April 10, 2009

Online job search: A tool, not a lifestyle

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With the advent of online social networks a few years ago, it seemed like a golden age of networking was dawning, where business contacts could be made in a snap and your work history could be seen by a vast array of hiring managers at the same time.

That's what consultant and career coach Sherri Edwards thought when she first looked at places like Facebook and Twitter. "It looked cool to be able to collect 500 contacts and get your name out there," she says.

Today, she just feels discouraged by the amount of effort many job seekers are putting into frivolous posts. "People are getting addicted to Facebook, and it's ended up being a real hindrance to getting a job," she says. "All these people were inviting me to spend time in the wrong places. I really started busting clients after a while when I saw how much time they were wasting on it."

And don't get her started on Twitter. "I went there to find people," she says, "and all I saw were people saying 'I just gave my dog a bath!'"

After spending the last decade running Seattle's Resource Maximizer consulting business, Edwards says there is no better way to find the right job than to develop relationships and let other professionals know what you can do to help their businesses. This type of long-term strategy simply can't be done with a few mouse clicks, she says.

"People think that connecting online with 5,000 people will make a difference, and it doesn't," Edwards says. "I ask them, 'OK, if you know [these contacts] so well, tell me something about them.' And they can't do it."

Not all online sites are bad, of course. LinkedIn, Edwards says, still has a professional atmosphere and is a good place to get your credentials seen by recruiters. The I Love Seattle site is also a great resource for the latest networking events around the Puget Sound region, she adds.

Even in face-to-face networking situations, Edwards still sees a pervasive online mindset take over. "People lose their minds," she says. "They go to these events with the sole purpose of finding jobs. You should go to learn something about what's going on in the company first and then get some leads about possible openings. What are you offering that shows you have value?"

Edwards says she also steers her clients away from online job boards. "With the percentage of job seekers getting higher, it's a crap shoot these days," she says. "If you wait for a listing to show up, you're already a day late and a dollar short."

The answer, Edwards says, is to keep from being isolated. Go offline and join a professional organization or a career coaching group that creates a specific strategy for meeting the people who make the hires. "I've seen a lot of job-search groups get formed lately," she says. "And really, a lot of the time, people just sit around and whine. But we're not about therapy, we're about action.

"There are jobs out there," Edwards says, "but you have to know where and how to look."

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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