Guerrilla Marking for Job Hunters 2.0 - Jay Conrad Levinson [72]
I can hear you saying, “Geez, Dave, this is a lot of work,” and you are right, but there are a few tricks you can use to decrease the time it takes to be found and it is still a lot faster than looking for a job the old fashioned way. Remember, thousands of recruiters and employers may be looking for you right now and, if they can’t find you, your next job may go to a lesser qualified, more Internet savvy individual. It doesn’t have to be. First, you already have most of the information you need to start a Facebook or MySpace account. Just recycle it from your resume, blog, and web site. Make sure that each Web presence you create links to all the others because this increases your ranking in Google and moves you to the top of the list. Invite your friends and colleagues, current and past. Join groups that are in line with your professional interests.
Last, check out the employers you are targeting by searching for their corporate profile on MySpace and Facebook. If you go to Alexa.com, you can see who has the most traffic of MySpace, Facebook, Monster, and CareerBuilder. Can you guess? Try it!
GUERRILLA INTELLIGENCE
Targeted Advertising with Facebook
Willy Franzen
Traditional career experts will tell you that “job wanted ads” never work. “It’s been done a million times, and it never delivers results.” If you asked about Facebook as a job search tool, they would probably tell you that your embarrassing pictures from college can only cause trouble. “It’s a good way to lose your job or never get hired in the first place. Stay away from it.” This well-meaning advice is dead wrong.
As a business owner, I’ve used Facebook’s targeted advertising platform to bring college grads and internship seekers to my web sites. Since Facebook allows advertisers to target their ads to individuals at a given workplace, I’ve also dabbled in using the advertising to reach employers who might be interested in advertising jobs on my web site. I quickly realized that job seekers can also use Facebook to target employers. To test my idea, I organized an experiment with 5 recent college grads. I encouraged each to design a Facebook ad and target specific companies they would like to work for. Their ads included a picture, a quick note about why they wanted to work for the company, and a link to an online version of their resume. The results were almost immediate—all enjoyed some level of response. One received dozens of e-mails from people willing to help her land a job at their company.
Facebook ads won’t instantly land you a job but they will open the door to new opportunities and get your resume to the top of the pile. By using creativity to stand out, you can make a positive initial impression.
To get started with your ad campaign, all you need is a Facebook account, a credit card, and some sort of publicly accessible online resume (a solid advertising campaign can be done for under $20). Once you have those, head over to www.facebook.com/ads/, and use their simple interface. You can have a campaign running in under 10 minutes.
The most important thing that you must do is write your ad copy specifically for each employer you target—it’s amazing how changing a few words can drastically change the number of people who click on your ad. Once your ads are running, monitor them. Try different variations.
If you do it right, employers will be knocking on your door to talk about their job. From there, it’s up to you to impress them and seal the deal.
For a step-by-step guide on how to manage your own Facebook job-wanted advertising campaign, type the following into Google’s search box, “Use Facebook Ads to make employers hunt you down.”
Willy Franzen is the founder of