Jeremy Johnson has a new guest blog post this week on how Google can help you toward a better job search.
Jeremy is a recruiter in Kansas City for EHD Technologies, a recruiting, staffing and managed services company serving the IT, Engineering and Automotive industries.
There are two jobs with EHD Technology clients just posted recently on the IT/Developers Job Leads page.
You can also follow him on Twitter at jsquaredkc
Let Google Help You Toward a Better Job Search
One shockingly easy job hunting activity that people don’t do nearly enough of is using the simple internet search. Sure people use it to find potential jobs or research certain companies or industries. That’s not what I’m talking about, though.
Job-hunting tips and career advice abound on the web. It’s everywhere!!!! But what to most job seekers do? Tweak their resume (maybe), search Indeed.com, apply for a position. Then, the next day, tweak their resume (maybe), search Indeed (or another job board), apply for a position. Wash, rinse, repeat. Ad nauseum. This becomes the entirety of the job search.
If you’re doing this in your own job search, you’re selling yourself so short. But don’t worry. You have a friend, and that friend’s name is Google. You need to get better acquainted.
I use Google all the time for job search tips, recruiting strategies and learning industry lingo. If I don’t know something, I just Google it. There is so much job hunting and career advice out there, it’s crazy. But, it will be useless to you if you don’t go out and find it.
Want resume examples to get inspiration from? Google it. Want to know how best to handle behavioral-based interview questions? Google it. Not sure how to network most effectively? Google it!
Here’s just one personal example. I wrote a blog entry awhile back on social media in your job search. It was mainly an overview of social media, in general, and mentioned some basic ideas across several social media platforms. Someone saw it, passed it on to someone else who was involved in a local job club, and that person contacted me about speaking to the group on using Twitter to find a job.
My first thought was……well, flattery. Someone actually read my blog!! But, then my second thought quickly followed. “Though I’m learning how to better use Twitter as a recruiter, I’m still no expert, and I’m sure as heck not prepared to speak on it from a job hunter’s perspective.”
Well, I wasn’t going to chicken out of giving my talk, but I had to brush up on some things. So, I turned to Google: “job search using Twitter” and “finding a job with Twitter.” That’s it. A couple of different searches, a lot of reading, following links, discovering other blogs.
I’m sure this whole idea sounds Mickey Mouse, self-evident, but I guarantee it’s not being utilized in people’s job searches like it should. If it was, most of the job hunt advice I give people would be responded with, “Yeah, I already know that.” Instead, I get a lot of, “Yeah, that makes total sense!” Anyone can become a job search strategy expert with nothing more than a laptop and an internet connection. It takes time, I know. But, it’s amazing how many good tips – how much good advice – is out there to be found.
So, if you’re not using Google like you know you should, get going! Getting started is as easy as typing in “job search strategies” and taking off from there. You might be surprised how much you find.