Job Search Unplugged: The Reality (Part 1 of 4)
A few weeks ago, I set up an automated Google News alert to send me any articles containing the terms "job search" and any of the following: Twitter, social media, blogs or Facebook. Every day I get newspaper articles from Fort Lauderdale to Kansas City talking about the benefits of social media in the job search.
Full disclosure: I am a heavy user of social media, especially Twitter and LinkedIn. But last time I checked, no one has ever been hired at any of my firms without a face-to-face or phone interview. So, I urge you to shut down your laptop and iPhone for a few hours every day and spend time actually meeting people.
I know we live in a society where texting is now more popular than chatting on the phone (heck I'm lucky if I get phone calls returned 50% of the time... and I'm probably just as guilty). But even the most progressive companies still hire the same way they did 20 years ago: by meeting people.
Networking is king my friend. You should use social media and Google to do research on a firm or a contact, but you need to get some face time. An informational interview IS an interview.
In my next three posts, I'll tell you exactly how to secure that informational interview, how to prepare and what questions you MUST ask.
Until then, I'll be sending tweets via Uber Twitter on my new BlackBerry...
Full disclosure: I am a heavy user of social media, especially Twitter and LinkedIn. But last time I checked, no one has ever been hired at any of my firms without a face-to-face or phone interview. So, I urge you to shut down your laptop and iPhone for a few hours every day and spend time actually meeting people.
I know we live in a society where texting is now more popular than chatting on the phone (heck I'm lucky if I get phone calls returned 50% of the time... and I'm probably just as guilty). But even the most progressive companies still hire the same way they did 20 years ago: by meeting people.
Networking is king my friend. You should use social media and Google to do research on a firm or a contact, but you need to get some face time. An informational interview IS an interview.
In my next three posts, I'll tell you exactly how to secure that informational interview, how to prepare and what questions you MUST ask.
Until then, I'll be sending tweets via Uber Twitter on my new BlackBerry...
Awesome! I look forward to the upcoming articles. I'm all about gorilla networking/recruiting/job-hunting!