Job Search - The Voice of Job Seekers

5 Easy Unordinary Ways to Make Employers Notice You

5 Easy Unordinary Ways to Make Employers Notice You by Mark Anthony Dyson

About five years ago, Geoffrey Owens, once a regular on the legendary Cosby Show, was seen working a — *gulp* — regular job at Trader Joe’s. The press quickly ran with the story, and people worldwide began commenting negatively about Owens’s situation. Owens ended up quitting his job because of all the unwanted attention.

However, there was a silver lining in this: Tyler Perry invited Owens to join the cast of his show, The Haves and the Have Nots. He’s had other movie and television appearances since then.

Think about this: Press coverage put Owens’s name out there, and while there was a little turbulence at first, that coverage also led to new jobs for Owens.

There’s a lesson here for every job seeker. Today’s job search is all about making yourself seen. If employers know who you are and what you can do, they’ll turn to you when they need someone with your skills.

So few job seekers use all the tools available at their fingertips to stand out. While different searches will require different strategies, there are a few easy steps almost anyone can take to maximize their visibility:

1. Showcase Your Personality on Social Media

As I always say, employers can’t train great personalities — they have to hire them. Why not spice up your public social media profile pages with exciting cover art and other details that showcase who you are? Instead of coming across as a generic job seeker, personalize your profile and give people a reason to stay on your page a little longer. Tell a story about yourself — a sincere, personal story. Help employers see you as more than just another candidate.

2. Create a Facebook or Instagram Business Page for Your Job Search

Employers want to see your personal Facebook page because it tells them much about who you are, but your privacy settings say, “No way!”

No problem: You can create a public business page for yourself instead. This can be dedicated to your professional journey while keeping your personal page personal. Use your business page to share professional musings and post content that delivers value to your readers and potential employers.

You can also use your business pages to run ads to better target employers on these platforms. Master entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk swears by Instagram ads for brands. Why shouldn’t you try a similar strategy to increase your own visibility?

3. Expand Your LinkedIn page

While a social media page can be a good supplement, your professional presence should really have its own headquarters on the web. LinkedIn is where most people can get noticed where recruiters are looking.

Treat LinkedIn as your own dedicated site. You can control the positive professional narrative about your abilities, explore ideas, take your readers on your journey, and tell great stories about your achievements. The time investment is a small price for a robust multimedia professional portfolio.

4. Host a Local Radio Show

Does your community have a local radio station? Ask if you can host a weekly show.

Many cities have local stations that encourage community members to participate in content creation. Go ahead and get involved! You can use your show to interview employers and entrepreneurs, chat with industry experts, and answer questions from listeners. Not only will you create a valuable resource for your community, but you’ll also build a powerful channel for reaching potential employers.

5. Volunteer

Charity work is a great way to hone specific skills to help you land your next job, even if you’re currently employed. If you’re not employed, it’s also a great way to gain additional experience and fill the gaps in your resume.

Volunteering can connect you with organizations you want to work for. Working with a nonprofit allows you to meet local employers who support that nonprofit’s mission. These connections can be leveraged into job opportunities once you’ve demonstrated your value through volunteer work.

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When building a stand-out brand, use these strategies and any others that can help you effectively broadcast your value. Whatever tactics you choose, be sure they truly assist your job search and capture the right audience’s attention.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

5 Powerful Ways Job Seekers Must Act Like a Consultant

5 Powerful Ways Job Seekers Must Act Like a Consultant by Mark Anthony Dyson

Many job seekers approach their job searches as if waiting for someone to tell them what to do. I have seen professionals of all levels behave this way.

People naturally take the path of least resistance. They want to write a resume quickly and toss it to the turbulent winds of job boards.

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With luck, maybe 2 out of every 100 applications lead to a loose employment prospect.

Even professionals with challenging career paths approach job searches like coloring books: They will color inside the lines until someone tells them to do something different.

If you’re one of these job seekers, expect to conduct your job search for years to come. If you want to see success, you should start paying attention to how successful consultants control their careers. These independent professionals have a total say over how they work, when, on what they work, and for whom they work.

The consultant’s approach to working with clients is one you should adopt in your job search in the following ways:

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1. Consultants Take a Holistic Approach to Problem-Solving

Consultants look at the larger picture. They identify the most significant issues plaguing their clients and the areas affected. Consultants tend to look for the root of the problem without ignoring the symptoms. They walk people through issues and through the thought processes underpinning the solutions.

Now, as a job seeker, imagine you approached potential employers the same way: Identifying their big-picture issues, uncovering the roots, and explaining exactly how you could address the problems and add value. Suddenly, you’re not just a job seeker anymore but an asset.

Read Be a Consultant, Not a Job Seeker nor Anything Like Your Competition

2. Consultants Find the Right Fit

Before taking on work, consultants consider if they’re right for the client’s problem. No one can be everything to everyone, and consultants won’t work with clients unless they are absolutely sure it’s the best fit.

Job seekers should have the same mindset instead of taking a job with whoever wants them.

Successful job seekers see their interview with the hiring manager as a chance to interview the company. They ask questions during the interview not only to impress the interviewer but also to determine if the company is the right fit…

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3. Consultants Understand Their Industries

Consultants must find creative solutions. They adopt different strategies to identify and solve different problems. These thoughtful approaches require a deep understanding of the consultant’s client and industry.

Do you have a deep understanding of your industry and potential employers?

Read Think Like a Consultant: Win at Today’s Job Search

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4. Consultants Know Their Competitors

Consultants know what their competitors are doing and the results they’re achieving. They know all the latest trends among their competitors, including what’s working and what isn’t.

Likewise, job seekers must know how their competitors are winning employers over, and they have to use this information to prove their value above and beyond other candidates.

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5. Consultants Know When to Be Direct

Consultants may need to be tactfully direct when addressing a client’s issues. This approach often sparks additional questions, and consultants must be prepared to offer strategies for moving forward.

Job seekers, likewise, must enter interviews with concrete ideas prepared. They must be ready to initiate direct conversations about what the employer needs and how they can fulfill needs.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

6 Bold Job Search Strategies That Will Challenge Your Thinking

6 Bold Job Search Strategies That Will Challenge Your Thinking by Mark Anthony Dyson

If you’re tired of applying to job boards, and no one of hiring significance is paying you any mind, keep reading. You’ve heard it’s not a numbers game where the more you apply, the increase your hiring chances. In 1990, this was a helpful strategy, but in 2015, more was needed. Your friends say it works, but it’s been five years since they’ve looked.

I warn you, career practitioners will roll their eyes when they read this article.

How many times have you tweaked your resume to no avail?

I understand lousy job search advice is everywhere, but so is excellent and meaningful information is still at your fingertips. In 2015, on an episode of “The Voice of Job Seekers,” Jim Stroud offered some of his strategies own he wrote for his book, “The Number One Job Hunting Book in the World!”

I think they are still daring to suggest to job seekers in 2023. But, since YouTube and podcasts are real media channels for any potential user to grow an audience, monetize it, and influence many, why not suggest it? Regardless of how few succeed, it’s as viable.

If you listen to much of what we discussed, you should concentrate on being more visible than forcing your way to be seen. No one will remember you if you look like the rest of the ducks. During your job hunt, be the lead duck or the different one. Just don’t be the lame duck or the same duck. Do you dig?

1. Add value to relationships without asking for reciprocation (at least for some time)

Why not be helpful during your job hunt? Although we are not talking about taking out someone’s garbage or washing some stranger’s car, we are talking about being a resource or helping make life easier for someone. If someone offers immediately to reciprocate, then ask without inundating them (wash my hands, feet, clothes, and car, please will get you to block, if you know what I mean). Online, it’s done in many ways, but to name a few:

Articles, links, or quick tips to a free or low-cost resource
A “how-to” phone call teaching someone how to do something
An encouraging tweet, note, or phone call for no reason
Providing the help they need to improve a website, comment or share their resource
Provide a contact for someone else to get a job

2. Get on someone’s podcast, video show, or guest post on a popular blog

Stroud suggests you go to iTunes, look for your industry’s subject in podcast form, and pitch to get on a show so you “…can position yourself as an expert.” Or go to YouTube, explore the video shows in your niche, and pitch an interview idea to help you appear as the “go-to person.”

3. Go to your community radio station and do a weekly show

Go to your local community or college radio station to pitch a show interviewing local experts, or be the expert yourself. You can do the same with a podcast (local or national experts will get you international listens if it doesn’t scare you). As you talk with experts, you will be seen as an expert. Some won’t let you use it to promote your small business, but others will allow almost any content. Of course, you want something to boost your expertise and experience.

4. Target large companies so other large companies can hire you

Stroud also shared with us, “… by focusing on top companies or startups winning awards or growing in popularity, you become attractive to their competitors. Under working at Verizon, you automatically look attractive to AT&T and Sprint.” Again, the theme is to gain visibility and not gain attempts. It will figure into your career trajectory for years to come. This job hunt can’t be a temporary solution, even if the job is a short-term contract.

5. Volunteer

By now, you can find countless stories of careers by people who started as a volunteer. I wrote about it a couple of years ago, reasoning how there is no reason not to volunteer. You don’t have to volunteer even full-time to create a valuable experience. Don’t wait for your options to run thin to volunteer. Here’s a more recent and robust article to read.

6. Go Mobile, Young Man/Woman

I dare you to write an article on your LinkedIn platform and provide a reading of the paper too. You can use SoundCloud to embed on LinkedIn (it’s the only audio service LinkedIn allows the player for people to listen right there). You can also do it via YouTube (for the bold, as YouTube is the only video player anyone can embed). This way, those who frequently use the LinkedIn app will access your article through a mobile device, particularly when they don’t feel like reading. When you publish it, curious people click play and keep moving.

Pick one of these strategies today and focus on a career with a longer-term return. Notice some of the strategies require forms of selflessness. It has a great return, but it does require a little faith. By no means are these suggestions for only desperate job seekers. These are creative suggestions for the dog days of your job hunt and those wanting to level up their branding efforts. If you want to be seen differently than the other 100 applicants for positions you apply for, be different and try alternative methods.

How many times are you going to tweak your resume?

This article first appeared on LinkedIn. I sprinkled an extra point. Let me know your thoughts.