Throughout his career, he was obsessed with making computers as simple and easy-to-use as possible. He hated technology for technology’s sake and he hated complexity, and back in the early days of computing, this made him a bit of a renegade. Most engineers believed computer users needed to educate themselves so they could get the most out of the technology. Jobs believed that computers should be so simply and straightforward that anyone could use them without any special training. (He didn’t even want manuals included with his machines!)

When asked by one fan to autograph a keyboard, Jobs agreed but only if he could remove all the unnecessary keys. Taking out his car key, he began to remove the ‘F’ keys and the cursor keys, all of which he said were there at the insistence of engineers trying to copy the PC. Only when the keyboard was simplified to his satisfaction did he pull out a pen and actually sign it.

I think too many resumes are like that keyboard – crammed with unnecessary stuff that simply gets in the way. Instead of being a quick, concise and engaging marketing document, most resumes are detailed career histories packed with long,overused words and dense formatting. The result is that every job seeker looks and sounds the same … dull, conventional and unimpressive.

To understand the impact of simplifying your resume, take a look at this before and after resume from our website (click to enlarge):

Before

After

Can you see what a difference simplification makes? With a resume, less really is more.

To learn how to do this to your own resume, sign up for our free resume writing course. You’ll get great tips and strategies delivered right to your email inbox every day for 10 days and before you know it, you’ll have a resume that would make Steve jobs proud!

If you don’t currently use Twitter, you might see it as more of a distraction than anything. Isn’t it just a bunch of people babbling about what they had for breakfast and sharing celebrity gossip?

And even those of you who are on Twitter right now might not have considered all the ways it can help you find work.

But the truth is, Twitter has enormous potential and used correctly, it can be the key to finding hidden job opportunities while also making connections that will pay off for years to come.

What is Twitter and How Does it Work?

Twitter is a site that allows people to send out messages to anyone who is listening, as long as those messages are not longer than 140 characters. Once you have joined the site (which is free) you can choose to listen to anyone you like and tune out everybody else.
If you choose to follow me for example, you will see my tweets when you log in to your account. But if you ultimately find me boring (surely not?!) you can stop listening to me any time you like.

There are infinite possibilities for using the site to help with your search, but there are three I’d like to focus on today.

1) Demonstrating knowledge and building a reputation
2) Making valuable connections
3) Searching for job opportunities

How to use Twitter to demonstrate knowledge and build a reputation

In the fourth post in this series, I told you how Gary Vaynerchuck turned himself from wine store manager to best-selling author and TV personality using the power of sites like Twitter.

You might never reach those heady heights, but it’s really not hard to build a reputation as a person with knowledge in your field or profession.

Let’s say you are a web designer. You could set up a Twitter account and keep your tweets focused on the art of web design. You could share links to particularly good designs, you could share advice, and you could link to news items of interest to web designers. If you follow step 2 (below), you will soon have people following you (the Twitter term for people choosing to read your tweets) and before you know it, people will view you as a knowledgeable source on all things related to web design.

And of course, the added bonus is that when a recruiter checks you out online, they will find a Twitter page that demonstrates your knowledge, professionalism and passion.

How to make the right connections

The beauty of Twitter is that you don’t have to ask permission to see someone’s tweets. Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, where you have to send a request and then be accepted, here you simply click the ‘follow’ button and you instantly have access to everything a person says.

Imagine for a second that you are a resume writer and that you want to work for Blue Sky Resumes. You follow me on Twitter (@louise_fletcher) and you read my tweets. Now you need me to notice you, so you start to comment on the things I say, and share them with your followers (this is called “retweeting”). If you do this regularly, I will notice you and reply, opening up the opportunity for a conversation. I may even follow you back. And I will certainly recognize your name when you contact me asking for a job.

Do you see how helpful this could be? Simply by listening and responding, you can easily connect with hiring managers and recruiters – and those hiring managers and recruiters will be impressed when they check out your page and see all that knowledge, expertise and passion.

And once you’ve made those connections, there’s no reason you can’t ask them about job opportunities.

How to Search for Job Opportunities on Twitter

Right at the top of your Twitter home page, you’ll see a search box. This allows you to follow conversations that include keywords you choose. This is an excellent opportunity to passively surf for vacancies as many hiring managers will tweet about their openings.

Simply go to the search box, type in your key words (for example ‘web design jobs’ or ‘PR internships’) and in the upper right hand corner you will see a button that says ‘save this search.’ Choose that and any time you log in to Twitter you’ll be able to check for tweets containing your keywords.

And one more thing …

Your Twitter bio is often the only thing people see before they decide whether it not to follow you, and as always, you’re restricted to 140 characters. Here’s an article on how to write a Twitter bio that attracts more followers

New Series on the Way

That’s it for this job search series. I hope you’ve found it helpful and been inspired to take a whole new proactive approach to your search. If you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, please do drop me a comment.

In my next series, I’ll be focusing on the use of LinkedIn for job search, so if you’re interested in learning more about this great site, do sign up to receive email updates here.

I’ve talked a lot in this series about ways to avoid job boards and find the hidden jobs no-one else knows about.

We’ve talked about building recruiter relationships, networking, creating an online presence and much more. We’ve focused so much on this because up to 80% of the available opportunities at any one time are never advertised.

But that doesn’t mean you should ignore job boards altogether. Every now and then, you will find the perfect position advertised online and when that happens, you need a strategy for setting yourself apart.

After all, if everyone is hanging out on job boards competing for those few open positions, how can you ever succeed? The answer is to go back to step #1: ‘Think different.’

Break the rules

When it comes to applying for advertised positions, the worst thing you can do is to follow the instructions and then sit and wait for a call.

That call may come, but it most likely will not. In fact, there’s every chance that the recruiter or hiring manager won’t even see your resume.

This is because companies are inundated with responses to their job postings and so they screen resumes – either manually using a junior employee, or in an automated fashion using an online application system that scans for keywords.

Either way, there’s a very good chance that the hiring manager will never even see your resume – which is extremely frustrating when you know you’re a great candidate.

And that’s why you must break the rules.

Your Mission is to Reach the Hiring Manager

Most job ads are placed by HR. I used to work in HR so I don’t want to disparage these people – they are mostly good people doing their best! – but their job is to screen out as many resumes as possible. Their processes and systems are designed to make their lives easier, not to give you the best chance of success.

So when you see a job posting, your mission is to use your ninja research skills to find out who will be making the hiring decision, and to get your resume into the hands of that person.

The Internet is your Friend

This has never been easier than it is today. Search engines like Google and Bing allow you to dig into company records to find the names of hiring managers. On LinkedIn, you can look up the company and then find a staff listing. On Twitter, you can actually build relationships with managers within the company and use that to get the name you need (more about this in my next post).

If you can’t be sure who is hiring for the position, find the most senior person in that department. For example, if it’s an HR manager role, look for the name of the HR VP. If it’s a graphic designer role, perhaps you can find the creative director’s name. Once you know who is doing the hiring, you can make your pitch directly to that person.

Note: I do recommend still applying by the rules as well and submitting an application as instructed. After all, you may be one of the lucky ones. But then go above and beyond in case HR screens you out.

Customize Every Time

In order to make sure your resume hits home, be sure to customize it each time you send it out. Look for the position requirements and address them head on. For much more on this see How to Customize Your Resume.

If you break the rules by going directly to the hiring manager and then send that manager a highly customized resume that demonstrates your ability to make a real impact, you’ll greatly increase your chances of success. It takes more time and commitment for sure, but would you rather send out 50 generic resumes that no one ever sees, or 5 highly customized ones that reach the key decision-maker directly?

If you’re willing to put in the time and effort to make this strategy succeed, download my newest ebook – The Blue Sky Guide to Job Search. (Click here to learn more). You’ll get all the details about how to implement this strategy, including Internet search tips and tricks that make it easy to find the person with the power to hire you. And it even comes with a money-back guarantee. If for any reason, the guide doesn’t meet your expectations, we’ll refund your money no questions asked.

In my final post in this series, I’ll be sharing a great strategy for making connections online, so don’t miss it.

If you’ve spent any time at all reading job search advice, you’ll have heard that networking is the #1 way to find your next position.

It’s been said so many times that it’s almost become a cliche. But cliches are so often repeated precisely because they’re true, and this is no exception.

And yet, despite knowing how important networking is, many of us avoid it like the plague. I’ve certainly been guilty of that in the past. I’m an introvert by nature and the thought of approaching strangers and introducing myself sends shivers of distaste down my spine. When I first started my business, I had to force myself to make networking calls and go to breakfast meetings in order to make new connections and revive old ones.

I. Hated. Every. Minute. Telling people about my new business felt pushy and intrusive, and even though most people were very nice to me, I just wasn’t comfortable with this type of networking.

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Mercifully, over the next year or so, I stumbled on a way to network that didn’t involve shuffling into rooms and handing business cards to people I didn’t know. And that’s the secret I want to share with you today. There is a way to network that you won’t find at all threatening. You just have to redefine what’s mean by “networking.”

The “A-Ha” Moment

My realization came when I referred a potential client to another resume writer. The client was looking for work with the federal government, an area in which I had no expertise, so I sent him to a writer focuses solely in this area. The client was delighted with my honesty and referred a friend to me a few weeks later. And the other resume writer called to ask what types of resumes I preferred to write, and immediately began referring clients to me. I still receive referrals from her every now and then. All that because of one quick email!

And that’s when the light bulb went on over my head. Helping people without expecting anything in return is the very best way to network.

How This Applies to You

Think about this in terms of career development and/or your job search. Instead of putting together a list of people you know and then telling them you need a job, try just reaching out to help other people. Every person that you help is a new connection and every one of them may prove valuable down the road.

5 Ways to Network by Helping Others

Here are just a few ideas for expanding your network or reconnecting with old contacts by being helpful:

1) Contact recruiters in your field and instead of just asking if they have opportunities, offer to help them source for positions. Send a brief email saying “I know you specialize in sales recruiting for the medical industry and I have an extensive network of contacts in this field. Feel free to call me or send along any vacancies. I’d be happy to pass them along.”

2) Answer questions from your LinkedIn network. LinkedIn allows people to send out questions to their entire network – be sure to have these sent to you by email so that you can offer assistance when possible. Just getting your name in front of people regularly is half the battle.

3) Look for blogs or forums about your area of expertise and become active. One of our former clients is a search engine marketer and he found a job because of his participation on a marketing forum where he regularly answered questions. One day he received a private message out of the blue offering him an interview.

4) Contact friends, family and others in your network and offer help for free. One former client who is a graphic designer revamped several websites while she was unemployed. Not only did this buy her goodwill with her contacts, but it also fleshed out her resume during the period of time she was without a job. When I first started my business, I offered several recruiters a free resume rewrite for one of their clients. Of course, once they saw my work, they started to send me paying customers, something they probably wouldn’t have done had I just called and asked them.

5) Volunteer at a non-profit organization in your area. All of the other volunteers know people who know people, and someone may well have an opportunity that’s perfect for you. And hey, it beats sitting at home reading the same job postings online day after day!

These are just 5 ways you can expand your network by helping others. And the beauty of this approach is that in addition to making new connections, you get to feel good about your contribution every day.

What about you? Can you think of other ways to make new connections (or revive old ones) simply by helping other people?

If you’d like to learn more about all the ideas and strategies covered in this series of posts, download my new e-book The Blue Sky Guide to Job Search now. You’ll get everything you need to jump-start your job search, including step-by-step instructions, real-world examples and email templates. And it has my personal money back guarantee, so there’s no risk to you. Start reading for free by clicking the ‘expand’ button below

In the second post in this series, I told you that it was crucial to set your GPS at the start of your search by defining a clear path and identifying the types of companies you want to work for. That’s because most jobs are never advertised and to have any chance of success, you must uncover all those hidden opportunities.

We’ve talked about how to make yourself visible online and how to attract the attention of the gatekeepers who control many of the unadvertised positions, but now we’re going to talk about another approach – going directly to hiring managers within companies who hire people like you.

With this strategy, you’re not going to worry about whether a company has vacancies currently. You are only concerned with making yourself known to as many hiring managers as possible.

Hiring managers are the target, not HR

Reaching the hiring manager rather than HR is crucial. The HR department is paid to filter and screen resumes and to fill existing positions. If your resume doesn’t fit an existing vacancy, they will probably never call you.

But the hiring manager knows things the HR person doesn’t. For example, a Marketing VP may have just lost his marketing manager to a competitor that morning. Or a Payroll Supervisor may have decided to replace her assistant but not told anyone about it. These are opportunities ripe for the taking -– don’t wait until they are advertised!

The 3 Steps to Direct Mail Success for Job Seekers

The secrets to success are exactly the same as running a direct mail campaign for a product or service. You must know your audience, find contact information, and then make a compelling pitch. For you that means the following 3 steps:

1. Carefully target companies who may need someone like you. Think about the ideal position description you developed earlier, and make a list of companies who fit the description. If you need help with this, LinkedIn has an excellent company search function that allows you to filter by factors such as industry, location and company size.

2. Find the names of people in a position to make hiring decisions. Again, LinkedIn is an excellent tool for this, but you can also run Google searches – for example, if you are targeting an art position at Pixar, try running a search for ‘Art Director + Pixar’ and you will find the names of several people with this title.

3. Send a very strong resume that shows exactly why you are the perfect person for their company. Hopefully you developed this after taking our free resume writing course and now is the time it truly pays off. You have targeted your resume to appeal to your target companies and this means that when it lands on someone’s desk, it will likely make a positive impression. You can send your resume by email or email depending on which contact details you have been able to find.

A Direct Mail Case Study

Steve is a perfect example of the power of direct approach. Steve was a successful video game programmer but lost his position when his company closed down. He responded to several ads posted by the only other game development company close to his home but although he seemed to be a perfect fit, he never got a response.

Steve hired us to write his resume and coach him on his job search strategy. Because he did not want to relocate, we told him to make an extra effort with the only other game company in his town.

Steve took our advice, put on his smartest clothes and went into the company’s office. After being very charming and polite to the receptionist, he asked her to pass his resume on to the company’s Technical Director.

His resume could not have arrived at a better time. Phil (the Technical Director) was managing four projects, but the one that was taking his time and attention was a game due to be released in only six months. The project had been plagued with problems and was already a month behind schedule. To make matters worse, Phil had just discovered that one of his senior programmers had resigned. When he saw Steve’s resume, he didn’t even contact Human Resources. He just picked up the phone and arranged an interview.

Of course, this doesn’t happen every day, but it happens more than you might imagine, provided that you target the right companies and do your research to find out who has the hiring authority.

If you’d like to work this strategy but need more help, I’ve written a whole chapter on the subject in my Blue Sky Guide to Job Search. Click here and get an instant download with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use free web tools to research your target companies, find contact details and write a compelling introduction letter.

If you have any questions at all (or suggestions for other readers), please feel free to post them as comments below. I’d love to hear from you. And as always you can subscribe to get email updates by clicking here and entering your email address. You’ll get an email each time I post an article.

In my last Smart Search post, I talked about the importance of working with recruiters and explained that they are the gatekeepers for tons of unadvertised positions.

That’s why it’s vital to make yourself visible online and one of the very best ways to do that is to build a strong LinkedIn profile that is optimized for search.

LinkedIn is by far the most popular source of candidates for most recruiters. It’s easy to use, it’s free, and they know that the most accomplished and tech-savvy candidates are all there.

No excuses, you must be on LinkedIn!

A recent survey by recruiting software company Jobvite, showed that 87% of recruiters planned to use LinkedIn to source candidates during 2011.

If you’re not on the site, they won’t find you. And as we discussed last time, these recruiters are the gatekeepers for a huge chunk of the hidden job market.

If you have been avoiding LinkedIn because you want to protect your privacy, or because you don’t want your employer to know you’re looking for a job, you should know that a) you don’t have to reveal anything you don’t want to, and b) most of the people who use LinkedIn are not actively looking for a job. Just building a profile will not telegraph your plans to your employer. (If you’re interested in learning exactly how to create a profile that attracts recruiters while keeping your search confidential from your employer, download The Blue Sky Guide to LinkedIn today).

And you must be on LinkedIn in the right way!

It’s not enough just to have a profile, although it’s a good first step. In order for you to get the best results, your profile must be complete, compelling and search-optimized. Let’s walk through each of those and I will explain why they matter.

Complete Profiles are More Visible

According to LinkedIn, a person with a complete profile is 40 times more likely to be contacted than one whose profile is only partly completed.

Check the right hand column of your profile and LinkedIn will tell you how complete it is. Follow their instructions and be sure to include everything they ask for because incomplete profiles rank lower in search results and also have less appeal for recruiters.

Be sure to include a photo (very important) and ask for at least three endorsements from colleagues or former co-workers.

Being Compelling is Key

Do you remember when we talked about resumes and how important it is to communicate your individuality? The same applies on LinkedIn.
You must show some personality and tell your story in an interesting way. That means no third-person bios and no stodgy, overly formal word choices. The Internet is a less formal medium than print and must be treated that way, so make your profile professional but human and friendly.

Optimize Your Profile for Search

When you write your profile, you might imagine that every recruiter will read every word. But in actual fact, many recruiters will never even make it to your profile if you haven’t optimized it for best results.

Click the play button on the video below to watch a very short screen cast of a typical LinkedIn search, and you’ll see what I mean. (To make the video larger, just click the little symbol immediately to the left of the word ‘screenr’ in the bottom bar).

Including lots of keywords in your profile (meaning buzz words for your profession or industry) will also make you more visible. This is because recruiters may search for skills rather than titles. For example instead of looking for a marketing manager, they may look for the phrase ‘social media marketing.’ If you have included all your important skills in your profile, recruiters are much more likely to find you when they run a search.

More Free resources

Getting your LinkedIn profile right is one of the most important steps you can take to tap into the hidden job market. For more tips, check out The 7 Mistakes You’re Probably Making on LinkedIn and How to Write LinkedIn Headlines that Work (and Don’t Sound Icky).

In my next post I’ll explain why approaching employers directly can often lead to interviews for positions that have never been advertised. And I’ll give you some great tips on how to do it effectively. If you’re not already subscribed to get updates by email, sign up here so you don’t miss it.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, just post them below. I’d love to hear from you.

The professional recruiter (aka the headhunter) may be the most maligned figure in the careers field. I can’t count the number of times a job seeker has told me “I don’t work with recruiters – I just don’t trust them.”

This is understandable. Recruiters can seem an uncaring bunch when you’re looking for work. Especially when they don’t return calls or respond to resume submissions.

But it’s vital to understand the role they play in the hiring process. Because the truth is, if you don’t work with recruiters, you are missing out on tons of opportunities – opportunities that will never be advertised anywhere else.

One Caveat

If you are inexperienced in your target field, recruiters are not a solution for you. Companies hire recruiters to bring them experienced, qualified candidates. Therefore a recruiter will not consider sending you for an interview unless you are a match for the position requirements. If you’re just starting out in your career or you want to make a career change, you should focus on the other strategies in this course and forget about recruiters. Everyone else … read on!

The role of the recruiter

Recruiters are hired to find candidates when a company doesn’t want to manage the hiring process internally. The recruiter finds suitable candidates by searching his database, making cold calls, conducting internet research, and contacting his network to ask for suggestions. When the recruiter finds a suitable candidate, he conducts a screening interview and then presents the resume to the employer.

Generally the firm only interviews candidates the recruiter has presented. In this sense, the recruiter is the gatekeeper. If you don’t connect with him, you will never even hear about the position and you certainly won’t have a chance at an interview.

Is it worth putting in the effort?

Back when I first started out in Human Resources, I applied for jobs just like everyone else. And just like everyone else, I found the whole process demoralizing and frustrating.

But when I discovered recruiters, all that changed. As I built relationships with specialty HR firms, I started to get fairly regular calls about vacant positions. During the last 10 years of my HR career, I never applied for a position – I simply explored opportunities as they came to me.

You can do the exact same thing and here’s how.

The 5-step system for building recruiter relationships

There are 5 simple steps to getting noticed by recruiters. Do them all, and you’ll be receiving calls about job opportunities long into the future. (I’ve been out of HR for 8 years but just the other day I got a call from a recruiter wondering if I’d be interested in a VP position!)

1. Research
Most recruiters specialize in a profession or industry and only hire for those positions, so it’s important to find the ones who need candidates like you. You must also find as many of them as possible, because each recruiter is only handling a few searches at any one time. (One free source for finding recruiters is Searchfirm.com).

2. Send them your resume
Start with a mass mailing to all the recruiters on your list. Send a short email along with an MS Word version of your resume. It’s important to send MS Word because most recruiters will store your resume in a database. Even if they don’t call you immediately, they will search that database on a regular basis.

3. Make yourself a resource
As you make contact with recruiters, be sure to offer your assistance as a resource for their searches (someone they can call to get names of possible candidates). They may not need someone like you just now, but that doesn’t mean they won’t have the perfect opportunity for you next week or next month or next year. Nurturing the relationship will mean they remember you when that job comes up.

4. Build a strong online presence
I talked about the importance of making yourself visible online in my last post, but it’s even more important when you’re trying to attract the attention of recruiters. They love finding a candidate without having received a resume and, if you have presented yourself well online, you’ll definitely get calls from recruiters.

5. Stay in Touch
If you are still looking for work, send your resume again to all the recruiters who already have it. It’s amazing how many times this strategy works. (Often you’ll get up to 40% of the initial response). And when you do find a new job, drop a note to all the recruiters who’ve contacted you so that they can update their databases and find you again in the future.

But what about confidentiality?

Once you put your resume out into the world, there is always a chance that someone at your current employer will find out about it. Recruiters are generally very good at keeping your information confidential, but your resume could always land on the desk of someone who plays golf with your current boss.

That’s true of any job search activity and it’s no more or less so with recruiters. It’s a slim chance but it’s there and you should be aware of it.

I hope I’ve persuaded you that working with recruiters will help you tap into those hidden opportunities. In my next post, I’ll show you how to construct a LinkedIn profile that will maximize your visibility and ensure you start getting some of those recruiter calls. (If you’re not already getting emailed updates, sign up here so you don’t miss it.

If you need more help

For detailed instructions on how to find hundreds of recruiters looking for candidates just like you, download the Blue Sky Guide to Job Search now. You’ll get detailed step-by-step guidance and template letters/emails you can use to introduce yourself, along with tips and strategies on all the ideas covered in this course. Plus, there’s a money-back guarantee, so there’s nothing to lose!

Not too long ago, the key to getting a great job was to write a powerful resume and a fantastic cover letter, and then target your search properly.

All of those things are still important, but they’re no longer all you have to do. Because of the Internet, today’s recruiters and hiring managers don’t have to rely on the picture you paint in your resume – instead, they can research you online to find out “the truth” for themselves.

A recent survey showed that 67% of recruiters research candidates online before scheduling an interview. That’s a huge number and it’s only going to increase. Several other studies have shown that what they find (or don’t find) makes a huge difference to hiring decisions.

Total privacy is a thing of the past

LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman caused a stir recently when he said that privacy is “an old people issue.” While crudely expressed, his dismissal of privacy concerns gets to a key point, which is that, no matter how much we object, details of our lives are increasingly available online.

Even if you have never created an online profile, your name may appear in search results for a variety of different reasons. You may have been mentioned in a trade publication article. Your company may issue a press release that includes your name. Your friends might talk about you online. And some websites (www.zoominfo.com for example) create profiles based on information scraped from the web. You may well already have a profile on there now and not even know it.

Total Privacy Isn’t Necessarily a Good Thing

If you have managed to completely protect your privacy to the extent that a recruiter can’t find you when he searches, you might think you’ve done well. But the chances are that the recruiter will see it differently. Especially if you work at the manager level or above. In those cases, the recruiter may well see your lack of online visibility as a black mark – a sign that you haven’t made an impression.

In addition, your absence from search results will raise concerns about your technical skills. A LinkedIn profile is now a basic expectation and if you don’t have even that, recruiters will question whether you are really up to speed with the latest developments.

You will be searched online whether you like it or not

The truth is that people are going to search you online no matter what your opinion of the practice, and they are going to draw conclusions from what they find. What those conclusions are is entirely up to you.

The smart job seeker knows this and takes advantage of the opportunities offered by social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Squidoo.

So What Can You Do?

At the most basic level, profile sites such as LinkedIn and ZoomInfo allow you to put your resume online and make yourself highly visible to recruiters looking for people like you. LinkedIn is particularly powerful and if you only build one profile, this is the one you should build.

For more, see Should I be on LinkedIn? and The 7 Mistakes you’re Probably Making on LinkedIn.

Some sites take it a step further by offering more ability to customize your profile and show much more than you could ever show on your resume by including audio, video or work samples. VisualCV is the most well-known of these options.

But beyond even this, the Internet offers enormous opportunities to the smart job seeker. It is now possible for anyone – literally anyone – to establish themselves as a well-known voice in their field or profession provided that they have useful knowledge to share and the commitment to work at it on a daily basis.

From Wine Blogger to TV Star

Consider Gary Vaynerchuck. In 2006, this wine store owner started a video blog called Wine Library TV. His informal, irreverent videos cost nothing to produce and yet by 2009, he had become one of the world’s most influential wine critics, appearing frequently on national TV and signing a $1M, 10-book deal with a major publisher. When his book “Crush It” was released, it opened at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Now I’m not suggesting that signing up for Twitter will guarantee you a place on the New York Times Bestseller list (wouldn’t that be nice?!). But I am saying that you can dramatically increase your visibility within your field and industry by using free and easy-to-use tools that are available to everybody.

How this works in the real world

Put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter for a moment. Imagine you are considering three resumes for a sales position and you run a google search on each candidate.

The first candidate doesn’t appear in the first few pages of search results at all. The second has a LinkedIn profile and is mentioned in a company press release. But the third has a LinkedIn profile along with a blog and a Twitter account. This candidates blogs and tweets about the sales process, his industry, and the new trends and developments that affect his work. Both his blog and his Twitter page therefore give a clear insight into his approach to his work and his passion for what he does.

Which of those candidates is the recruiter most likely to call?

Need More Help?

I’m a big advocate for the power of a strong online presence. I built my own business this way and I know it works. If you’d like to learn how it’s done, download my Blue Sky Guide to Job Search which features extensive advice on both basic and advanced strategies to build a strong online presence as well as how to use you online presence to your advantage during the application process.

Creating a strong online presence is one of the most powerful things you can do to make an impression on employers. Get this right and you’ll never be short of interviews!

In my next post, I’m going to talk about a much-maligned resource – the professional recruiter (a.k.a. the headhunter). I’ll explain why recruiters often hold the key to the hidden job market, and how you use them to access hundreds of unadvertised positions in your field. Stay tuned! And if you’re not already subscribed to my email list, sign up here and get an email every time I post a new article in this series.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, just post them below. I’d love to hear from you.

Those of you who have already taken my resume course may be tempted to skip this post (although I hope you won’t!), but for everyone else, this is one of the most important changes you can make to the way you are currently looking for work.

If your resume is compelling, engaging, and highly targeted towards your ideal companies and positions, you will get interviews. It’s as simple as that.

To show you what I mean, I recently published an ebook that teaches people how to write a killer resume. Here is an email I received from one reader:

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I was told by my bosses that due to tough business times, I might be laid off. At that time, I found Blue Sky Resume’s, bought the downloadable book and poured through the exercises, creating what I felt was a true representation of who I am as a person and as an employee.

I had an interview several days ago at a thriving, dynamic business in Seattle. Near the end of the interview (by two people), the gal in charge asked if she could sidetrack for a minute. It was at that point, she GUSHED about how fabulous she thought my résumé was…. after reading the first page, she said she couldn’t wait to get to the second page and find out more! She mentioned it was the best résumé she had read in years and years and years and felt that she knew my personality before I walked in the door!

I get emails like that all the time but I’m not telling you this to toot my own horn. I shared this email because I wanted you to get a sense of how it feels to crack the resume problem and develop a document that truly strikes a chord with employers.

If you would like to get that kind of reaction to your resume, you need to scrap the traditional career history document and instead create a highly targeted and compelling resume. For this, I have an easy 3-step process.

1. Focus on Your Target Employers

Because you have already defined the type of position you want, and the type of company you want to work for, you can now dig deeper and identify what is important to people who hire for these positions. For example, if you’re targeting Apple, you know that an entrepreneurial spirit and a creative mindset will be vital. Beyond that, depending on the position, they will be looking for specific skills and experiences – think about what those are and make a list.

2. Focus on what makes you valuable

The headline on our website’s home page says “you’re not cookie cutter.” That resonates because it’s true – you’re unlike everyone else currently looking for work in your field. No one has the same sets of skills, experiences and personality traits as you do, and yet if I looked at your resume, I bet I’d never know it, because most people’s resumes simply don’t communicate who they really are.

Your job now is to determine what your unique value is to your target employers, bearing in mind what you already know about their needs.

3. Create a document that matches the two

Now rewrite your resume so that it communicates exactly how you fit with your target employers. What skills do you have that they need? What personality traits are important to them? Which of your experiences are most illustrative of how you could help them? It’s important to keep a strict focus – if you achieved something great in the past, but it doesn’t relate to what you want to do now, leave it out. I know it’s hard, but focus is key to success.

Need more help?

Describing the three steps in detail is beyond the scope of one blog post, so I’ve created a free email course that covers all of this in much more detail. If you haven’t already taken it, sign up here.

Next time, I’ll be talking about how the Internet has revolutionized the job search process, and how you can use free and easy tools to set yourself apart in a crowded job market. Don’t miss it! (If you’re not already subscribed to my email list, sign up here and get an email every time a new post goes up).

But to do that effectively, you really need to have a clear idea of where you’re going.

One of the most common job search mistakes is not defining what the ideal position looks like. Instead, most of us begin with the general premise “I need a job” and then apply for anything that we seem to be qualified for.

But if you don’t know the type of work you want to be doing, and the type of place you want to do it in, you will always be reacting to job descriptions you see posted online and whenever you’re reacting, you’re not in control.

How to take control by defining where you’re going

Instead just waiting to see what gets advertised and then deciding if it appeals to you, I want you to do some real work thinking about where you want to go next. Some of the questions you might ask yourself are:

• What industries are you interested in?
• What level will you be working at? (Entry, Manager, VP)
• What department will you be in? (Marketing, Finance, Operations)
• What types of products/services the company will be selling?
• What will the culture be like? (Casual, Entrepreneurial, Structured)
• Will this be a large company, a small start-up or something in between?
• What will your day look like?
• Will you be managing others or working as a sole contributor?
• What don’t you want in your next job?

Once you have defined exactly what you want to do, you get several benefits:

1. You’ll be able to target your resume and cover letters and online profiles to appeal to your target audience and I’ll talk more about this over the next few days. It’s critically important and really makes all the difference.

2. You’ll be able to focus your job search efforts by identifying companies who fit your profile and finding ways to reach them directly (more about this soon too).

Narrow your focus and you will get more interviews

If you narrow your targets from ‘all the available jobs in my field or industry’ to a specific sort of role within a specific sort of company, you may think you are limiting yourself, and that you will naturally get less calls and less interviews.

But actually, the opposite is true. Narrowing your focus will bring you better results. It seems counter-intuitive to say it, but it’s true.

You’re not right for every job

The simple fact is that you are not a fit everywhere. Every job that comes up in your field and at your level isn’t right for you. The recruiters will see it when they look at your resume – and if they don’t see it then, they will see it during the interview. Either way, you won’t get the job and that’s OK. It wasn’t right for you.

A few times in my life, I’ve been rejected for a job that I really wanted. I was very disappointed when that happened, but in each case, I later came to realize that I wouldn’t have fit in. The recruiters saw that, and the only thing that blinded me to it was how badly I wanted the job to be right.

The same is true for all of us. There are some places we fit, and some places where we would never be happy. By finding the places where you will fit, you are zeroing in on the companies most likely to respond to a candidate like you and putting all your efforts into making a positive match rather than trying to fit into the wrong shaped hole.

It’s scary to narrow down your focus I know. It feels as though you’re limiting your success. But try it and you’ll see great results.

You can read more about how narrowing your focus can improve your success here: Why Trying for Less Will Get You More.

But what if you need a job desperately?

However desperate you are, this is the right strategy. Because it’s simply more effective than trying for everything with no direction in mind. If something comes along that’s not ideal and you really need an income, of course you must take it, but then keep on searching for the right thing using these methods. It will work!

Be realistic

One word of warning as you develop your description of your ideal job … it must be realistic. You must have the skills and experiences necessary to achieve the goal you set. If you’re not yet qualified for your dream job, then decide what the next stepping stone is, and go for that instead.

No one will decide to take a chance on an unqualified candidate, no matter how good your resume or how engaging you are in an interview – especially in this economy. Trying to make that happen is a recipe for disappointment.

What’s next?

In part 3 of this series, I’m going to talk about how you can use the knowledge of your ideal position to write a focused, value-based resume. This will be crucial for a successful search, so it’s important to give some thought to your ideal targets now.

By the way, I do realize a lot of what I’m saying might be different from the way you have approached your search in the past, but please do bear with me … you will see how it all falls into place as we go along. Tune in next time and you’ll see what I mean!

And if you have any questions at all (or suggestions for other readers), please feel free to post them as comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

This is the second in a 10-part series. To make sure you don’t miss any of the posts, subscribe to get email updates by clicking here and entering your email address. You’ll get an email each time I post an article.