5 Things You Can Do Online RIGHTTHISSECOND To Speed Up Your Job Search

by Marian Schembari on May 12, 2010

Spend today and tomorrow SANS RESUME. Toss out your cover letter and get crackin’ on the sites where all the cool kids hang out. Here are my favorite easy, super speedy, more-fun-than-Craigslist top 5 things to do immediately to speed up the dreaded job search progress:

1. Answer LinkedIn questions in your field of expertise. Check out my FREE VIDEO (and yeah, that needed capitalization) in the sidebar for a full tutorial on how to do that like a rock star.

2. Make a list of the top 5 blogs in your industry (not massive news sites or Gawker-esque blogs) and comment on said blogs. Email the editor or Top Blogger and tell them how much you like their site. I, for one, really like love letters. Then follow them on Twitter and retweet the post you commented on. This is a full fledged attack and shouldn’t be done with everyone, only your favorites. No one likes a fake, mmm-kay?

3. Check out your dream company on LinkedIn. Find out their recent hires and connect with them. Send them a message asking how they got that job and advice on the best way to get your resume seen. Also find out your dream job title at that company and do the same. Note: Don’t be spammy about it. Don’t ask them to pass along your resume or take up too much of their time. Just be personable and say you’d really appreciate one tip or experience.

4. Research the major Twitter hashtags for your industry and follow them. Contribute to the conversation.

5. Join the Facebook groups (or fan pages, or whatever they are now) for your favorite companies. Post on their wall, and contribute to the conversation. I’d prefer to not use the word “engage,” so don’t make me, but you get the point. If you have a blog, share a relevant post with the community.

Yeah. Maybe don't do this.

That’s it! Have fun and report your progress in the comments. I love to see how you guys are doing :)

P.S. Want more? Sign up to get into on the Pajama Job Hunt, my new course that will kick your college career counselor’s ass. Click here for the awesomeness.

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  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/13872703720 Marian Schembari

    {latest post} 5 Things You Can Do Online RIGHTTHISSECOND To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://twitter.com/websnapshot/status/13873724343 Fauzia Burke

    RT @marianschembari: 5 Things You Can Do Online To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU Gr8 advice for brand builders as well.

  • http://twitter.com/websnapshot/status/13873724343 Fauzia Burke

    RT @marianschembari: 5 Things You Can Do Online To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU Gr8 advice for brand builders as well.

  • http://twitter.com/alexisgrant/status/13873976111 Alexis Grant

    This gal knows what she's talking about. RT @marianschembari: 5 Things You Can Do Online To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://twitter.com/byjuliewestfall/status/13875314684 Julie Westfall

    I like these. RT @alexisgrant: RT @marianschembari: 5 Things You Can Do Online To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU #resumetip

  • http://twitter.com/ryanrancatore/status/13875711504 Ryan Rancatore

    RT @marianschembari: 5 Things You Can Do Online RIGHTTHISSECOND To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://www.fsbassociates.com Fauzia Burke

    Excellent. and I agree these tips will help a lot. As someone who hires people, I would like to add a couple of comments. Hope these help:
    1] Don't make stupid comments on Twitter about the company you want to work for. We all have alerts now.
    2] An oldie but goodie, print your resume on really nice paper and make sure the ink is full. Someone came to see me for an interview recently, and handed me a crushed, badly printed resume.
    3] When asked who do you follow on Twitter, think carefully before you answer.
    4] If I can't see your Facebook profile (wall included) I won't even call you for an interview.
    5] Make sure you are learning things: HTML, FBML, Photoshop, Twitter, Video editing, etc. No matter what position you want, everyone needs these skills now.

  • alexisgrant

    Hey! Tried to get the video but it didn't work. Just FYI.

  • alexisgrant

    Fauzia,

    Nice points. Love #5. Someone who enjoys learning will be a good hire.

    On #4: Interesting. I usually assume most people who leave their Facebook profile open to the public don't realize they're doing it, and don't know how to use the privacy settings to their advantage. I'd be more impressed if I COULDN'T see your profile and wall.

  • http://www.fsbassociates.com Fauzia Burke

    Alexis, it's not about technology and privacy setting. I just want to get a good sense of the person (college party pictures and all) who will be spending time with us. They are more than welcome to check out my profile, and I feel I should have the same benefit.

  • alexisgrant

    Gotcha. So would you friend that person before expecting to see their profile?

  • http://www.isaokato.com Isao

    It's interesting to read the latest job hunting tips in North America. On the other side of the Pacific, a job hunting website is still the dominant force.

    As both a recruiter and a job hunter, I learned that many people, including myself, miss the opportunity simply because they do not shape their resume in the form that the employer specified (or expected).

    If I had contacted some people on the employing side and asked for some advice (= pitfalls to avoid), I would have included Chinese texts in my resume and shortened my job hunting period from 6 months to 2 months (well, I got a great gig recently so I am at peace with it). I turned into a recruiter to find someone who can replace me in my current company, and I am sorry to say but applicants who (1) write long autobiography and (2) forget attaching sample works are automatically filtered out – and that is around 80% – they should have done some research too.

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    Aweber is driving me crazy pants – the video is working ya'll but for the next day the thank you page is kaput… sorry! Thanks for the heads up lady!

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    This is REALLY interesting Fauzia, thanks for your input!

    The Facebook thing confuses me though. Unless someone has NO privacy settings on their profile you won't call them in for an interview? I know for my own FB profile I make that 100% private. You can search for me but I think that's all you get. I'm open on my blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, whatever, but FB is private and for personal use only. I'm really interested to hear more about this…

  • http://talkingshrimp.com/blog/ Laura Belgray

    This post rocks. When someone asks to see my resume, I lose my woody. I mean, lose interest in working for them.

  • http://twitter.com/marianschembari/status/13979682658 Marian Schembari

    Want to speed up that job search? Yeah, that's what I thought: http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    Haha! Agreed.

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    Hm. Isao, this is very interesting – thanks for sharing.

  • http://twitter.com/jobjenny/status/13985345946 jobjenny

    Right on: RT @marianschembari – Want to speed up that job search? Yeah, that's what I thought: http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://londonprintproject.com LondonPrintProject.com

    But isn't the interview itself a good way of getting the good sense of a person?

    Automatically disqualifying candidates because they choose to keep their personal stuff personal sounds unfair. A resume and all the other things job seekers may send to recruiters (portfolio, blogs, clips) should give a good impression of someone.

  • macbarcelona

    And don't forget Number 6. USE A SPELL CHECKER! (Come on, 'awesomness?')

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    Meh. Spell check bores me. And you totally wish you had my mad skillz with “creative spelling” ;-)

  • http://www.fsbassociates.com Fauzia Burke

    Hi guys, I edited my comments above to remove the FB thing. It was a stupid thing to say. My comments were posted at the end of a long day (note to self: don't do that again).

  • http://www.fsbassociates.com Fauzia Burke

    Hi guys, I edited my comments above to remove the FB thing. It was a stupid thing to say. My comments were posted at the end of a long day (note to self: don't do that again).

  • http://twitter.com/betterjobsearch/status/14124412985 The Job Guy

    RT @marianschembari – Want to speed up that job search? Yeah, that's what I thought: http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://twitter.com/dawnrsaunders/status/14169446103 Dawn Saunders

    RT @marianschembari via @betterjobsearch – Want to speed up that job search? Yeah, that's what I thought: http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://twitter.com/betterresumes/status/14470508031 Better Resume Svc.

    ✦ RT @marianschembari – Want to speed up that job search? Yeah, that's what I thought: http://bit.ly/9Qo5HU

  • http://twitter.com/melindaholm/status/14636830977 Melinda Holm + Assoc

    5 Things You Can Do Online RIGHTTHISSECOND To Speed Up Your Job Search http://bit.ly/9VqbRW #Career #JobSearch #Jobs

  • http://twitter.com/asr2008 Alana S. Robinson

    Just found this website and this post has made my day : )

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    Awww, YOU just made my day! Thank you so much, Alana :)

  • http://twitter.com/nycinternz/status/9970241501138944 NY Creative Interns

    @marianschembari tells you 5 Things You Can Do Online RIGHTTHISSECOND To Speed Up Your Internship Search http://ow.ly/3gug9

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