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Guest Post By Jennifer Sadler

Jennifer Elaine Sadler is a socially savvy graduate student at the University of Memphis in Journlism. She currently works with different companies to build their online brands. After 3 months of sending out resumes with no luck, she tells us what action she took that landed her an interview at a $1.8 billion company. 

I started my job search believing that my education would show how great of an employee I could be.  My resume even listed activities and honors, special jobs within my field, and a clear objective profile statement that was confident with an eagerness to learn more.

In the middle of my road to success, I hit a road bump. During my prolonged search, I sent dozens of resumes and filled out numerous applications. I professed to be a socially savvy individual who can build, maintain, and brand a company’s social media presence.  However, my resume was just words on a paper in a pile with others.

So, I decided to create an online profile site. Using a simple Wordpress.com template and a little HTML knowledge, I put samples of my work, links to current sites I manage, and a synopsis of my digital dream as a snapshot into my life.  It was an introduction to me, before I even stepped in the door.

My first experience using my site paid off.

I applied for a Creative Designer position at a major Memphis retail company, and I got a call. I was jumping for joy until I realized the actual job was for a graphic designer, a position I knew I couldn’t do.  I emailed a friend’s portfolio and resume and told the employer that I knew this person was a better fit, who knew the software required.

Here I was, still without a job…and I literally GAVE one away.

The great thing about doing something positive for someone else is that it always comes back to help you.  I took a closer look at the company’s website and noticed that they didn’t have a social media presence. With an eager sense of confidence, I called the Marketing Director and left him a short 15-second elevator pitch and followed it with a short email noting the importance of a social media presence for businesses to engage with customers and drive brand awareness. (For tips on writing a job proposal visit 1-page.com)  I noted that social media marketing was my specialty, and I’d love to sit with him to discuss some ideas for the company.  I provided him a link to my portfolio site so that he could view my work.

That did it! 

The following Monday I woke up to an email from Vice Chairman of the advertising firm that represents the company with the subject line: Let’s meet. 

The next week I sat in a board room chatting with top members of a team. The Vice Chairman’s first words to me were, “You’re Jennifer! I recognize you from your picture on your site!”   We discussed the social media presence and opportunities for growth with their clients.

If hired, I could manage the social media for the Memphis retail company I originally inquired about as part of their $1.8 billion enterprise.  The position wasn’t there before I walked in the door…but as I walked out it seemed as if building a site to showcase my abilities had the best effect. It took three weeks to build my site, and one time of sending it out and promoting it to be noticed.

To aid with your own job search, here are some tips:

• Brand Yourself: Your name is a brand in itself. Make sure your name is synonymous with your specialty. Use Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and even YouTube to show what you love and how well you do it. For tips on personal branding, follow personal branding expert Dan Schawbel (@DanSchawbel) and read his book Me 2.0.
• Build a Profile Site: It works beyond measure to show a digital presence of your abilities. Include an appealing bio that speaks to who you are, include samples of your work, link to the sites you find most interesting and promote it everywhere. You can use a blog site to create it; some good ones are Wordpress, Tumblr, and Weebly.  Another cool portfolio site builder is Flavors.me.  Check out this girl's amazing online portfolio, which showcases her talent, including her video-editing skills, in an authentic manner (She lists her portfolio on her Twitter bio @taylorloren).
  
• Get Business Cards: It’s not just the employers who have cards, but you should have ones too! If you are really ambitious, you can put a QR Code on your card that links directly to your profile site. (Use VistaPrint for low cost, good quality business cards with a fast turnaround.)
  
• Know Your Network: Look at your Facebook, Twitter, InTheDoor, blog community and Linkedin family as a means to network. If you know that someone works for the company you hope to be a part of, ask them about how they got started. Follow people on Twitter with your same interest.  Helping connect companies with qualified friends in your network builds karma.  If you identify an opportunity, even if there is no official job opening, send the company a one page job proposal on what value you could bring to their company.
  

Be confident in every step you take.

Good luck to you on your job endeavors, and remember the pursuit of a dream is the reality of success!

J. Sadler

www.jesadler.com 

"Post an ad on Craigslist for the exact job you want."

This was advice given to me by a mentor. 

It's hard to judge whether or not your cover letter is good enough, comes across as too arrogant, or too eager.  A great way to find out what recruiters respond to, is to turn the tables and see what you respond to filtering through resumes.  If you post an ad for the job you want, you could see who you are stacked against and make your application better.   While I cannot condone posting a fake job, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

What I've learned from being on both sides of the table is that two or three paragraph emails, tailored to the company, that emphasize the specific value the candidate can create are most effective.

Of course, it helps when your application goes right to the top, with a referral from a friend.

Liz Carlson, Founder at InTheDoor.com

After talking to numerous job seekers in their early to late 20s, multiple CEOs, and reading hundreds of job descriptions, I have compiled a list of four key mistakes employers should avoid in their job descriptions to attract better talent. 

1) Don't Hide Your "Flaws," Find the People Who Love Them.
Many sales and consulting jobs require travel.  Reading a job description this morning on a company careers page, I noticed "ability to travel 60% of the time" was at the very bottom of list of requirements, in smaller font.  As if this was somehow unnoticable after the first date, like an ankle tattoo.  There are people out there who love to travel, and companies should play this up if the position requires it.  You want people who embrace the hard work and adventure.  Will they put in 80-90 hours?  Be honest.  I know an engineer who specifically signed up to intern on Google's Android team because they were required to work on Saturdays.  The kid wanted something "more intense." 

2) Target the Job Seeker, Not The Investor.
Do you start each job description with a summary on your company's proprietary algorithm, a mention of its world-class ranking, and talk of your #1 B2B solution?  For you to stay #1, you need to attract actual people.  Emphasize what they'll actually be doing, the people they will be working with, and describe the cool projects they will be working on.

3) Excellent Communication Skills Required?  Avoid meaningless buzzwords.
You may have well written "likes long walks on the beach."  Eliminate the overused resume jargon.  Do you need someone who can negotiate with contractors, convince customers the benefits of your premium service, write excellent copy for your blog -- specify what you want and let the candidate envision herself in the role.

4)  Appealing to Everyone Will Get You No One.  Make Specific Demands.
Stephen Johnson, Co-Founder of RewardMe states, after multiple versions of job postings they quickly found, "The more demanding we tailored the job description, the more responses we got -- and the better."   Phil Kaplan, Founder of Adbrite, who is now happily married, admitted he used this winning strategy circa 2005 on JDate.  "What I found after multiple A/B tests was the more specific requirements on who the girl should be -- the more messages I received."   When you tell people exactly what qualities they must possess for you to pick them, people enthusiastically scream "That's me!"   Don't be afraid to ask for what you want; you might just get it.

We're currently building out our employer platform to manage your Company Page and promote your jobs for the 152 companies that have signed up.   Please be patient as we automate this process for security and accessibility. 

Attention Job Seekers: You will soon be able to directly apply to a company from our website and learn more about their company and work culture!

Liz Carlson, Founder at InTheDoor.com

Feedback is welcome! Do not hesitate to reach out to me directly liz@inthedoor.com on how we can help your company recruit better candidates.

We publicly launched yesterday and are excited at the overwhelming interest in our social job search site!

In the past 24 hours since our feature on Mashable, we have received over 7000 hits, and close to 2000 users.   Over 100 companies signed up for our promo-offer, and we increased the threshold to 150 to make room for more. 

According to Mashable, "You need only log in with Facebook and In The Door will find and sort job listings at the companies where your Facebook friends work."  We aggregate jobs from all over the web, and are enabling companies to directly link from our site to their job portal. 

Who's using In The Door?  Primarily college graduates, with on average over 400 Facebook connections, from places like San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Vancouver, and London.

About In The Door:

-- At a glance, see all companies in your network that are Hiring.

-- View company pages and see who you know to request an introduction.

-- Explore by city, see the most popular cities in your network and jobs in those cities where you have inside connections.

-- Search all jobs in your network.

Our core focus in the near future will be improving search and providing better content on Company pages.  We will make it easier to faciliate the application process and secure a referral from a friend.

Pitch me any ideas to improve In The Door at liz@inthedoor.com!  

For any issues please email us at support@inthedoor.com or use our Feedback tab.

Thanks,

Liz Carlson, Founder at InTheDoor.com