Setting Yourself Apart from the Crowd

Setting Yourself Apart from the Crowd Yesterday I re-tweeted (shared) an article from Mashable called Do You Pass the Social Media Test. Every job seeker must read this. It explains, from a recruiters viewpoint, how they evaluate candidates (beyond the resume). There have been other studies and research that shows well over 50% of recruiters and HR professionals are using social media to evaluate and even sourcecandidates. While this may not be true in all industries and all occupations, it is certainly something to watch and like playing the lottery, hey, you never know. What this article so nicely points out is the logic behind WHY recruiters are looking at more than your resume. In short, recruiters can find hundreds of equally talented candidates now. LinkedIn has made that very easy for them. The large numbers of available talentknocking on their doors also helps.The recruiters need a way to identify the right fit for the jobs they are filling and it goes much farther than just having the skills to do the job. They are looking for fit in the big scope of things. Here are ways the writer/recruiter looks at LinkedIn to select or de-select candidates: 1. Has genuine recommendations from peers, managers and colleagues2. Has the more complete profile3. Is a member of more groups pertaining to their respective field4. Has a picture5. Lists interests, hobbies and other information related to their life outside of work6. Participates and highlights their involvement in non-paid projects related to their field (open-source, community, volunteer, conference)7. Updates their status more often8. Asks and answers more questions9. Links to their employer, blog and other projects of interest10. Has the larger network Just imagine you decided you didnt need LinkedIn or only had a couple of connections. This recruiter would not have chosen your resume as the one to call in. Simple, huh? What this means is that your message across LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter needs to be consistent and professional. Your content should not be extremist or beyond PG-13. You cant not play in 2009. Some people are saying that Twitter is a fad. We dont know for sure. People didnt really think very much of LinkedIn in the early days either. Dont invest too much time or energy in any one area. Social media is an interestingblend of networking, marketing, information sharing and technology. Have fun and experiment.