Laurie Ruettimann, former author of PunkRockHR.com (the last post was today) and new HR consulting service owner (Voice of HR ), spoke at a Triangle AMA event this morning entitled “Using Social Media to Land Your Next Job.” She started off the session by describing herself as a “failed human resources professional,” and telling us that “we [HR professionals] are what you hear: frumpy, cold, and we all love doughnuts.”

After a brief summary of her professional background, she began to answer questions from attendees. Below are her answers.

What should we be doing to build our online social brand?

Have a social presence, but realize that your social presence is just a tool to network. Build it in such a way that people can find you, understand what you offer, and who you are. Then it’s up to you to further establish the connection and build the relationship. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter should all be one harmonized way of presenting yourself to the world. You can choose to keep your Facebook profile for personal content, but know that you can’t build an impenetrable wall between your personal and professional content. If anyone Googles you, they’re going to get pictures of you on vacation, pictures of when you were 14, etc. With that in mind, be careful about how you represent yourself. Privacy is an illusion, and nothing disappears from the internet, but you can control as much as possible by being careful what you post yourself. You control the message; you’re in charge. Then you can say, “That’s mine. I own it. I’m proud of it.” To keep everything in check, Google yourself regularly. Make sure you’re logged out of Google to avoid latching onto your search history, and remember to also look at images.

How do you build a positive image of yourself?

• Be active in the blogosphere. Use your blog as a portfolio. This influences positive search rankings.
• Own your own domain name.
• Give, give, give. Contribute to blogs, make comments, discussion groups.
• Use sites like Alltop.com, Mashable.com, and Twitter to find blogs in your area of interest.
• Grab your name on Twitter. Grab your name on any of these sites to build SEO and your positive credibility on the internet.
• Twitter is important in a job search to find people that can give you real and free and credible advice. But you have to be active to get activity back. Giving some personal information can get you more personal connections when you wouldn’t be able to elsewhere.
• Generate content to counteract anything that may not be supporting you positively. Build up the good stuff, and push the crappy stuff generated by others to the bottom of the search results.

What about common names?

 If you have a common name, it can be difficult to get your name on social networks. Laurie’s advice is to do everything you can to brand yourself. Add initials, credentials, etc. Own your job search by making connections and then driving those connections to your domain.

Searching for a job

Know what you have to offer. Know who you are. Start to look at companies you’re interested in, and structure your search that way. Go after leads in HR, marketing, sales, R&D – people that can help you. Then use social media tools to find those people. Find out groups they are members of, what college they attended, see if you know anyone that knows them—then go meet them. When you get an interview, never leave without knowing what the next steps are. Know of a person you can contact to keep the door open.

 Things to come to terms with:

• The chances of finding the dream job in this economy are not all that great. You’re competing not only against the marketplace of people who are unemployed, but also against people who hate their jobs.
• You may have to relocate. If you’re passionate about developing your career, consider where the jobs are. Start to connect. Think about your job globally, you may be able to telecommute and travel.
• If you don’t hear from them after 2 weeks, they’re probably not going to call.
• We are tribal people. We like people who are like us, and that’s how we hire.

In the meantime, cut back expenses and come up with other ways to make money. Have a portfolio career. What else can you be doing to expand your skills, generate money, remain fresh? Volunteer, teach, or consult. Make sure to challenge your mind to stay fresh; to be out there, engaged, and having adult conversations. Try anything you’ve ever wanted to try. What have you got to lose?

If you’re looking at the job market from the other side–the recruiting side–check out Jeffrey L. Cohen’s interview with Laurie “Social Media Changes in B2B HR and Recruiting“.

Photo by misternaxal