Often, executives present me with the following question:
“Should I join LI Jobs or post in my profile that I am looking for another opportunity?”
Let’s talk about overexposure for a minute and dispel a few myths. I will begin back in my recruiting days… Companies used to pay me handsomely to bring those three “perfect” candidates that matched exactly what it was they were having such a hard time finding (often no easy task). Unfortunately, if he or she was currently in a job search or between companies, that candidate lost some cache – even if the candidate was a perfect fit. Because search fees are substantial, there was a lot of pressure on me to bring my client company candidates they perceived they could not find on their own; and I think that is the key – client companies didn’t want to pay me a fee to “find” someone who was already “available.” They frowned on that.
That is why recruiters are not looking for people who are looking for jobs.
Now this is just a hunch, but I believe my theory should be given serious merit by job seekers who are thinking of posting their availability on their LinkedIn profile.
I will add, yes, it is probably not likely, but it is possible that you might lose out on a position because you did not post that you were “available.” In the end you must make your choices based on your own unique circumstances. I think as a whole though, executives need to look at the problem of branding and overexposure. What, after all, are we trying to create with our “branding” message?
One of your goals should be to communicate a story line that demonstrates your unique value. This can be done by communicating your “specialty” strengths and attributes, your leadership skills and your quantifiable results, or what happens when you do what you do. Tie it all up in a short message that says, “this is the promise of the experience you are going to have by knowing/working with/hiring me.” In this message we want to create cache, allure and intrigue. In my 17 years’ experience as both a recruiter and resume writer/job search coach, I haven’t seen anyone accomplish this by screaming from the rooftops that they were in the job market. I know some might disagree with me, but please consider that my perspective is based on real world experience working closely with well over 1000 executives to date.
What do you want to convey in your job search? Leadership. Confidence. Control. A professional attitude. You are not desperate. You are not “eagerly seeking your next opportunity.” The more people think they may not be able to have you, the more they will want you – it’s just human nature. This special place is not reserved for the select few – everyone that cares about optimizing their career should strive to market themselves in a compelling way. This is marketing 101. And in a job search, one of the best investments you can make in your career is learning how to create a marketing plan for yourself and how to market yourself. No ad says “BUY ME! BUY MY PRODUCT!” No, the ads are geared to make us WANT the product. Of course, we’re not products; I’m just making a marketing observation.
So even if you find marketing distasteful (or worse, disingenuous), if you can’t communicate why someone should hire you, then how are you ever going to have a chance to help them? Your dream job at your dream salary isn’t distasteful is it? Exactly. Learn how to market yourself or pay someone to show you. Your ROI will be tremendous. 
Agree 100%. Marketing 101 and supply/demand 101.
LinkedIn consultants are often not well schooled in these principals.
By the way, check out cache vs cachet:
http://grammarist.com/usage/cache-cachet/
French gives me fits.
Staying positive as ordered,
Kent V 🙂
Ha HA Kent – well done!
I have always been reluctant to indicate that I am looking for a job.
However there is an other side to the argument. If you are trying to tap into the hidden job market, maybe Linkedin would be an appropriate forum to inform your contacts that you are in the market and would be grateful for a referral? If you were to support that argument you would be hopeful that prospective employers are not the same as your contacts and would not be visiting your profile to see that you are desperate for a job.
Hi Mary,
Great feature! Thank you. 1 or 2 (or more 🙂 comments if I may?
First section
– the frowning part – a bit of a surprise to read I must say (not that I disbelieve it of course). I just don’t understand it! Now, I’m not a recruiter at all and I have NIL experience with being one but having said that, isn’t it the premier role of a recruiter to source candidates that are perfect and near perfect fit – as you already state? How so does it matter WHERE they are sourced from and WHAT their current life-situation is? Why is it (or was it) so that your clients for favoured candidates there were really “pilfered”? Was that because a candidate really ought to be headhuntered i.e. physically taken out of an existing work environment?
– the “screaming part”- loved that portion and I certainly agree as well 100% …. but. In the context of linkedIn let’s also keep in mind that while you may not want to scream to the world that you are now really available here and now, you may want to let your network know – proactively. LinkedIn is good for that in a jiffy but obviously is much more favourable to do such comm. one on one.
A bigger question I struggle with – how efficient is LinkedIn really in a) finding the right candidates and b) getting a new job. Personally I consider my network rather large and I have heard of no-one in it who was either recruited via linkedin or found a new position/job. I’m beginning to question the job value of LinkedIN (not the networking part) but that is obviously biased and rests with the fact that I have limited knowledge to this extent.
Cheers, Per
Hi Per – its just a stigma and no, not fair. But when you have that kind of substantial fee exchanging hands (15% to 30% of candidates first year salary) – companies have expectations.
Yes you can let your network know – but generally people don’t know what companies are hiring and if they DO – then you have built in competition already for the position. I prefer the more focused approach of going after companies that are moving / growing / expanding (hiring).
Linked in can be very effective if used correctly. If you sign up for my ezine on my site – you will see next week’s article is all about that. 🙂
Thank you for your comments!
Hi, I’m researching Linkedin for my blog http://thepainfulhunt.blogspot.co.uk/ . What I want to know is, how do we make connections? When you’re first starting out looking for a job you can often have very few people to actually connect? So would you advise just to start connecting with people you want to connect with or would you not advise that?