How to Look for Who's Listening

Here's the truth: waking up from the college "dream" brings forth a very harsh reality.

Such as the fact that three times as many college grads are unemployed now than in 2007.

So as a soon-to-be college grad branded as an eccentric marketing apprentice, my eccentricity is probably going to be the factor that distinguishes me from the other 3.3 million college grads in the job market.

Right now, my target audience is future potential employers.

It's overwhelming to know where to start with such a grim outlook but so much media to use. Considering that I've already narrowed my options to my medium of choice, LinkedIn, now it's about figuring out where to find my audience.

Some key words to help with my expedition:

• marketing associate
  
• communications expert
  
• public relations manager
  
• social media coordinator
• talent recruiter
  

I wasn't too picky about industries that I wanted to go into, but I did assure to refine my search to be limited to the Greater New York Area and entry-level/associate positions. I was actually surprised to find that my search wasn't only limited to groups, but also led me to other "hang out" sites such as HooJobs and even Twitter.

The search terms ultimately led me to open positions in the area, specifically in marketing, public relations, and communications in firms and companies alike. This gave me leads on companies to follow and groups to join that include marketing professionals.

It's one thing to find them, but it's a whole other thing to interact. Actually, it's extremely intimidating.

So I started from the individuals that are ultimately the gateway to my dream job - the recruiters.

The most sensible (and time consuming) strategy to connect with them is by finding them through your connections. I wouldn't recommend connecting with them via mutual groups because in many cases, it's much more impersonal.

In many cases, groups that post jobs also have the recruiter listed in the job description. To set you apart from other applicants, a great strategy to use is to reach out to that recruiter and tell them why they should be looking at you.

In any case, it's important that you add a personal touch considering that in the age of cyber technology, personalization isn't all that common anymore. When everyone is just a block of text behind a screen, standing out makes all the difference.

http://keansocialmedia.blogspot.com