TheLadders, a professional network for executives and high-salary job seekers, surveyed its 5 million members about their job search efforts.
After crunching through all of the results, job search expert Amanda Augustine found a few over-arching themes.
She determined five things job seekers can do right now to help them start a new career in the new year.
Here's her advice, from the job seekers on TheLadders:
- Get a pro to read over your resume. Typos are common on all resumes, and they're a big turn-off for hiring managers. Augustine says a professional proofreader can up your chances of landing a job by 40%.
- Google yourself frequently. TheLadders found that 35% of its surveyed members only googled themselves once per year, and 16% had never search-stalked themselves. Make sure what pops up under your name looks good to a recruiter, and try to remove anything that doesn't.
- Have a basic understanding of the four big social media networks.Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn, says Augustine. Better yet, use all of them. Creating profiles, as long as they appear professional to the outside world, will improve your personal brand online and help you research companies.
- Use a work-appropriate photo for your profile pictures. Invest in how you look, both offline and online. This means using professional-looking photos on job network profiles and dressing the part when you head to an interview. 12% of surveyed members admitted that their public, online photos probably weren't appropriate for recruiters.
- Ditch the flip phone. 75% of surveyed members said having a smart phone helped them land and search for jobs. Make sure a copy of your resume can be accessed from your mobile device too, so you can send it as soon as a recruiter needs it. This shows recruiters you can work the devices intelligently.
Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
