Activity 2: Networks for job searching

In the previous activity you have learned how important is the support from other people. Probably the following statement summarizes it best: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.

In order to find a job, ideally the best job for you, you have to proactively look for it, trying to find as many as possible new opportunities. In addition to standard methods of finding a job: following the job announcements, visiting job fairs, visiting job centers of social support offices, nowadays you can expand your job search using social media (LinkedIn, Facebook and other). It will help you to get a better understanding about the companies’ needs, create larger network of contacts, make yourself visible to others, share to а wider audience your talents and qualifications. As social media continue to expand, there are constantly growing options to use them for your job search.

Let’s first remind you the tips on face to face Networking from the previous exercise:

• Attend meetings/events/trainings. Actively look for events related to job search or to your profession that you can attend. Take part in these events – this is how you meet new people that can help you find your job.
• Don’t be afraid to ask and share.
• Don’t hesitate to ask for exchange of contact details or if you can add them on LinkedIn, Facebook s.o.
• Share about yourself – what you are looking for, what your interests are and s.o.

Now is the time to be brutally honest answering the question: Have you undertaken some actions following these tips?

If YES: we congratulate you for the effort. Be sure that it will pay off.
If NO: what are you waiting for? Are you finding it difficult to start? Just remember: “No pain, no gain.”

You may have heard about “Personal branding”. It is not only for celebrities, but also for all other people who would like to get the most of social media opportunities.

You should make sure that your own social profiles in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are presenting the best of you. Just imagine a person who knows nothing about you, but gets an online invitation to connect. They would definitely accept you in their social media networks only if they like what they see and read about you on your profile page.

Here are the main things you should carefully select for your accounts:

• Profile picture – a simple face image is usually best (potentially with a smile)
• Cover photo – try to include a meaningful cover photo, knowing that it says a lot about your personality
• Details about your work and education – include in all your profiles, not only the professional ones like LinkedIn, details about what/where you have worked/studied.

Once you have created/enhanced your social media presence, your next task is to expand your contacts.

Here is what you should do:

• Find, like, follow as many as possible social media pages of companies / organizations you would like to work for or recruitment companies that are posting job offering suitable for you. In order to do it – you can use the search engine of any of the social media using words like: job; job announcements; recruitment; names of the companies you would like to work for….
• Once you follow them, try to establish a relationship with them. It can give you a sharp advantage over other job seekers. Don’t be afraid to comment on a post or send a message to get the conversation started.
• Further to standard use of social media for job search, you can expand your knowledge and visibility looking for Blogs of professional recruiters, other famous professionals, etc.

Idea: If you want to work in a restaurant, find the online presence (profile, blog, etc.) of some famous Chefs in your region. Follow them and try to establish a contact with them asking some questions, making comments to their posts, articles. If you are afraid that they might find you intrusive or silly, just follow these 2 rules and you will be 100% safe:

a) ask questions to find whether their work/organization, its culture, and the people they work with are a fit for you. Let them know you want to learn from their experience in their field.

b) never ask for a job directly. As you talk with both old and new connections, simply let them know you’re in the market for a certain role and would appreciate their recommendations and if they can let you know about any potential opportunities.

Once you have created your social profiles and expanded your social media network connections, you should let the people know that you are looking for new opportunities.

Regularly (but not on a daily basis), you can carefully compose posts to share the message that you are looking for a job. Try to be specific about the help that others might provide you. Here is an example for you:

“I am looking for a new job and I wanted to see if anyone has some ideas how I can find opportunities to work in a tour operator (law company, business consultancy, restaurant, etc.). Thank you in advance for the help.”

Be brave in your social media activities, communicate with open-heart and kindness and you will shortly see what opportunities it might bring to you!