people!

I have been using Indeed.com for 5 years and have told thousands of people about it from all over the world. My clients are successful in their job search and one of the reasons is because they use Indeed.com. I have been a career coach for 14 years. I am committed to getting people back to work within 6 weeks to 2.5 months no matter what!  Indeed helps me meet my goals. I have been using the tool for 5 years.

 

Rebecca Martin

Dear jane Inc.

 

Indeed.com – provides jobs, finds the hidden job market and gets you back to work.

Best Job Search Site: Indeed

Below is an excerpt from an article Adam Pash, editor of Lifehacker.com wrote about Indeed.com

 

The web has changed the way you search when you find yourself in need of a new gig. Last week we asked you to share your favorite job search site, then we rounded up the most popular responses for a vote. Now we’re back with the winner.

Job search site Indeed, considered by many to be the “Google of job search”, led the pack with a commanding 47% of the vote. The rest of the competition was pretty tight, with LinkedIn at 19%, Craigslist at 14%, Monster at 12%, and Dice at 8%.

 

I couldn’t wait to blog about my favorite search engine Indeed. I love indeed. I can’t tell you how much I love indeed. It has truly revolutionized the way job seekers, recruiters, career coaches, hiring managers, human resource professionals, and the public relate to getting a job or posting jobs online. It’s easy, informative, fast, and definitely a one stop solution for finding jobs and candidates online. I can get salary information, learn about the good, bad and ugly on a company when I am engaging in the forums, I can find out about what’s really going on in a company because of how many job openings they have. Employers get hundreds of candidate resumes per hour coming right to their desktops. Job seekers find the hidden job market.

Job seekers can survey their professional environment without having to pay for Hoovers or Dunn and Bradstreet. In job search we call it “surveying your professional environment.” What does this mean? Well it means that you need to know what’s going on in your profession and in your local market. What’s happening with local companies.  Indeed will tell you everything. They will let you know who is hiring and what they are hiring for and how much they are paying.

Indeed will list where the job description came from, the salaries the company is paying and then you can go into the forum section and learn so much about the company from all the discussions. You can post questions and people who have worked or work for the company past and present will answer your questions. You can get a lot of information for free. You can also tell if the company is in a growth mode or going through major changes by the number of postings on indeed.com.

Job seekers learn so much from Indeed.com. Most people that have been employed for so long don’t even know how to write a resume or how to even get started. I tell them go to indeed.com and use the posted job descriptions as the cliff note version to build their first draft resume. Find job descriptions that match their backgrounds to get some ideas.

Also, there are so many job boards and internet resources for certain industries and professions. For example Indeed pulls from higheredjobs.com and idealist.org for the higher education field and the nonprofit field. So this helps job seekers who are focused in their job search. There are so many reasons to use Indeed.com. I could go on and on. I could spend my life on Indeed.com and never ever get bored of it.

Now of course I eat sleep and breathe job searching and career coaching. I am a former recruiter and headhunter and now a career coach. I am overly committed to helping my clients find jobs and get hired. I don’t promise it but I do make sure it happens. I guess you could say it’s in the DNA. Once a recruiter always a recruiter. That’s what makes me and dear jane unique. All of our career coaches and trainers are either former recruiters or human resource professionals that have been recruiters. Indeed makes our job so easy.

The information below was taken from Indeed.com’s website:

Indeed is the #1 job site worldwide, with over 50 million unique visitors and 1 billion job searches per month. Indeed is available in more than 50 countries and 26

Since 2004, Indeed has given job seekers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites and job boards. As the leading pay-for-performance recruitment advertising network, Indeed drives millions of targeted applicants to jobs in every field and is the most cost-effective source of candidates for thousands of companies.

Indeed is a privately held company founded by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan, with investors including The New York Times Company, Allen & Company, and Union Square Ventures. Indeed have offices in Austin, TX, Mountain View, CA, and Stamford, CT. For more information about Indeed, see our blog and media coverage or contact.

About Indeed
Indeed is the #1 job site worldwide, with over 50 million unique visitors and 1 billion job searches per month. Indeed is available in more than 50 countries and 24 languages, covering 94% of global GDP. Since 2004, Indeed has given job seekers free access to millions of jobs from thousands of company websites and job boards. As the leading pay-for-performance recruitment advertising network, Indeed drives millions of targeted applicants to jobs in every field and is the most cost-effective source of candidates for thousands of companies. Indeed is a privately held company founded by Paul Forster and Rony Kahan, with investors including The New York Times Company, Allen & Company, and Union Square Ventures. Indeed have offices in Austin, TX, Mountain View, CA, and Stamford, CT.

Starting today, veterans and military spouses can upload their resumes at www.indeed.com/military. Employers can sign up to be notified when employer services launch.

Joining Forces is a national initiative led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support military families in the areas of employment, education, and wellness. The initiative is a public/private partnership combining the efforts of government agencies with commitments from private companies to improve the lives of military families.

To learn more about Joining Forces, please visitwww.joiningforces.gov. For more information on Indeed Military, please visit www.indeed.com/military.

Below is the type of report dear jane Inc. receives monthly from the marketing department at Indeed.com. It is so inspiring and it’s very very different than what you are reading about in the newspapers and hearing on television.

Now you know why I don’t watch the news or read the paper. J As a career coach for the past 14 years and having been through the two of the worst economic downturns in the history of our nation since the great depression of 1929.  I would not be able to provide hope for people who feel hopeless during their career transitions.

I like to stay positive and read reports like this. I am not a Pollyanna I just choose to read the facts. I coach people into jobs everyday and utilizing a tool like Indeed.com allows me to be successful at getting people back to work quickly and we always have fun through what seems to most clients at the time to be a very painful process.

Indeed’s May Industry Employment Trends show job postings increased in twelve of thirteen industries last month.

Highlights:

• Job postings increased in all but one industry – real estate
• Transportation and manufacturing job postings increased the most over the last quarter
• Job seeker demand for construction jobs rose 21% over the year

Real estate job postings slump

Job postings continued to climb in May; the industries tracked by Indeed’s Industry Employment Trends increased by a combined average of 4% since April.

Job postings increased over the month in all but one industry, real estate.  Job postings in this underperforming industry declined 3% since April, 16% over the last quarter, and 11% in the last year.

Despite recent declines in real estate, construction job postings increased 5% in May – the industry’s fourth consecutive month-over-month gain.  The most popular keywords used to search for jobs in the construction industry last month were construction, welder, and electrician.

Job seeker clicks – a measure of labor interest – on construction jobs reached 5,826,5126 in May.  This represents a 21% increase in clicks compared to a year ago and a 2% increase over the prior month.  The three job titles that received the most job seeker clicks were project manager, project coordinator, and laborer.

Quarterly growth

Transportation and manufacturing had the largest percentage increase in job postings over the prior quarter at 33% and 20% respectively.

Hospitality job postings increased 15% quarter-over-quarter as the industry entered the summer travel season.  Summer job trends and search ideas are highlighted in our recent summer job search post.

May 2011 Industry Employment Trends

Industry	Job Postings	Quarterly Change
Transportation	154,748	33%
Manufacturing	149,270	20%
Healthcare	862,890	16%
Hospitality	114,958	15%
Retail	431,614	11%
Construction	131,847	10%
Education	128,812	8%
Information Technology	416,702	6%
Human Resources	66,482	6%
Accounting	168,203	5%
Media	52,781	5%
Financial Services and Banking	268,274	-1%
Real Estate	26,590	-16%

 

 

 

 

 

Authentic Cover Letters – It’s ok to be you!

I wanted to share one of our dear jane client’s cover letter with you and feel free to forward this sample to your friends and colleagues.  I have changed the names to protect the innocent and received permission from this client to share her cover letter with you.

What is amazing about this cover letter is that our client communicates her passion, dedication to her hobby/sports interests, and professionalism within this letter.

She is a stay at home mom re-entering the workforce and this job is 10 minutes from her home and she has never had any retail experience.

Based on her research of the company she realized that her personal and professional values are aligned with Patagonia’s values.

I love cover letters like this. Based on my former recruiting experience and now my coaching experience, I know that 50% of hiring managers and human resource professionals read cover letters and 50% of them don’t. It’s so important if you want your cover letter to be read to make it real, authentic and personable. It’s crucial to show the future hiring manager or hr representative that you have done your homework on the company you are applying for and that you have a real interest in working at the company you are targeting.

SAMPLE COVER LETTER BELOW

Jane Doe

1111 Doe Lane

Encinitas, Ca  92024

Patagonia                                                     August 2, 2010

2185 San Elijo Avenue

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA  92007

John Does, Manager

Jane Doe, Assistant Manager

Dear Jane and John,

Patagonia in Cardiff first caught my eye because of my love of surfing and the store’s emphasis on surfing.  The special events, community enrichment and the inventory were of interest to me and I saw the benefits Patagonia was providing to our coastal area.

Now that my children are grown and I desire to reenter the work force, I looked for a company with a philosophy that matched mine.  I researched Patagonia and found a connection to the corporate values and operations, besides just the great products.  I appreciate the innovation and constant desire to improve products; the commitment to deal with factories that meet Patagonia standards; and the company’s choice to look for ways to be “green”.

In addition, I feel a connection to the people who make up Patagonia because I too am an active, environmentally conscious, outdoor loving person.  I wear Patagonia clothing and can personally attest to its durability, quality and style.

I would like to bring my current skills and past sales experience to the Patagonia Cardiff store as a part time employee.  I know I could add value to the team and look forward to the opportunity to work for Patagonia.  I am available immediately and have no schedule limitations. My completed application is attached. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe

cell: 000-555-9999   email: doe@gmail.com

Should I work with an external recruiter or send my resume directly to the company website?

Should you work with external recruiters if you see a position open at a company or go directly to the company website and post your resume?

Hi Rebecca,

I’ve got a quick question: A friend forwarded to me info on what looks like the perfect job for me. My friend heard about it through an outside recruiter and is ready to make an introduction to the recruiter. But I see the position is also posted on the company’s website with an inside email address for resumes. So I’m trying to figure out whether it would be better to try going through the recruiter or applying directly to the company, which I think would save them money. Which route do you think would give me better odds of getting noticed? I’m so tired of my resumes ending up in a “black hole”!

Rebecca’s advice: Please work with the recruiter first because they have a direct relationship with the hiring managers. Yes, in today’s market your resume might get stuck in the black hole (HR is receiving 400 resumes per position) on the company’s website.

Have your friend submit you right away and make the introduction for you. but remember to have them copy you on the introduction email so you can follow up with the recruiter. You don’t want to depend on your friend after that. You want to take ownership.
You should never ever worry about the money a hiring company has to pay a staffing or recruiting firm. They build it into their budgets every year. Hiring managers value working with external recruiters. External recruiters have the direct relationship with hiring managers most of the time. They can get your resume looked at immediately. Most of the time, recruiters can get you jobs faster than going through the company website.

Pre-interview research…

 Hello Everyone, I wanted to share an article with you that I wrote last month for another website. I hope you can get some great tips from it.

 

Pre-Interview Research: Five tips to investigate a company before the interview.

 

By Rebecca Martin

 

The goal of any job interview is to get to the next step which is the offer stage and land the job! The best way to achieve this goal is by being strategic, linking your experience and strengths to the requirements of the position throughout the interview process and by dialoguing with the interviewer(s). The more prepared you are the more relaxed and confident you will be.

 

Five tips for employer research

 

1.  Visit the Company Website – An organization’s website will contain basic information about products and services, company history, and leadership.  If available, spend time in the online press room reviewing the latest press releases and media coverage.  This information will get you up-to-date quickly.

 

2.  Consult Human Resources – Ask the HR representative to provide you with a list of the interviewer(s) and their titles.  Knowing their titles will tell you about the types of questions they will be asking.  For example, the operations manager may be asking you questions about day-to-day processes and how the position you are interviewing for relates to production and quality. 

 

Knowing their names will allow you to do some additional research to find commonality with the interviewer(s) and learn more about their educational and professional backgrounds.  See step three:

 

3.  Review LinkedIn – LinkedIn is one of the largest professional online networking sites in the world. Populated with 25 million members, it is a warehouse of information for job searchers. First, look for the people who will be interviewing you.  Study their profiles to learn more about the organization to which you are applying and look for shared connections and interests.

 

Next, search LinkedIn for people you know who work or have worked for the organization in question. This will help you with step number four:

 

4.  Network, Network, Network – Talk to people you know who have worked at the company or are familiar with it.  They will be able to give you information that you might not find on the company website such as corporate values, leadership and management styles.

 

5.  Search the Internet – Run a general search of the internet for information on your prospective employer.  You may find the company referenced in the minutes of civic groups or in legal proceedings.  Key the company name into Google Maps to find customer reviews.  Similarly, sites like Jobvent.com provide a forum for employees to praise or complain about their employers. 

 

Using these resources, you can find insight into company reputation, culture and values such as work life balance, volunteerism, and philanthropy.  Some of this information will help you during the interview, while other information can help you decide if this workplace is right for you.

—
Rebecca Martin, founder of  dear jane… lives in northern California where she works as a career coach and training professional. She believes that people can find jobs/careers that bring them enjoyment and prosperity. She blogs about the career search and produces The Best Darn Career Show posted on YouTube.

A poll taken from HR professionals about the BEST Job Boards to post your resume on!!!

 I just received a comment from one of our postings from this past week. Patrick recommended the information below so I wanted to post it for all of you to see.

As a career coach, I always recommend the top three sites to post your resume on if you are looking for a job. They are www.craigslist.com, www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com.
But based on Patricks information below, there are two more I would like to mention. Check them out and the link below and let me know how it goes. I will also test drive these as well and let all of our clients know about them. They are www.realmatch.com and www.jobfox.com

 

About.com surveyed human resource professionals and recruiters about which of the top 10 job sites they found the best candidates on, survey results here:

 

http://humanresources.about.com/gi/pages/poll.htm?poll_id=5763275227&linkback=http://humanresources.about.com/b/a/258241.htm

How to Work with Recruiters! Tips below.

1)     How to find a recruiter

·         Job boards – they will be calling you.

·         Job postings and descriptions – i.e. monster or indeed, recruiter’s names will be listed on posted positions.

·         From friends and colleagues.

·         Target list – call the company and ask hr or the receptionist who there recruiting partners are and how many they work with.

·         Google –online sources.

 

2 ) Tips to remember

·         Recruiters are your friends – they want to help you.

·         Recruiters know a lot about their clients and can help you close the deal and get the job.

·         If you don’t like the recruiter don’t work with them and move on.  You don’t have to answer any of their questions if you think they are too personal. But remember they are trying to learn about you and get you in a job.

·         If they don’t call you back, call them and don’t take it personally.

·         Don’t forget to write down their contact information and follow up with them.

·         If you are really shy and introverted you will need to work with a recruiter.

·         Work with 1-2 recruiters minimum.

·         When they call, let them initially drive the interview.

·         If it’s not a good time to talk to them, don’t answer the phone or ask them if you can call them back (we also are looking for professionalism from you too).

·         If recruiters don’t get a good read on you over the phone they won’t call you back. It       happens all the time.

·         DON’T FORGET TO ASK THEM QUESTIONS.

·         Great recruiters will only send 1-2 candidate’s resumes per position.

 

3) Questions to ask the recruiters to see if they are credible

·         How long have you been in the recruiting industry or been recruiting?

·         What type of clients and industries do you work with and recruit for?

·         Are you focused in a particular field, industry?

·         How long have you been working with your client?

·         How many resumes do you send for one position?

·         Figure out if they have a relationship with their client, if they do you will get quick and quality feedback from your interviews.

·         If they can’t help you, ask them if they can refer you to other recruiters.

 

Go to www.dearjane.info or contact rebecca.martin@dearjane.info

 

Don’t Stop Your Job Search During The Holidays!!!!

How to Conduct an Effective Job Search During the Holidays.

Don’t Quit your Job Search Companies are Hiring!

Myth: Companies don’t hire during the Holidays.

Fact: People get hired all the time during the holidays, the number of positions might not be as high but Hiring Managers are looking for candidates to fill positions by January 2012.

Myth: Hiring Managers are too busy with Holiday Parties, Families, etc. and won’t have time to interview with candidates.

Fact: Not true, this is the best time to interview with hiring managers and executives because most of them don’t travel during the holidays so they are more flexible with their schedules.

Career Tips:

1) Most candidates quit their job search during December, and January so their will be more job opportunities for those candidates who continue searching for their dream job during these next few months.

2) Stay positive because all Hiring Managers and HR professionals are more relaxed, flexible and willing to accommodate you during the hiring process. They have less stress during this festive and holiday time.

3) Remember, some companies and hiring managers haven’t filled all their 2011 job requisitions and they don’t want to lose them, so they hurry and scurry around to find candidates during the last quarter (assuming their fiscal year is aligned with the calendar year.

Remember, you can find jobs/careers that bring you enjoyment and prosperity. Don’t forget to set yourself apart from your competitors;  call and have a live telephone conversation and BE POLITELY PERSISTENT! Contact them, don’t wait for them to contact you! It’s important to first apply online on their company website and then call them so if you have something to talk about. If it’s a target company and you just want to talk to them about upcoming positions in 2012 then call them anyway. Good luck. Happy Holidays,

Rebecca

Career Tip for the day! Refresh your resume – Don’t leave it hanging out there in cyber space

I want to let you know about the three job boards you should be posting on to get results. Recruiters only look at the last two days of postings. So you can’t forget to refresh your resumes every three days. What this means is that you need to go into your resume profiles on these sites and make changes to them and then save changes. This will refresh the resume and bring it to the top of the pile. My clients that do this have 3-4 interviews per week. People are getting hired everyday and there are a lot of jobs in the US despite what they say about unemployment. Hang in there and keep focused. Also, check out the job fairs at www.jobjournals.com.

You need to post on www.craigslist.com, www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com when looking for a job. Now if you are High Tech Professional you should post on www.dice.com and if you are in Bio Tech you should post on www.biospace.com.

Job Fairs – Are they Loser conventions?

I can’t tell you how many people get embarassed about attending job fairs. I had one of my clients in a two day training course call it a loser convention. I love job fairs and think they are a great way for job seekers/candidates meet hiring managers and human resource professionals and recruiters face to face. There are very good tips on how to work job fairs for example, you should always sign up before the event and get a full list of employers that are attending; do your research on the companies you want to target at the job fair so you sound prepared when you meet them; arrive 45 min early and make sure you are dressed like you are going to an interview.  Job Journals is a link that lists all the job fairs in the Greater Bay Area. www.jobjournals.com   Try out a couple you might find that you really like them and might get hired from one.   Employers are not at job fairs for their health or to skip out on work. They are looking for hot candidates to fill their positions.

Immediate job openings

•          Anticipated job openings

•          Contract/project work

•          Newly created positions

 

Employers attend job fairs primarily to:

•          Collect resumes -Source candidates

•          Interview candidates to potentially hire them (time varies)

•          Promote the company

 

 

 

 

 

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