So you're a great recruiter.....now what?

Ok, so by now you've already read my post about what it takes to be a great recruiter right?  Well, if not check it here....

Anyway, you've done all this cool stuff and you're an amazing recruiter.  You can fill any job, your peers love you and clients sing your praises.  Awesome right?  Well....kind of, I mean, yeah of course it always feels good to be awesome.  See Barney Stinson video resume:

Seriously, this is all great.  But how do you take this awesomeness and become sought after in the industry...someone who doesn't LOOK for jobs, because jobs look for you?  Here are a few thoughts about building your recruiting brand:

Build a huge network - It wouldn't be a Jeff Moore blog without a networking tip right?  Honestly, for us recruiters we're only as good at our network.  Most of us have networks of engineers, or sales people but slack off terribly when it comes to networking with other recruiters.  Why?  Honestly, I don't know but it's crazy.  Build a network of other great recruiters and you'll never be looking for a job again.

Speak out - A great way to build your brand is to speak at events.  Now you don't need to speak at ERE or Talent Connect(although those are great), tons of local groups or job fairs are always looking for recruiters to speak about hiring, resumes, etc etc.  I'm a big fan of the "unconference" like #Tru events which are a little more casual but give you great exposure (I'm speaking here in a few weeks).  Additionally, I'd be willing to bet your school would love to have their rockstar alumni back to talk about all things hiring.  The more you do it, the better you'll get and next thing you know you'll be leading a track at ERE.

Get social - Recruiters are social people but I'm always amazed at how few of us tweet or blog.  There is really no better way to build your brand than to share you're awesome experience with other recruiters looking to learn.  You don't have to have a million followers to make an impact, start small by following a bunch of folks and engage......you'll be social before you know it.

A few recommendations on people to follow can be found here and here

Amp up the LinkedIn profile- This one is pretty obvious but let's just be honest.  Recruiters are all over LinkedIn trying to find top talent.....does your LinkedIn profile represent your awesomeness? It better.  Take time to add content and recommendations to really show off your skills.

Hope this helps, building your personal brand is tough...but do it right and you'll be mad you didn't do it sooner.

Happy hunting this week!

My Campus Playbook - What to do if you miss the career fair

As the spring college recruiting season starts to kick into high gear, it got me thinking a bit about two things.  First, are these fairs worth it for students?  And secondly, what do you do if you’re a student who can’t make it....well, here we go.

Are career fairs worth it?  Without a doubt these fairs are worth it if you are a student looking for a job.  Tons of companies and recruiters descend on campus to hire as many students as the can....it’s really a no brainer for you to attend.  If nothing else, it’s great interview practice to talk to so many companies over the course of a few hours.

What do you do if you can’t make it?  Now this is a bit more complicated b/c a lot of companies view career fairs as their primary recruiting vehicle on campus.  So...you’ve got to have a plan.  Here is what I’d do....

1) Ask your friends for connections - Chances are you’ve got a friend who attended the fair and met a ton of folks.  Ask them if they don’t mind either sharing names of people they met...or even pass out your resume to a few places for you.  Most companies are hiring for multiple roles so no fear of competition here so your friends should be a great asset.

2)  Ask your professors - Professors are great connections for you.  They have former students that work at great companies and in many cases may have worked in industry before becoming a professor.  They’ll likely be able to connect you with a few alumni too.

3) Go to Career Services or the Alumni Office - Schools have these offices for a reason...so use them.  Now, don’t show up expecting a job...go there with a plan.  Ask for company contacts or lists of alumni that have registered themselves with the school.  Basically, these offices should be able to provide you with enough leads to jumpstart your career.

4)  Start Networking via LinkedIn - The sooner you start your LinkedIn profile the better but get that going and start reaching out to folks who might help.  Research companies, groups, alumni associations, anything really that might help you find a cool gig.  There is no such thing as too aggressive when using LinkedIn for a job search

5) Ask your parents - Huh? What?  I bet you didn’t expect this one but it’s true.  You really have no clue who your parents know...sure you know a few of their friends but your parents likely have a big network of folks they can tap for you.....the trick is asking and making sure they realize you need help.  So, suck it up and ask mom/dad for some advice you might be surprised at what comes back.

Hope this helps, missing a college career fair should be fatal to your search...you just have to work a little harder.

Good luck out there, let me know if I can help!

How about a chat for your job search?

Quick post this week...but a really important one for those of you looking to get a little more social in your job search.  The topic, what’s Twitter chat?  Well, a Twitter chat is basically when a group of people get together and use a hashtag to have a conversation via Twitter.  Sound crazy?  Well, it’s not....it’s probably the single best way to network with new, social people today.

Here’s what you do:

1) Get comfortable on Twitter - Don’t tweet much!  Find people in your industry, follow them, and engage.  No one cares if you are watching TV or doing something mindless.....find folks talking about something you find interesting.  Trust me, they are out there.  Search for #jobs or something like that #java, #coffee...whatever, and you’ll be surprised.

2)  Watch a few chats happen - There are a bunch I’d recommend for job seekers, specifically #TChat, #InternPro and #JobHuntChat which are all HR related..lots of great people there, just follow the hashtag and watch the conversation.

3)  Tweet!! - Ok, you knew this was coming right?  After watching a chat or two....start participating.  You don’t have to do much.  Send a few RT’s?  Answer a few questions?  That’s it, start engaging in the community.

4) Network - Many of these chats (InternPro specifically) encourage networking at the end of the chat so people can take conversations offline and help each other off.  So, enjoy the chat and then at the end make a few new connections.

5) Turn your Tweeps into real relationships - This is the key tip.  These online relationships are great but converting them into real connections makes all the difference.  At the end of the day, all these newfangled social tools are great...but the same old networking rules that I preach about constantly apply....

What are you waiting for?  If you’re looking for a new social way to juice up your job search....find a few chats on Twitter and get going.

Hope to see you in a chat online soon!

How much information should I share on LinkedIn

Ok, this week’s post is another one of my “guest ideas”...this one from Clayton Pritchard. Clayton is my boy, long story but really appreciate him sending this topic my way. Frankly, how we know each other is probably a great blog post. ANYWAY....

The topic...”How much information should I put on my LinkedIn profile?”

The easy answer is, as much as possible...but it’s not quite that simple as you want a profile that accurately reflects your background but also isn’t overwhelming to someone who’s looking to find someone with your skillset.

Here are a few tips that might help:

1) LinkedIn knows what they are doing - They recommend you fill out your profile “completely”.  They do this for a reason, because it works.  Take the time, fill out the profile as much as they recommend and you’re well on your way.

2) Don’t over communicate - You want to spell out your experience, but know go crazy.  Don’t put a thousand words in your summary.  Short, sweet and descriptive.

3) Recommend some folks...and get a few of your own - Recommendations are great...but they are a two way street.  You want people saying nice things about you but you want to contribute as well.  I LOVE seeing who people recommend...if they go crazy, it probably doesn’t mean anything but if they only recommend a few people that means a lot.  Now, go recommend someone.

4)  Join some groups - LinkedIn literally has groups for everything, and you should join them.  You’ll meet great people and even learn a bit.  I really like networking w/ folks in similar groups as I know we have shared interests.

Ok, that’s it, but this should get you started.  I’d also recommend following @LinkedInQueen on Twitter who offers a ton of great advice on this topic as well.

More soon, hope this helps!!

Does your resume matter anymore?

Earlier this week I spoke a little bit about social media and your job search...and someone asked me “Does your resume matter anymore?”  Which seemed like a great follow up to my earlier post.

So....with all the stuff in the world now between profile pages, LinkedIn profiles and other social networks...does your resume matter?  In a word, yes....but not as much as you’d think.

The Ladders recently did a study that talked about how most recruiters can review a resume in about 6 seconds.  Crazy right?  I mean, I can’t believe it takes that long.....kidding!  But the point is, your resume matters and you HAVE to get to the point.  Long, rambling resumes just aren’t read anymore.  Take some time and look at the study above, pretty cool stuff.  A few other quick take aways from this data:

- Recruiters focus what they think is important....education, current experience and location.  Not rocket science if you think about it. Recruiters are basically asking 1) Does this person meet my educational requirements 2) Does their current experience map to the role I’m looking to fill and 3) How realistic is it for them to work in my office from a location perspective.

- You’ve got 6 seconds...........when people are writing resumes or doing “elevator pitches” the golden rule should be “Short and Sweet”

- Employee Referrals are REALLY the way to get hired now....recruiters are swamped and screening people in seconds.  Your best way into a great new gig.....finding a friend or former colleague who can get your resume to a hiring manager.

That’s it for now....hope you are all having a great week!

You're looking for a job...but can people FIND you?

Quick blog this week but I think it’s important.  When you are looking for a job, you should make sure to figure out how easily you are found.  Because if you are really actively looking for a job you want to make sure that 1) You’re looking for jobs but also that 2) People can find you if they are out looking for great employees.

So, here’s what you might think about doing...

1) Search for your name - Of course you know, “Google” yourself.  What’s funny, I did this and the results were very different depending on the search engine.  On Google, I’m the first or second result for any combination of my name...good.  Yahoo, um, not so much but I’m pretty findable...especially if you do “Jeff Moore Recruiter”....Bing?  Um, apparently I barely exist there.  That gave me a chuckle.  Will have to work on that :)   Anyway, figure out how people can find you and do things to help make it easier to find you.  Blog, tweet, write articles, whatever...get out there.

2) LinkedIn - Get your profile 100% complete and up to date.  Add connections and get some professional references. When you meet with someone...tell them “I’ll send you a connection so we can stay in touch.”  Building your network is the most important thing you can do whether you are in a job search or not.  Finally...LinkedIn is a HUGE recruiting channel now and if you are not there....you’re nowhere.

3) Experiment - Play around with different things. Find ways to contribute to the online world and get yourself “out there”.  Attend industry events.  I have a saying about lottery tickets (don’t ask!) which is “You’ve got to play to win”....the same could be said for your job search.

That’s it this week........get out there, it’s a new year so there are new opportunities!

Keep in touch

I tell a lot of people who I interview to keep in touch because you never know what the future will bring. Ironically, I never hear back from about 99% of them...fair enough, I’m sure you hear this same line a thousand times during the job search.

However, I’ve noticed something lately.....this advice works and frankly it works pretty well. Here’s how it works:

1) Things change and you actually get a job - Shocking right? Well, looking through my database I realized that this happens quite a bit. One of my favorite new colleagues is someone who we didn't’ hire a few years ago...things changed, projects launched an voila he’s now a great fit for the team. This made me think back over my career and it’s happened quite a bit.

2) Build your network - Keeping in touch with people is the only way to build your network. So, dropping a call to that friendly recruiter or hiring manager may not lead to an immediate role but will build up your professional network...which will eventually pay dividends.

3) Referrals! - Didn’t think of this one did you? That’s right, keeping in touch with people keeps you in the front of their mind and when someone they know has a need....they’ll think of you.

Quick post, but I really wanted to share how important I think this is to do. People say “keep in touch” all the time but no one ever does........trust me, build this into your daily routine and you’ll find yourself with an improved network and just maybe a great new job too.