A big thank you to all of you who've contacted me about social media positions. My database overfloweth, and I want to take the time to say thank you, and remind you that all contact with me is confidential, and will never be shown nor sold to another company. My database is solely for the purpose of finding candidates based on positions.
To add yourself to that database, or change your profile, simply head on over to this link and fill in the appropriate information.
That said, it's important you know what to expect when you send me your information. As a recruiter, my primary responsibility is to work on positions that clients put in front of me. If I'm not working on those positions, I'm not getting paid, and I'm not doing my job. Many candidates want to contact me to ask what I can do to help them find a job. As much as I'd like to, I can't find you a job. I find people for jobs, and not the other way around.
That can come across as harsh, but it's the truth. No one is paying me to be a career counselor, and so when I act in that capacity, it's because I have some down time, and am trying to be polite. I used to give a lot of advice, but in the last ten years, I've had exactly two people take my advice and use it to get a job (with big title and salary changes). That's a lot of wasted time. It gets so bad, that sometimes I fantasize about a new salary arrangement. You pay me $10,000. I tell you how to get a job. If you do what I suggested, and get a job, I give you the $10,000 back.
No one would take the deal, but it's probably the best strategy. When you ask me how to get a job, you're asking me how to do my job. I go out and find open positions - so just do what I do. Still, no one listens. Mostly because they don't want to look for a job - they want to be handed a job. Fair enough, just don't ask me to pay for it with my time.
So what can you do? I'd suggest that if you want a job in social media - you spend your time improving your profile, building your network, and focusing on how your work led to measurable results. Each of these gives you better connection to the jobs you want, and makes it a lot easier for me to find and place you (which I'm very good at when I have a req that fits your skills).
So do this. Follow me on Twitter, and shoot a note telling me that you're on Twitter. I will follow you back. Connect to me on LinkedIn or Facebook. Join Jobs in Social Media and start contributing. Use social media tools to suggest your content and successes to me, and I'll follow them as I do a lot of the industry - using your RSS feeds and livestreams to get a sense of what you can do. The industry is too small to get jobs from your resumes, and I'm more likely to call you if I know what you do, then I am if you send me a resume and tell me you'd like to talk about your options.
A final note - if you have an interesting story to tell about hiring in the social media industry - I'd be happy to publish informative pieces, giving you more exposure.
