I am featured in a story today in the Christian Science Monitor, Blogs: An Effective Job-Hunting Tool?, but after describing my efforts positively, the article quotes one naysayer in particular who does not understand the context of my efforts:
Not everyone shares his enthusiasm. “Blogging and Internet searching for jobs is worthless,” says Drew Stevens, a business growth consultant in St. Louis. “Almost 65 percent of positions are discovered from your network and peer group.”
I wrote about how my blogging has greatly expanded my personal network and increased my influence even before I was laid off, but it is worth re-iterating here how social media is a complement to offline activities. I have difficulty finding the time to keep my blogging up because I am so busy with other efforts that have been generated from the relationships I have developed and strengthened through social media.
Business Networking expert Diane Darling calls this “hybrid networking.” It’s really about using all the tools available–and the concepts apply to customers and clients as much as to a job search.
It is much easier to ask someone you’ve exchanged a few quick tweets with to meet for coffee than to try to call into a company cold. You establish your substance through the more complete information you can exchange online, but then you meet in person to solidify and establish a more personal trust and respect.
I don’t want my story to just be about my search for work–it’s not. The process of using social media to start and develop conversations with a network of people is directly applicable to companies and consultants because networking–at a personal level–is fundamental to developing business relationships. You don’t just put an online store up and wait for customers to show up. You have to work it, you have to get out there and meet people who can introduce you to other people and spread the story of your product until it hits a receptive ear.
People don’t want to hear a sales story. If I were out there just saying “hire me please,” it might generate some sympathy, but if you don’t have a job for me, it probably ends there. The same is true for a company or product.
I could tell you about a company that makes software to monitor whether or not your servers are all healthy…but if you don’t have servers or are not technical–it is a dead end. What if I told you a story you could relate to about people solving problems and their passion for their work? You might know people who work in the industry that could relate to stories like that. Even though you are not a customer, you now have something interesting and relevant to pass on. I don’t want to give away the specifics of this strategy because it is actually part of a proposal to a client, but my point is that the essence of building a network of opportunity is connecting with people on a level they can relate to so they become ambassadors of your brand. The brand carries your message out across the vast sea of people who are not potential direct customers until it catches the attention of those who are.
I have a backlog of blog entries about things other than job searching, but I thought it was important to put the news story in context. Also, of course, I think making these points and tying them back to a business purpose creates a blog entry that is relevant and interesting enough for people to refer others to and spread my name further afield…to capture the interest of clients who would want to hire me and put my resourcefulness, creativity, and passion to work.
So go read my about page, watch my ABC News interview, and tell the world about Dave Atkins!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I so agree with you Dave! I read that quote in the article and my first thought was … it could be true, that some jobs would not be helped by a strong social media presence, and would go through “traditional” sources. But I would not want ONE of those jobs. They probably block access to Twitter and Facebook. Would see a personal blog as a threat to your role as a company.
I have made virtually ALL of my business contacts in the last 3 years of my business over social networks.
Go get em — can’t wait to hear how things turn out.
-P
Perhaps Drew Stevens neither blogs, nor reads blogs, nor uses social media. So he doesn’t get it. Most people I know who have never tried it see it as a waste of time or simply cannot fathom that you can greatly expand your network using these tools.
But he would be right to say that relying on it 100% wouldn’t likely be effective. As Dave does do, you do have to follow up and have face-to-face meetings with people — or at least phone calls.
First let me thank you for noticing the quotation in the article. As you can imagine contrarian thinking does help readership!-))
To address some questions, I blog often in fact my site has well over 300 hundred postings and I am most active on Linkedin and a few other social networking sites. The focus of the article if i remember was using social media to gain a job. I advocate relationships first, those you know and those you trust. As one that was terminated three times in a six month period I truly understand the trials, tribulations and angst of job search. However, while social media might help there are some things to bring to light:
1) social media is often used by the Generation Y crowd and has not been fully and faithfully adopted by Generation X and higher
2) Social media involves meeting individuals you do not know with identities hidden. Hard to build a trusting relationship electronically.
3)Social media takes time and patience, with the plethora of sites, which gets updated first, often and whom do you use.
4) Most important to the article, with millions out of work and a flourish of recent layoffs, many will be using social media to find work. With the ubiquity of social media how can one build a trusting relationship with an individual seeking employment without a varying degree of differentiation.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain. And thank you for the interest in the quote.
Blessings.
Drew Stevens PhD
Dave -
Thank you so much for the reference point. I’m glad the concept is working well for you.
Best ~ Diane Darling