I am a recruitment consultant who has been recruiting for over 10 years and I have placed more than 500 people in professional jobs in the Irish economy.
When I’m approached by people the first thing I ask for is a CV, once I receive the CV, I know pretty quickly if I can help the candidate. So it’s important you put the best foot forward when you’re applying for a job or trying to enhance your profile in the job market.
To make it in your chosen sector, be passionate about it. Give it everything. The people who do well in are the people who have a genuine passion for what they do. Yes, have a good CV, but also have a fantastic online presence. Maybe start a blog, share your knowledge, flaunt your expertise and insights. Enhancing your own brand online is a very good idea.
Join Twitter; follow people you respect or companies you admire. Many companies are now using Twitter as a recruitment tool. Source content which interests you and tweet it to your followers.
Linkedin is one of the most innovative tools in recruitment. We spend on average 60% of our days looking at profiles. Ask your colleagues or former boss for Linkedin testimonials. Connect with people within your industry. Look at the groups your prospective work colleagues are on and join them.
Recruiters search companies via keywords, Let them find you. Fill out all the keywords you can.
On Linkedin there are some industry groups you can join for free and attend their events (once a month), for free. Industry professionals attend these events and this is a great way to get to know people in the industry, (follow them on twitter and Link with them on linkedin).
Get daily updates from Blogs, keep abreast with the latest news, sign up for ezines. If you go into an interview and mention something about the industry which is relevant and have a discussion you will automatically start to put yourself at an advantage.
It’s important to research the companies where you would like to work for: use Google to look up any recent news, go onto the website look for recent press releases. Anything you can find about their history is valuable. Any testimonials on Linkedin, if the company has a linkedin/FB/Twitter page, make sure to follow them.
Just some tips from a Recruitment Consultancy point of view – get testimonials from bosses and colleagues you worked with in your internship and place them on your Linkedin profile. Then research recruiters: both companies and individuals. Engage with those companies and individuals: follow the company Facebook page, connect with the recruiter on Linkedin. Don’t do job enquiry emails with every recruiter in town in the CC field – we instantly delete all emails like that. Personalise each email enquiry you send out.
The best of luck.