How can you position yourself to attract recruiters? Stroud offers the following advice:

Figure out who you want to be when you grow up. Take a big-picture approach to your career. “There is no way you can go from point A to point B without a reference point,” Stroud explains. Have you identified your dream job? It’s a good idea to consider future growth potential when you map out your career. “Research the jobs of the future and position yourself accordingly,” Stroud says. “For example, consider 3-D printing technology. According to Wikipedia, 3-D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. With 3-D printing, you can make single items just as easily as you can produce thousands of items. The costs are minimal and it could have a profound effect of global economies.”

Keeping this in mind, consider how this technology may change or open up new career opportunities in your field. “If people can ‘print’ their own clothes with a 3-D printer, clothing manufacturers and clothing retailers would be run out of business,” Stroud says. “If one can ‘print’ construction material from a machine, what need would people have for lumber, drywall, shingles and related items? A lot of jobs would be gone, but demand would shift.” For example, there would be demand for people who:

• Design 3-D printers.
• Supply the “ink” for these printers.
• Design items for others to “print.”
• Repair printers.

When you plan out your career, consider data in the Occupational Outlook, a Department of Labor publication available online (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/) that offers insights about how popular certain jobs will be over the next decade. Stroud suggests: “Plan for the future and position yourself for a job that will be in high demand in the future and [that is] trending upward now.”

Find role models and emulate their career path. Once you identify a career path that interests you, conduct targeted research to help you get on the right path. “Search LinkedIn for people who are doing what you would like to,” Stroud suggests. “Take note of everything they did prior to arriving at where they are now. Look at their achievements and make a list of them.” Think about how you can emulate their career path.

Be active online. Give your opinion and contribute to forums (such as LinkedIn Groups) focused on your industry and/or leaving comments on a blog dedicated to your industry. Stroud explains: “These leave a trail for recruiters to find when they Google your name. The same way negative data opts you out of opportunities when recruiters Google your name, positive and professional commentary reflects well on you.”

Use social networking tools to get to know potential mentors. Join groups and see who is active and may be interested in sharing ideas and suggestions with you.

You can use Twitter, Google+ and Facebook to meet and learn more about people who are thought leaders in your field. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, share their posts and comment on what they write. Your goal is to convince new contacts that you are prepared to contribute and they may be interested in helping you.

Research how people are searching LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn’s skills tool (http://www.linkedin.com/skills) to research how people are searching for people with your skills. Search for your skills and see what buzzwords people are using to describe your work. If applicable, Stroud suggests you add those words to your LinkedIn profile, too. “This well help employers find you and/or people in your field to find and connect with you,” he says.

Research company pages on LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn’s company pages as a launching point for your research. Stroud suggests you visit company pages and click on the “Insights” link, which helps you learn where people who work at your target company now used to work. “Maybe before you land at your dream job with your dream company you can work at one of the companies your dream company typically tends to find employees,” he explains.

Originally published on U.S. News & World Report

The post How to impress a recruiter appeared first on Keppie Careers.

Still looking for that job? Are you making these time wasting job-seeker mistakes?

Social media is great for crowd sourcing information. Hannah Morgan (@CareerSherpa) and I are lucky to have an amazing network of friends and colleagues from the career coaching, recruiting and careers industries. We hope you will check out their other advice we are showcasing in honor of our upcoming eBook, You Need a Job: 5 Steps to Get One.

This is part two of two posts I published this weekend with great information from our colleagues — and Hannah has two unique posts filled with more information planned this weekend as well. I told you our colleagues had plenty to share about the subject!  Be sure to check out Hannah’s post today.

We hope you will learn something new from these responses to the question: What mistakes do job seekers make?

Passive job seekers

No job seeker can afford to sit back and hope for the best. If you are not driving your own career bus, who is driving it?

Job seekers engage in passive searches that put way too much emphasis on resumes, cover letters and job boards. ~ Walter Akana, Threshold Consulting

Online Info

Both Hannah and I are big proponents of using social media and online tools.  Are you giving enough thought to your online presence when it comes to job search?

Some job seekers are still failing to clean up their online presence — most recruiters and hiring managers will do an online search on each job candidate. ~ Heather Huhman, Come Recommended

Create a personal alias and a professional profile online. Use separate emails for both. You’ll be glad you did when it’s time for a background check. ~ Jim Stroud

Learn new things

One thing that is a guarantee for job seekers – the job market, types of positions and the skills you need will continue to change and evolve. Are you keeping up?

The job seeker doesn’t take the time to learn new skills (e.g., social media) that could add to marketability while expanding their resources. ~ Walter Akana, Threshold Consulting

Applying, resumes and interviewing

It is amazing how much there is to do and think about before you are ready to think about your resume, job search materials and interview skills! Some tips from our colleagues:

Job seekers are in a hurry and rush through writing their resume or having their resume written, which ultimately costs them more time (and money) because they chose speed over quality. ~ Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Career Trend

Chris Havrilla, Havrilla, LLC, points out these job seeker errors:

• Not taking control of your resume (don’t be generic, treat like a business proposal – one size does not fit all) or interview process (making sure Recruiter/Interviewer walks away from the interview with the information they need – not just the answers to the questions they ask).
• Applying for a job for which you are not qualified or for which you cannot add value.
• Not interviewing the company – just letting them interview you.

Too often, job seekers stay within what feels like a safe zone for their cover letter and other application materials. Remember that doing something unique and outside the box will help you stand out! ~ Alexis Grant

Follow up

You applied, so now itâ€s time to wait and see? Not if you actually want the job! Follow up is important!

Applying online only, not following up with company, recruiter or hiring manager directly. ~ Chris Havrilla, Havrilla, LLC

The process of applying online and waiting for a call does not work well in this job market. You have to proactively contact people in the organization. A personal connection goes a lot farther than a piece of data coming over the internet. ~ Harry Urschel, e-Executives

Other Tips

Thereâ€s so much more advice! (There is a lot to say — our eBook has 29 chapters packed full of it!) Here are some additional, useful tips from our colleagues we didnâ€t want you to miss:

Job seekers spend far too much time listening the media and the ‘doom and gloom’ brigade. In fact, job seekers don’t screw up enough. Resumes, networking and interviewing all improve by making MORE mistakes, not less. ~ Sital Ruparelia

Job seekers frequently focus on the “one” thing they canâ€t do (some new technology) or donâ€t have (degree) or canâ€t control (age), using that one factor as a roadblock to a search. They forget the 1027 things they can do and what value they do bring. ~ Dawn Bugni, The Write Solution

Do any of these answers make you squirm? Maybe you are the job seeker who isnâ€t quite as prepared as you should be? Maybe your resume isnâ€t quite right, or you arenâ€t following up? Our ebook, You Need a Job: 5 Steps to Get One, which we are so excited about launching TOMORROW, Monday, June 11^th, will give you specific advice and information about how to address most of these and many other concerns that prevent job seekers from landing opportunities.

Itâ€s 29 chapters of “how to doâ€s” for job seekers who want to stop looking and start working in their new opportunities. Stay tuned – for those who buy the eBook first, we are offering some free bonuses. Keep your eye here tomorrow for details.

If you want to read more ideas, don’t miss yesterday’s post about what not to do when you are looking for a job.

Update: the ebook is available. If you want to learn how to find a job, learn more here.

photo by Alan Cleaver

The post What mistakes do job seekers make? Part 2 appeared first on Keppie Careers.

While not everyone is going to find a job via a recruiter, I think his video about how to access the hidden job market is worth every job seeker’s time. This is what he says about the video:

Did you know that traditional job searches leave you at a disadvantage? Why? Simply put, there are a lot of unadvertised jobs that you are overlooking everyday. If you do not know about these hidden jobs. its because you have been looking in the wrong places. Its time to do something different! In this video on job search strategy, Jim Stroud gives tips on how to prospect the hidden job market. Tune in now and PLEASE share with other job seekers in your network.

Jim asked me to share this, so here it is. Let me know what you think, and be sure to be in touch if you’d like help implementing Jim’s suggestions. If you are ready for a social resume that gets results (and is optimized for search), contact me!

How To Find Hidden Jobs from Jim Stroud on Vimeo.

The post How to access the hidden job market appeared first on Keppie Careers.