Every
week, NETSHARE
hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session
with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from a recent
session with our newest career coach, Kristin Speer of Accelerated
Search Consulting.
This week, Coach Kristin Speer addressed a number of issues including the need to proactively present your personal brand. You need to be seen online, which means you need to take charge of presenting your online persona. NETSHARE members agree that although there are services out there that will guarantee to help you a job and uncover those “hidden” openings for fees up to $25,000, you should save your money. You’ll get farther by building your own online presence, and no one understands your personal brand better than you do. So you are the one to take control of your future.
In the world of the Web, it’s better to be seen as an expert and have others seek you out. Those in decision-making roles need to be able to find you and your information online, and the online trail you have laid needs to back up your personal band value.
Kris, like her peers, recommends starting with a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn has become the pre-eminent business networking tool, and it’s important that you can be found here, not just for your current position, but to help you with future opportunities as well. Contacts made on LinkedIn help solidify your sphere of influence. You want to create a steady level of activity (since those who are recently unemployed will often burst on the scene with a suspiciously high level of activity). LinkedIn Groups including NETSHARE’s group) can be valuable in helping you build a presence and demonstrate your expertise.
You
also need to reach out to recruiters. Make sure that you are in the databases
of the "big" executive search firms. All search firms work in basically
the same way; the partners go after the searches. The senior associates will
then go through the databases to see who they have in their systems who might be
a match. These matches are then sent back to the partners. Your objective is to
get the attention of the senior associates! Ask the receptionist which associate handles
your type of search and get your information to that person. Your best strategy
is to offer assistance by offering referrals and recommendations. It helps you
to help them.
And
don’t overlook the resources available at your local library and alumni
associations.
For
more insight in how to get noticed online, don’t miss the next session of Experts Connection on May 26,
where Jim Durbin will share his insights in a session entitled, “EXECUTIVES: Get Noticed For The Right Reasons.”
