Have you ever heard that no one gets hired in August? That’s not really true, of course, but there are seasonal recruitment cycles including peak and slow periods. Understanding them can give you an edge and improve your chances of getting hired. By knowing which months of the year are the most popular hiring periods in specific companies and industries, you can plan your job search process more efficiently. During the months of slow hiring, prepare yourself for the busy hiring period.
Recruiting via Social Networks is Booming
Are you looking for recruiters who have an urgent need to hire now? The way to find them just may be through social media. A new survey shows recruiters are using social networks ahead of all other forms of recruiting and are most likely to increase use of it this year. More than a third of the recruiters surveyed say they need to make immediate hires. Recruiters reported finding higher quality candidates via social networking and rated job boards last for quality of candidates.
Beating Unemployment Stats with Techniques that Work
The monthly release of unemployment figures leaves some job seekers feeling the blues. One approach to digesting these job figures is to not get caught up in the up-and-downs and focus instead on what is working. Every day people are getting hired and starting new jobs. For the job seeker the question becomes, “How can I be one of the people who gets hired?” A recent panel of job seekers who had found work revealed five actions that the newly hired felt led them to success. Here is a summary of techniques that worked and how you can implement them:
Built up visibility in a small community. To do this, join local professional groups, participate in online groups and attend local meetings and conferences. Make yourself known in your industry or field so that when jobs open up, people think of you.
New Ways to Use Facebook in Your Job Search
Facebook is partnering with job board site SimplyHired. The integration allows you to see Facebook friends you have at a company, and locate friends inside a company when pursuing a job opening.
To use the new integration, you must go to SimplyHired and then login in to Facebook through SimplyHired. You can then research a company and see if you know someone who works there. Or you can locate a job and then find out if you know someone who works there.
What are You Doing with Extra Hours?
If you had an extra hour each day, what would you do with that time? A recent study says “not much”. The study shows that due to unemployment, retirement and other factors, we have more free time than ever but we’re spending most of extra time watching TV and sleeping. For job seekers, this is probably not the most productive use of extra time. But it’s tempting to kick back when you feel you have so much time on your hands.
Jump-start Your Digital Job Search
I just came across an interesting article on College Aftermath about some best tactics for the modern job search. The article is right on about today’s job search – in the digital age, your job search is completely different than even ten years ago and it should absolutely begin online. The tips for applying to jobs over the Internet are fine – if you are applying through the classic job portal online. But before you do that, remember to check your network:
Action Items for New College Grads Looking for Work
In our last blog, we went over some food for thoughts for new college graduates to identify a clear and focused entry into the job market. Today, we will talk about what actions new college graduate can take once they have a good idea on what they are looking for in today’s job market.
Sanitize web image. Potential employers are increasingly Goggling candidates, looking at their Facebook pages and LinkedIn profile. College students are particularly vulnerable to getting a bad “web reputation”. As job seekers, they must do everything possible to clean up their web image, removing or privatizing photos and other content and also creating a positive web presence through a LinkedIn Profile, a professional blog or a professional web page.
Using Facebook In Your Job Search
To use Facebook in your job search, you must first define your Facebook presence and page as personal, professional or both. Beyond that critical decision, there are several important ways you can use Facebook to advance your job search.
Your Friends, Your Network
If you are using Facebook as a personal social network, your Facebook friends are your inner-circle network. As such, they care about your success and are likely to want to help you. To use this resource in a respectful way:
Facebook and the Job Search: Personal, Professional, or Both?
For many, Facebook is a social Mecca. It’s a fun, easy way to share photos, news, party invitations and birthday greetings. And it certainly has no place in a professional job search, right? Yet with the job market tight, job seekers can’t afford to ignore the world’s most trafficked website as a road to a new job.
Trends In Recruiting, Part Three
In our final report on recruiting trends for 2010, we look at the hottest area for recruiters and how to make it the hottest area for job seekers. Earlier we looked at a new LinkedIn Survey of recruiters that shows spending on job boards and staffing firms is down. It also shows recruiters are keeping a pipeline of qualified candidates and that the emphasis now is on quality hires rather than quick hires.