Four Tips for Maximizing Your Online Job Search

When it comes to online job hunting, it’s not what you know, but who you know. That’s because social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Orkut are all about building, maintaining and strengthening professional connections—links that may mean the difference between accepting the dream job now or in five years.

1. Decide on an ultimate goal.

Landing a dream job? Researching a consulting offer? Establishing local contacts? Set your social networking goals from the start to ensure the sites you land on fit your initial objectives.

That will help you in deciding the best site to turn to. “Many social networking sites are global, but the user rates tend to differ by country. Currently, MySpace is the most popular site in the world, but Facebook is by far the preferred choice in Canada,” says Shawn Mountain, managing director, The Mergis Group, Ottawa, Canada office.

In addition, by only including information in your profile that directly helps you achieve your prsonal goals, you can cut down on unwanted contacts. By researching and maximizing all the tools and applications within each site, such as groups you can belong to and profile boxes that can be filled out, job seekers can capitalize on their exposure in ways to meet their goals.

Sites like LinkedIn and Orkut also offer testimonial and recommendation functions where co-workers and colleagues can write references for you. These can be essential to your self-promotion success by adding credibility to your profile.

2. Take time creating and maintaining your profile.

David H. Fritze, CPM, practice manager, CPS-CORP, Arlington, Texas, USA, emphasizes the importance of putting time and thought into your personal profile.

“It’s going to be seen on the Web. … There are a lot of times when people were approached by someone [because] they thought [a potential opening in a new area] might be a good fit. You want to put your best foot forward,” Mr. Fritze says.

This information may include:

• • A good picture of yourself
• • Current occupation and employer along with the last few positions if relevant
• • A ‘network’ to belong to (usually based on geography)
• • Any personal websites (especially if you are a consultant, and it is business related)
• • Links to other relevant websites (professional associations, charity or volunteer organizations, your company, etc.)
• • Links to your profile on other business networking sites

“The amount of information you can put into your profile is almost limitless, but you should have at least some basic information to truly be able to ‘market’ yourself and connect with as many people as possible,” says Mr. Mountain.

And remember: this isn’t a one time only effort. As you grow in your profession it’s important to come back to review your profile, update your employment history and your skills listings.

3. Foster real-life connections.

Start reconnecting with old friends and colleagues first, says Lindsay Scott, who as director with Arras People, Lancashire, England, specializes in recruiting project managers. “Nothing beats the strength of [job seekers’] own personal network in helping them find the ideal job—and more importantly, it tends to be a less stressful way of finding a position,” she says, adding that this practice can benefit organizations as well.

“Our consultants are all project management professionals with their own network of contacts from their careers. Tapping into our own networks and being able to approach friends of friends has been highly successful.”

After you’ve run through those people with whom you have an ongoing personal relationship, start reaching out to people you have met at different conferences, seminars or face-to-face networking events.

4. Become a subject matter expert.

Social networking sites offer a wealth of information on specific jobs and general career advice—if you find the targeted groups to join.

“[Groups are] a great shop window in which to display your experience, especially if you have a particular specialty within project management. You can quickly become the site’s ‘expert’ with many valuing your opinion on particular topics and, more importantly, inviting inquiries from people wanting to hire your services,” Ms. Scott says.

Mr. Mountain points out there are thousands of groups to choose from, including the PMI group or Project Management Professional (PMP^®) group on Facebook, and the Project Management Research and Project Portfolio Management groups on Orkut.

“Tightly segmented groups are also the places where recruiters will post jobs, so be sure to keep up-to-date with what’s new within these areas.”

PMI’s Online Job Tools

Looking for more career advice or need help with your job search? PMI has several tools at your disposal in the Career Headquarters section of PMI.org:

• • Career Coaching: Available to members only, PMI’s career coaches will help perfect your résumé, cultivate your talents and find courses or exams required for advanced degree programs.
• • Post a CV/Résumé: Available to members and non-members, résumés posted on PMI.org are viewed by employers around the globe.
• • Find a Job: Available to members and non-members, PMI’s dynamic, online job search will let you sort by industry, location, job level and salary.
• • Post a Job: Organizations seeking the perfect hire can post job descriptions on PMI.org and then search for employees by education level, experience, location, experience and more.