Monday, October 27, 2014

Reverse engineering your job search

Starting a job search includes such enviable tasks as updating your resume and LinkedIn profile, fearing change and trying on old suits. That's some rip-roaring fun right there! It's also an emotional process; I don't care who are, it is. So it's easy to get all caught up in this activity and thoughts and feelings and stuff and plod along on your job search the way so-and-so told you to. You know, apply to jobs online...reach out to your network... etcetera.

 But how do you really know what will be successful? Maybe you've polled your friends and asked your cousin, the recruiter. It's hard to say what's going to work for you. One thing you could do, is reverse engineer the recruiting process; figure out what recruiters are doing to find people and then be where they are looking. Be findable and proactive.

Recruiters are a chatty bunch, for better or worse. I'm an introvert, so you can just imagine how much fun I had at conferences and such. Networking events still give me hives and, invariably, a cold.

Back in the naughts, while I was blogging away, trying to convince folks that Microsoft wasn't nearly as evil as they'd heard, there were scores of other recruiters blogging about recruiting, to other recruiters. The interwebs are lousy with the recruiting blogs. Many a recruiter tried to make a name for themselves with lengthy posts detailing their search techniques. Some of them were actually really good.

You can find recruiting blogs from experts in the art of search and you can find them from the average corporate recruiter looking to build their network or their resume. Maybe target your search to the types of recruiters you most want to be in touch with. Here are a few links to get you started:

Elaine Wherry's blog post: The Recruiter Honeypot
Elaine Wherry is one of the founders of Meebo. This post is several years old but I think her points are still valid. A couple of key take-aways:

1) LinkedIn is a default source for recruiters, so you need to be there.
2) If you are interested in a start-up, consider looking for external (agency) recruiters (my tip: find recruiters that use the word "start-up" on their LinkedIn profile)

What I wouldn't recommend is creating a fake profile like Elaine did. Great for investigation but definitely not part of a search strategy.

Fistful of Talent
I really like recruiters with a sense of humor. FOT has a bunch of really experienced folks blogging about everything related to recruiting. At the bottom of the home page, you'll find a search box. Recruiters refer to the process of finding talent as "sourcing" so that might be a good keyword to start with.  Remember, these are recruiters talking to recruiters.

Boolean Black Belt
This is a blog about Boolean search - all recruiters use it - and knowing how will help you craft a resume, profile or blog that's super findable.

For more, just search "best recruiting blogs". Try searching for recruiting blogs that mention the names of companies you want to work for, industries you work in, etc. Get into the mindset of recruiters and work backward.

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