Making Yourself More “Searchable” by Eric Annable

Re-thinking the traditional job search Let’s face it: the traditional job search is a lot of work! Job seekers spend the majority of their time searching for and applying for positions, and networking with recruiters, HR folks, etc. All in all, this process is very time-consuming What if … jobs found you?

How do employers find talent? Job Boards Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, Ladders, ClearanceJobs Indeed LinkedIn Internal databases Personal networking/referrals Career fairs, networking events, etc.

How to make yourself more “searchable” Keywords Keyword searches are usually the first method for recruiters/employers to find resumes and LinkedIn profiles If the right words are not present in your resume or profile, your profile simply won’t come up in a search When a recruiter searches for keyword matches on LinkedIn, results are ordered first by how closely connected you are to them, and then by how often those keywords appear in your profile Make sure your resume uses the language and commonly used buzzwords or phrases that are relevant to your skill set Use traditional job titles Test your own profile’s effectiveness! Pretend you are a recruiter; use LinkedIn’s Advanced Search function. Does your profile come up near the top of the search? If not, look at who does and try to figure out why

How to make yourself more “searchable” Frequently refresh your online resumes When recruiters search the job boards’ databases, results are often displayed in the order of who is the most recently updated The Google search analogy When you run a basic Google search, you click through the first few pages but rarely go any further. But what about the hundreds of pages after that? If your resume doesn’t appear on those first few pages of a keyword search, your chances of being found drop off dramatically How can we fix that? Change something (anything) on your resume to refresh it. Refreshing/re-posting your resume will bring it back closer to the top of the search results

How to make yourself more “searchable” If you are an active job-seeker, say so! Clearly state that you are seeking new job opportunities Put it in your headline, summary section, contact info section, etc. Use phrases like: “Seeking New Opportunities” or “Available for New Opportunities” Recruiters will often add these types of phrases into their keyword search There is now a function on LinkedIn that allows you to signal to recruiters that you are “open to new opportunities” This won’t be visible to everyone, so it allows you signal to recruiters that you are open to opportunities, without broadcasting that information to your boss This is accessible through the Jobs tab on LinkedIn home page, then under ‘Preferences’

How to make yourself more “searchable” Add contact information to your LinkedIn profile! Add your phone number, email address, etc. somewhere on your profile page Failing to include contact information will make it much more difficult for anyone who finds you to contact you Relying on LinkedIn’s internal communication tool is limiting, especially if the job requirement is urgent

How to make yourself more “searchable” Include a photo on your LinkedIn profile! Speaking from personal preference and experience, I am much more likely to reach out to people on LinkedIn who have uploaded a profile photo This can also help a recruiter to remember you, and also feel more connected! Profiles without photos can come off as generic, incomplete, or give recruiters/employers the idea that you don’t regularly check your LinkedIn