A recent article in the Five O’Clock Club News on Using Social Media to Advance Your Career reminded me of a recent client, Omar. He first created profiles on both FaceBook and LinkedIn, then linked the profiles to his own website. At the same time he developed a ‘drop dead’ marketing plan. Moving ahead with these tools in place, he landed a great consulting assignment.
First, some background. Omar joined The Five O’Clock Club in November, 2008 after working for a not-for-profit organization as a technical producer developing its website. Hence Omar’s strong IT background—and his familiarity with LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social networking tools—put well ahead of other job hunters in the use of these techniques for networking. However, he could not wean himself from answering all the ads that seemed to fit the type of work he was pursuing as a web developer. Nor could he resist the headhunters who came along with the prospects of his dream job. For the first six months of his job search, Omar was caught in a vicious cycle of chasing one job opening after another. But he wasn’t getting any offers.
Under the Five O’Clock Club guidance, Omar realized the importance of creating a marketing plan and developing a clear idea of the types of companies that he wanted to work for. He then began to see the real value of using LinkedIn and Facebook to move toward his career objectives. Omar created an ‘event’ on Facebook that allowed him to invite over 400 friends and former colleagues to discuss his marketing plan as one large group. This could be done rather that creating several Facebook notes and ‘tagging’ twenty people at a time. Omar also sent out an e-mail to an additional 80 people he knew; he attached his marketing plan to give them an idea of the types of companies and positions that he was interested in. He also kept up with his LinkedIn contacts, positioning himself for the type of work he was looking for.
But this wasn’t all. With a select number of friends he took his message on Facebook and in his e-mails a step further. He described for them the purpose of a marketing plan, the fact that he had been working with The Five O’Clock Club, and what a targeted approach to job search is all about. He explained the amount of research that went into putting his marketing plan together. But now he needed to identify contacts within his targeted companies, people with whom he could meet on an informational basis. He explained their roles as Stage 1 contacts and how they could help him in identifying Stage 2 contacts (people who are at more senior levels in his targeted companies). In Omar’s own words, “The point is not saying right out of the box, ‘I’m interested in working for your company, can you get me in?’ Rather, the purpose is to establish higher-level contacts within the company, some of whom may be hiring managers who will keep me in mind when there are openings. My background might even prompt the creation of a new position.”
Omar’s efforts at moving his job search away from answering ads to using his social networking via Facebook, LinkedIn, and good old fashion e-mail paid off. He got several in-person informational meetings, and eventually landed a long-term consulting assignment at a major investment bank as a web developer.
It should be noted that Omar used Facebook primarily to connect with his Stage 1 contacts and LinkedIn to profile himself to potential Stage 2 contacts. In addition, he used the Club’s Targeted Mail approach in his search: he sent out an additional twenty letters to potential contacts within his targeted areas. He also volunteered at various professional organizations where he met other professionals within his field.
Omar combined his use of social networking sites with meeting people in person; he shared and expanded his marketing plan; he demonstrated ingenuity in working with his Stage 1 contacts. He got results: he not only landed a great consulting assignment, but positioned himself for other opportunities as well.
Perhaps there’s a future in career coaching for Omar as well!
