. . . if you’re not using it with executive job search best practices . . . and you don’t back it up with social proof.
Occasionally, the resume a prospective c-suite client sends me is an excellent career marketing document.
It’s targeted, contains value-driven metrics and relevant keywords, and positions the job seeker as a good-fit candidate for the kinds of jobs he’s seeking.
It may not showcase his personal brand and may need some tweaking but, in my opinion, it should generate SOME response when put into action.
Yet the job seeker complains to me that he’s gotten ZERO RESPONSE to it.
When I ask him how he’s using his resume, he says he’s responded to hundreds of job postings on the job boards.
His only job search activity, he spends dizzying hours every day perusing job listings. He feels he’s working hard at his job search and, because he’s using the Internet, he feels he’s embraced the digital age in his search campaign.
And a quick Google of “His Name” reveals that he’s invisible online . . . no LinkedIn profile, no meaningful, relevant web pages, no social media presence . . . nothing of value to people assessing him as a candidate.
No wonder his job search is stuck in neutral.
He’s spending 100% of his time on a method that yields only an estimated 5% or so success rate in landing a job.
To get anywhere, he’ll need to create a job search strategy that relies minimally on using job boards. He needs to devote most of his efforts to methods that yield the best results.
Armed with a branded, targeted resume, here’s what successful executive job seekers know and do:
Your mission is to network your way into the companies you’ve targeted your resume towards. Work on circumventing the gatekeepers and connecting directly with key hiring decision makers where they hang out online and offline.
Turn back to the company and industry research you did to determine how to align your value-add with your target companies’ needs in your resume.
- Identify key decision makers and employees at your target companies (LinkedIn Company profiles and each company’s website will help).
- Look at all your contacts to see if anyone has a connection to your target companies.
- Ask for introductions to those key decision makers.
- Leverage LinkedIn to network towards making first degree connections with those key decision makers.
- Get involved with LinkedIn Groups.
- Embrace the social media platforms used by recruiters and hiring professionals – Twitter, Facebook, etc.
- Cultivate relationships with several recruiters specializing in your niche.
- Set up Google Alerts to be notified when relevant industry and company news is posted online.
More in my post, How to Build a Powerful Executive Network.
2. Build a diverse, vibrant online presence.
Support your personal brand and good-fit candidacy, and make yourself easy to find online. Provide social proof that verifies the claims you’ve made in your resume and other career documents.
- Make sure your LinkedIn profile reinforces your brand and contains the right keywords, in the right places, to help you get found.
- Similarly, create a Google+ profile.
- Post regularly to your social media accounts – Google+, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
- Create an Amazon profile and write book reviews.
Self-Google regularly to monitor the results people assessing you will find when they Google your name. If digital dirt creeps in, do what you can immediately to eliminate it.
More in my post, Online Presence and Personal Brand Management: 5 Things to Remember.
3. Prepare to excel in interviews.
After all the work you’ve put into landing those interviews, don’t blow it by not being prepared to answer the tough questions, and ASK the best questions.
More in my post, Prepare to Ace & Brand Your C-level Executive Job Interview.
© Copyright, 2013, Meg Guiseppi. All rights reserved. The content in this post, and elsewhere on this site, may not be reproduced, republished, reprinted or distributed without written permission.
Related posts:
23 Ways Personal Branding and Executive Job Search Ebook — SECOND EDITION Updated for 2013
7 Things Successful Executive Job Seekers Know
