Are you sick and tired of your resume falling into a deep dark black hole? Do you regularly say, “I don’t know people in my target companies”? Well, let’s do something different!
Become a Stalker
Stalking, in the best sense of the word, means (according to dictionary.com)
a person who pursues game, prey, or a person stealthily
Here are 4 ways to pursue your targets
Follow the Company on LinkedIn
Simple. Just find the company on LinkedIn and click on the follow button! Now you will be notified when there are changes to their company profile. While you are there, you may want to see if there are any employees you know and could invite to join your network on LinkedIn (even second degree connections). And don’t forget to check out the stats on employees while you’re there too!
Follow on Twitter
Most likely, the company will have a Twitter account. Follow the company, but don’t stop there. Look into the profiles of the people who work there and see if they have a Twitter account. You can follow them if you have a Twitter account too! (If they don’t have a Twitter account, do they have a personal website? Read and follow them there).
Search results on Twellow:
Only 15 people mentioned this company name in their profile info. Yes, there is some garbage, but read each bio carefully. Even ex-employees make great folks to follow on Twitter!
As you stalk these people:
- Observe and learn. Carefully watch what they are saying and doing.
- Retweet tweets that are relevant to you, such as news, trends in the market, etc.
- Add to or comment on a Tweet.
- Slow and steady wins the race, don’t pepper them with Tweets. Build a relationship.
Follow on Facebook
If the company has a page on Facebook, by all means “Like” it! Monitor what’s being said. Post updates or comment on updates, but not about your job search, OK. You are building relationships. Find something in common or some bit of information that is relevant!
Follow on Google+
Companies and “Brands” are now creating pages on Google+. See if the company has a page. If not, because it is still so new…see if there are employees using Google+.
When you search Google+ for the company name, make sure you select the “people and pages” tab to pull from their profile information. Add the appropriate (authentic) pages to your circle. You may want to name your circle with the company name. I’ve only shown you some of the many many profiles that appear in this search. Bingo!
PS: You can use the “Sparks” tab to follow all the search results for this company’s name on the web!
As on Twitter, stalk these people strategically:
- Observe and learn. Carefully watch what they are saying and doing.
- Share posts that are relevant to you, such as news, trends in the market, etc.
- Add to or comment to a post.
- Slow and steady wins the race, don’t be overly active. Build a relationship.
This is just the beginning. As you do this with more companies and on new platforms, you will learn how to build relationships and get some attention to separate you from the masses!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great advice for job seekers and business developers, Hannah. Unfortunately, the word has so many creepy associations. Perhaps “hunter” might work better?
Graeme,
The word Hunter is trite in the world of job search.
I like the creepy connotation! It is the very reason people won’t do it. They don’t want to seem like a pest or too outgoing, so as a result, they won’t do this. Hmmm, maybe my flawed logic. What word could be used to be more appealing to job seekers so they wouldn’t be averse to doing it and know that it would generate results?
Hannah,
As always great stuff. I like the comment about being a stalker. I wrote a whole series on Strategic Networking last August on my blog that many of your readers will find valuable. Included is how to connect with recruiters. You can find a compilation of this at
http://www.careercoachaustintexas.com/?p=420
Thanks Marc, so glad to hear the support!