The job market is an ever-evolving beast. What works one day probably won’t tomorrow, but if there’s one trend that seems to be sticking it’s this: the humble paper CV just doesn’t cut it any more. If you want to get noticed, you need to get noticed online.
Here’s how to get social to land your next job…
You’ve got a LinkedIn account, right? That’s a great way to represent yourself online for all to see, but without anyone actually knowing who you are, who’s going to find it? That’s where Intro comes in.
Intro is a new iPhone app (coming soon to Android and Windows Phone) that plugs into LinkedIn’s API in a bid to link up people looking for employees with people looking for employment.
Join Intro and you can automatically sync up your LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook info. Then just select who you’re looking for and the app will scour several ‘social layers’ to find you matches based on not only experience, but through mutual friends, who you follow on Twitter and your location.
From this stage you can contact one-another and set up a meeting of minds via LinkedIn or Twitter. Moving abroad? The ‘Teleport’ feature lets you beam yourself virtually to your new home to start making connections ahead of your arrival.
27 signs that you’re bad at Twitter
Want to get found? Market yourself online and you’ll appear in those very search results. Intro’s a vital tool for anyone on LinkedIn, because it takes the already sterling business network and proactively builds bridges through it.
2. Pinterest
Get yourself a Pinterest account. It’s growing at a faster rate than Twitter did in its first year and already has over 10 million users. It’s got a 93 per cent female audience, which does lend it a reputation for being a sponge for wedding planning and pictures of Ryan Gosling, but that’s far from what it’s all about – there’s huge value in getting your ‘pins’ noticed.
Here are some example of CVs that have proved incredibly popular on the online pinboard. Get yours designed in a clever enough way and you could find yourself riding a wave right to the ‘popular’ list.
That’s 10 million+ users who’ll be force fed your CV. We’d like to see LinkedIn provide you with that sort of coverage.
3. Video
People online are lazy. Why read someone’s boring words when you can watch them in a video? YouTube is is turning into the forefront of a social media job hunting thanks both to its capacity to turn videos viral and because of the creative things you can do with link-throughs.
Two examples spring to mind. The first is of Graeme Anthony, a PR consultant who found fame by turning his YouTube channel into an online CV. Anthony’s CV guides you through his working and social life via a series of in-video, onscreen links. Does it work? Anthony’s video CV became such popular viewing that it was picked up by the BBC.
The second example is of marketing wiz-kid Matthew Epstein (video above). In 2011 Epstein decided to set up GooglePleaseHire.me – an elaborate website full of funny videos about why he and his mustache were the perfect match for a job at Google.
The campaign quickly went viral, picking up over 450,000 YouTube views and 720,000 page views.
Did it work? Yes, but although not as intended. While Epstein didn’t land his dream job at Google, he was inundated with over 80 interview and job offers, before finally accepting a role at San Francisco start-up SigFig. He seems happy enough, having since changed the parameters of what his ‘dream job’ actually is.
4. Build a website
You’re probably fast realising that the standard paper CV just doesn’t cut it any more. Fret not: even if you don’t have a graphic designer or video team at your disposal you can still knock something together with eye-catching appeal, thanks to a slew of easy online website builders that all plug into Facebook and Twitter.
There are a few to choose from. The more obvious choice is WordPress, which provides an entirely foolproof set of tools and templates. If you’re after something with a bit more creative freedom, we suggest you check out Wix.com. Flash may be slowly dying as a means of putting together websites, but for now you could do an awful lot worse.
Wix.com is a sandbox; it provides you with a range of templates or a blank canvas, onto which you can drag and drop any sort of element you like; text, pictures, videos, downloadable items (great for creating an online portfolio) and contact forms.
While simplicity is key, you can load everything with as much flashy animations and effects as the day is long. Just try and refrain from making it look like an early 2000’s MySpace page.
All done? Wix lets you mock together a simple mobile version of your site (for the benefit of Flash-retardant iPhones) and then either publish for free with a ‘wix.com’ prefix, or go ‘Pro’ from £2.60 per month – this lets you attach your own domain name, buy server space and more.
5. QR cards
You need business cards. Forget the subtle off-white colouring and watermark; all that stuff’s forgettable. If you want to get people to remember you, remove all the text save for your name and a QR code.
We know what you’re thinking: ‘QR codes? They’re awful.’ True: the black and white boxes are a blight on most posters, but on a business card it really works because it gets people to interact with who you are.
Not only that, but scanning it will automatically bung your details into their phone. It’s the business networker’s secret weapon.
So how do you do it? Head to GoQR.me to pick up a code. The website has options for vCard contact details as well as URLs and videos, but you want the former. Fill in your details and generate the code. From there, hit the sponsored link through to Zazzle, where you can design and order your cards.
Happy hunting.
