When it comes to job searching, the process is different for every individual. The jobs one is qualified for, the desired position, and the current job market will all vary. An individual searching for a source to aid them has an important question to ask of themselves: how much information should I gather to aid me in my job search? If you are currently looking for a job, the answer is likely as much as you can possibly gather. As a search strategy, though, this is not a great launching point.
Given the term “job search” many will instantly think of
newspaper classifieds (perhaps less commonly today), job search websites such
as monster.com, employer/company websites, and perhaps even LinkedIn. Today,
this is scratching the surface of what a job search means. While we have
started to emerge from the economic downturn of 2008, job growth remains slow
and the job market is highly competitive. A job search candidate needs to
differentiate themselves, and this is where a comprehensive search of resources
will aid them.
One such source is The
Twitter Job Search Guide, by Susan Britton Whitcomb, Chandlee Bryan and Deb
Dib. While the waning of Twitter’s influence can be debated[1],
the book has valuable social networking and image branding advice that can be
applied to a variety of platforms. The premise is simple, by spending a small
amount of time per day cultivating your professional image and increasing your
network, you will open up opportunities that might otherwise be closed to you.
No matter what profession you are looking to break into, you can find
influential people within the field to follow on twitter. You can gain insight
into what these individuals view to be valuable, and quite frequently can find
out about job openings they may not be posted yet or ones that are not widely
posted.
The rules of engagement are also different. There is no
barrier to interacting with a professional in your desired field through
twitter. And in so doing, you can increase your network of contacts. The old
adage of “not what you know, but who you know” is only partially true. It is
also about who you make the effort to get to know.
The book also talks about building and maintaining a
professional image. Social media provides opportunities for private life social
networking, but one should never forget that employers are “Facebooking” their
potential candidates. The picture of you taking a shot to ring in the New Year
may seem harmless, but it is not consistent with a professional image.
While the nature of the material seems valuable at face
assessment, the job searcher should still critically evaluate their source. In
this case, a good starting point would be the authors. Susan Britton Whitcomb
has previously authored Resume Magic, Job
Search Magic and Interview Magic. She has sixteen years of job search
writing experience, and founded The Career Search Academy, The Career Coach
Academy in addition to the Leadership Coach Academy. She has also written for
Monster.com. She hosts seminars on job searching regularly, including for the
Georgetown University MBA program.
Chandlee Bryan is also a job search specialist, and founder
of Best Fit Forward, a consulting firm that specializes in career management
services. Deb Dib has also co-authored Ditch,
Dare, Do, has been featured in over 30 other career books, in addition to
appearing in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes.com and
BusinessWeek.com. The publisher of the work is JIST, which specializes in works
centered on careers.
The source is clearly focused on job searchers. It is also
timely, published in 2010 and focusing on social media and twitter in
particular. The one caution to this work is that it is written by consultants.
No matter how good the intentions, consultants do what they do to make money.
This book was a profit venture for them. This does not discredit the source,
however. The topic is job searching, and if these individuals were not good in
the advice they give and the quality of their product, they likely would not be
as prominent as they are. After all, job
searching is a profit making venture itself. You are not looking for fact based
information to write an objective research paper. You are looking for strategy
and advice, which this source provides.
Source
·
Whitcomb, S., & Bryan, C. (2010). The
Twitter job search guide find a job and advance your career in just 15 minutes
a day. Indianapolis: JIST Pub.
[1] Piskorski, M. (2014, June 6). “Twitters in Trouble. Here's
How it Can Avoid Becoming the Next AOL.” Wired. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
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