July 23, 2009

Peer referrals: A matter of trust

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When you land a job with an employer, there are a lot elements that must be taken into account before the dotted line is signed. The employer and potential employee must consider salary, skills, job requirements, work history, flexibility, education and a long list of variables.

But the most crucial ingredient in the entire relationship can be boiled down to one word: trust. Any well-crafted resume can sing your praises to the skies, but the decision to choose a new employee is always a leap of faith on the part of the hiring manager. Anything you can do to gain that person's hard-earned trust will give you a significant edge.

Trust, however, is one quality that many job seekers pay too little attention to, says personal branding expert Eric Weaver. They don't realize that there's little difference between themselves and a corporation that is advertising a product or promoting a brand. Whether you're a company or a job seeker, he says, "one of the best ways to spread trust in your brand is through other people," he says.

Weaver, a former consultant at Seattle's Brand Dialogue who now works at the Tribal DDB digital ad agency in Vancouver, B.C., cites a recent study from Edelman PR, called the Trust Barometer. In the 2009 update to this survey, educated consumers were asked what sources of information they trusted the most. One of the highest ranked sources was "conversations with my own peers." And the least trustworthy? "Marketers," Weaver says. "They're perceived as putting their interests before yours. People are 10 times more likely to trust their peers than the claims in a banner ad."

This lack of faith in corporate advertising, Weaver says, has been the prime instigator in the growth and utility of online social networking, which is based mostly on peer-to-peer communication. Yet many users of sites like LinkedIn or Facebook are failing to get referrals from former co-workers and supervisors.

If co-workers aren't offering recommendations, don't be afraid to ask. "Contact everyone you've ever done business with and see if they will give you a testimonial," Weaver says. "If someone took a chance and benefited from you, grab them!"

Another often overlooked tool is the summary text in Facebook and LinkedIn. "Talk about results as much as possible," Weaver says. "Be sure to discuss about the benefits you have provided--how you solved problems, saved money or reduced waste."

Trust can be powerful, but it can cut both ways, Weaver cautions. "People can smell self interest, so don't try to sugarcoat the negatives," he says. "Social media is too transparent for that. Try to take at any honest quirks you have and look at them in a positive light."

Companies often use social media to look for potential problems and weed out candidates, Weaver says, so a well-written summary can help nip any potential trouble spots in the bud. "If you think you have any gaps on your resume that would cause a hiring manager to ask questions, make sure you answer them quickly on the Web," he says.

"We are a very time-starved people," Weaver adds. "There is so much noise in the digisphere that the old 'spray and pray' method of sending out a thousand e-mails a day and hoping that something sticks is useless. It's much better to be trusted and recommended than be seen as an intruder on a mission."

To see more tips from Weaver, see the rest of his Branding For People presentation on SlideShare.

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

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