tv at gas.outcastLast night, on my way home from the #ATLMix tweetup I co-hosted with Stephanie A. Lloyd (which was terrific – we had a wonderful turnout and a great time meeting up with new and old friends. If you joined us – THANK YOU) — I noticed that my gas tank was running on empty. (I have this bad habit of always waiting until the very last minute to get gas.)

I stopped to fill up, and as I  was starting to fuel, I heard a grunting noise. Then, a gurgling. Not so thrilled to be at an unfamiliar station late at night, I looked around, concerned, and thinking that I should have gotten gas on my way TO the tweetup!

Looking for the source of the noise, I noticed a video screen above the pump. Good – not a creepy person making strange noises. A baby. A LOUD baby in an ad above the gas register. Then, the screen flashed an inspiring message…”Advertise here. Why? Find a captive audience...” That was all I needed to see. What a concept – the captive audience.

Unless you already have made a name for yourself in your field and have a big following, it is unlikely that you already have a captive audience. So, as a job seeker – what can you do to find one?

First thing I would suggest is to expand your network. You need to connect with people who will appreciate your skills and experience and take a vested interest in moving your search forward. I love Twitter for this reason – it’s a great way to connect with all types of people and Twitter is a wonderful resource for your job hunt.

Another thing to consider – are you optimizing your LinkedIn presence? LinkedIn is probably the closest thing most job seekers have to a captive audience. Recruiters and hiring managers are increasingly turning to LinkedIn to source candidates. Learn how a recruiter uses LinkedIn and how to optimize your LinkedIn profile to fuel your search. You need to be sure you are making it easy to find you, otherwise you are wasting untold numbers of opportunities!

The best way to find a captive audience – make sure you are where your target audience can find you. Social networking is one great way. What other ways have you found or do you suggest job seekers look for a captive audience?

Sometimes, it pays to  hire a coach to help you fuel your search! Need some help getting your job search jump started? Not sure you can put all of the great tools at your disposal to good use? Need a great resume? Learn how I can help you propel your job hunt forward.

In Atlanta? GA is expecting > 10.7% unemployment. Get ahead of the game so you will be prepared to search for your next opportunity with local job search interventions: http://youneedajob.org/.

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  • http://www.TeachMeInternetBusiness.com Natan Hassan

    To me, I feel that regardless of how much you try to to find your “audience,” job hunting is still a numbers game.

    You can have a great resume, but if you don’t have the right connections, you will get nowhere. especially for people, like me, who are first year college students, who don’t have enough, if any, work experience in a desired field.

    With the amount of sites like careerbuilder.com, linkedin.com, and monster.com, you can’t have an account with only one or two of them. You have to create accounts with as many site as you can. This is the only way that I have found that really works.

    If you need help with getting your name out there, check out Teach Me Internet Business.

    • Miriam Salpeter

      You are right – there are many aspects to job searching, and being where the employers go is an important piece of that. I don’t agree that “more is better” in terms of the number of sites to have an account. I am more of a “quality of quantity” fan. A combination of networking, having a terrific resume and job search know-how will certainly fuel the job search foward!

  • http://cuberules.com Scot Herrick

    But,the secret of the social networking is that you have to use it to build real relationships with people. You have to add value to the conversation. You have to give to others.

    Your best way to a new job is through someone you know who values what you have done in the past. Where they can confidently recommend you and have your work reflect well on them.

    So we have to build relationships; optimization is icing on the cake.

    (and I hate those things at gas stations…)
    .-= Scot Herrick´s last blog ..How to ruin your personal brand in a nanosecond =-.