Job Seeker Tips: 4 Simple Ways To Strengthen Your Job Search
Job seeker tips for getting leads
“Getting leads” means finding possible opportunities for jobs in a variety of ways including your online and offline network, job boards and more. Here are a few best practices for finding job leads:
Be present on social media
Business social networking sites can offer a chance to connect with hiring managers, recruiters and old colleagues who may help you find your new job. You can use networking sites to connect with other professionals and ask them if they know of any positions where your skills might be a good fit.
It is a good idea to refine your social profiles when searching for new jobs—doing so will improve your networking conversations and make your online appearance tidy in case new potential employers search for your profile(s).
Network with all levels
When networking, it’s important to network with people who hold positions of all types, not just upper management. If you expand your network to include both managers and peers, you will have more opportunities to learn about jobs that could work out for you.
Use subject lines that get attention
When writing an email asking for a job lead, it’s important to capture the reader’s attention early. If you write a catchy subject line, your reader might be more inclined to open the email or direct message.
What you want to avoid is a subject line that is overdone or may be sent to junk mail. Consider including things like the name of the person you are writing to or even simple questions like “Can you help me?” that could draw enough intrigue to get a click.
Establish rapport early and often
If you’re calling around for job leads, you have about seven seconds to establish a rapport with the person you are talking to. This means you should avoid a wordy introduction that states everything you want to say all at once. Instead, try opening the call with something like “Hi, it’s Dave Jones, we met at the Cyber Telecom conference last year. How have you been?”
Establishing rapport isn’t a skill limited to phone calls, it’s something you should strive to do at the beginning of every interview and business meeting throughout your career. Active listening, asking questions and appropriate use of humor, as well as nonverbal cues, all go into establishing rapport at a meeting.
