Most recruiters and hiring managers are sourcing candidates on social media, particularly LinkedIn.  In fact, 53% of recruiters said they found the highest quality candidates on Linkedin when responding to Jobvite’s 2021 Recruiter Nation Survey. This is great news if you have a robust, optimized LinkedIn profile.

As a recruiter I spent hours on LinkedIn sourcing candidates, often scrolling through 500+ possible matches. Some were easily eliminated due to missing or inappropriate photos. My all-time favorite unsuitable photo is the woman wearing a wedding gown, veil, and all.

Potential candidates fell into 2 categories:1) Yes, contact them immediately and 2) they might be a possibility. The one thing that consistently moved candidates from maybe to yes was if it was easy to contact them.

The point is, don’t make the mistake of thinking if recruiters want to contact you they will track you down or use an InMail. Unless they think you are a perfect candidate, they may not. You can increase your odds by making it easy for them by including contact information on your LinkedIn profile.

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I get a lot of questions about recruiters. The most often asked question is who the recruiter works for. The short answer is the recruiter isn’t working for you.

While, someone who’s out of work recently told me it’s cruel to say this, it’s true.

Retained and contingency recruiters work for the one who pays them. And that’s the employer.

Retained recruiters are paid a fee to find candidates and are generally paid whether the employer hires them or not. Contingency recruiters are paid only if the employer hires one of their candidates. Their fee is a percentage based on the candidate’s first year salary.

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You never know when you’ll find yourself unexpectedly out of work. It’s happened to me more than once.

I had a variety of full-time jobs while earning my BA. I’ll never forget the day I lost the job that paid all my bills, including rent. Since I was the company’s bookkeeper, I knew the business was struggling.,

But when they gathered the staff and told us they were closing the next day, I was stunned. Each of us would receive a few days of pay.

I quickly landed a restaurant gig, but other employees, some married with kids, weren’t so lucky.

The average severance is 1 or 2 weeks for each year worked. If you’ve been there for 5 years that’s 5 to 10 weeks.

In September, however, 34.5% of the unemployed had been out of work for 27 weeks or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation.

While you can’t predict the future, you can take steps to shorten your job search if you do find yourself suddenly unemployed.

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If you’re actively looking for a job or just open to opportunities you need to be on LinkedIn. You need an optimized LinkedIn profile that tells your career story. And you need to make it easy for recruiters and hiring managers to find you.

Like it or not, your LinkedIn profile needs more than compelling content. Despite being primarily a business site, it’s still considered social media. Which means a head shot is essential.

As a former recruiter, I know that profiles without head shots raise red flags. People wonder what you are hiding.

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A tight job market means tougher competition. People who hadn’t considered moving a couple of years ago are passively looking. Those casually looking have transitioned from passive to active job seekers.

Today, standing out from your competition is essential.

If you’re a senior executive or pursing those roles, one of the best strategies is to have others see you as an authority in your industry, a thought leader.

One way to be recognized as a thought leader is to share knowledge with your community.

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Many job seekers are under the misconception that recruiters are there to help them find a job. They aren’t. Whether they’re contingency, consultants or retained search, recruiters work for employers.

That doesn’t mean that they can’t help you find a new job.

It depends on what your goal is.

Based on my experience as a recruiter, recruiters are eager to help you when you’re easy to place.

A recruiter’s goal is to fill one or more open positions. If they are working contingency, they only get paid when a client hires one of their candidates. They may have to wait until the candidate is there 30-days to get paid.

While corporate recruiters are not on commission, they may be paid a bonus based on how many positions they fill. They will certainly be judged on the quality of candidates they present.

As I tell my clients, recruiters are looking for a round peg that will fit into the round hole they are trying to fill. If you’re a square peg they’re unlikely to spend much time with you.

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There’s a lot of career advice online. I’ve certainly written my share. Despite all the easily accessible career information, several myths seem to remain.

The most obvious is that the best way to find a job is to apply for as many employment ads as possible. It’s not. Spending all day working the job boards is unlikely to land you a job.

Creating a list of target employers and strategically networking your way into the company will yield better results.

Here are 6 common job search myths that continue to persist.

#1 You can’t get a job through social media.

While you may not get hired by sending a tweet, employers are increasingly turning to social media for recruiting purposes. Corporate and contingency recruiters have been on social media for years. Many post jobs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and even twitter.

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