A Recruiter's Guide to Job Hunting

Chapter 6

We're Going to Look for You Online
Leveraging Electronic Searches and Online Networking Media

Your online presence is, frankly, one of the most important aspects of your job search. It will allow you to know what's being posted by companies, and it enables you to network in ways never seen before. It goes far beyond yesterday's standard of positing your résumé, having a profile on the major job boards, and shopping for jobs daily.
With the addition of social media, now you have unfiltered access to recruiters and hiring managers. You're able to easily learn what they're doing, where they've been recently, and even where they are. You can engage a recruiter or hiring manager in a real-time conversation, even a personal conversation, even though you may have never met. There are unique and uncharted ways of accessing people through social media. You're able to network while your computer, phone, and tablet aren't even on. It is this flexibility and constant evolution that makes social media more dynamic than any other online (or even in-person) resource. It is totally unique and totally under-utilized by candidates. Undoubtedly, leveraging the full potential of social media is one of the most effective ways for a candidate to stand out from the crowd.

Doing What Must Be Done --Using the Job Boards

Any job seeker should be an authority on how to use and navigate the job boards. This is a necessary part of the job search. However, job boards are less and less popular among employers. Current estimates are that only about 35% of jobs ever hit the standard job boards.
The more entry-level the position, the greater the likelihood it will be advertised online. Entry-level employees and line-level leaders (i.e. “supervisors” or “team leaders”) typically find positions by looking online. The higher the level of scope and responsibility, the less likely the position is to be recruited online rather than through a network. That said, job boards are still the industry standard for finding lists of open positions and, more importantly, for advertising yourself.
Even for higher-level positions, recruiters will examine a candidate's job board profile. The profile alone will not get a candidate an interview. The candidate's networking, particularly through social media, is typically what gets a candidate an interview. The profile adds details and credibility to the candidate, and if it's poorly done, it could certainly cost the candidate the interview. You'd better believe that a recruiter looking at a candidate's profiles is looking for red flags. Figure 1 identifies the red flags recruiters check for.
From the company's perspective, the more information they have on a candidate, the better. The profiles housed on job boards are excellent sources of information. As discussed in Chapter 1, some areas of the country have local job boards that are used more frequently than the common national ones. This will vary by career field and by geographic area. In general, you should have your information posted and updated on the national job boards and the one or two local boards that are popular in your area. If you're a diverse candidate, don't forget to update your information on the diversity-oriented boards, too.

Before You Read All the Articles on the Job Board…
Job boards have a wealth of information regarding how to write a résumé, common interview questions, the up-and-coming jobs of the future, and so on. As discussed earlier, take this “expert” information with a grain of salt --a really big grain. Virtually all the articles are opinion pieces, so consider the source of the opinion. Is the author a career coach, a recruiter, or a business leader?
In my experience, business leaders and corporate recruiters tend to offer candidates better, more relevant, and more cutting-edge information regarding what traits are in demand, how the profession expects candidates to present themselves, and what the current trends are. Although career coaches and professional résumé writers certainly serve a purpose, keep in mind that they are not in the corporate world. They, too, get their information from recruiters and business leaders. Frequently, they repackage that information with their own twist or personal slant and then re-market it to job seekers. The more information you get from actual business leaders and corporate recruiters, the better. After all, those are the folks determining who gets interviewed and hired.

Job Board Rule #1: Have a Complete Profile
When setting up and maintaining your profiles on the various job boards, there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind. Many candidates don't follow all of these guidelines and that absolutely hinders their ability to get an interview.
Never allow your profile to appear incomplete or unfinished. Your online profile is similar to your résumé. The purpose of the profile (just like the purpose of your résumé) is to get you an interview. It should reflect your best effort. An unfinished or incomplete profile tells the recruiter that you are not afraid to publish unfinished work --not a good signal to send.
Review your profile using the “View My Profile” feature on the job boards. Make sure you are familiar with the view that the recruiters will see, that the information displays correctly, and it is accurate.
We recruiters definitely will look at your profile on major job boards. The information should be consistent from one job board to the other. If there are inconsistencies, the question becomes how thorough you are, your attention to detail, and even your integrity. Questions about the number of years of experience in the field, your education level, and your career goals should have the same answers from one board to another. Look at it this way: if the questions are the same from one profile to another, your answers should be, too.