As a visitor to
my blog, you’ll know a thing or two about careers. How aware are
you, however, of the concept of the “hidden jobs market”?
The hidden jobs
market is one where jobs are not advertised. Candidates don’t
apply. Instead, it’s a world of headhunters,
where recruiters operate in the shadows to find candidates on behalf
of clients.
In this world,
you don’t apply for jobs. You are approached. To be approached,
you have to be found.
To be found, you
need to be visible. Smart executives (and it’s typically executive
roles that are filled in this way) work hard to be visible to
recruiters. They maintain profiles on sites such as GatedTalent, and
they also ensure that they have a highly optimized Linkedin profile.
What is an
optimized Linkedin profile? It’s one that is designed to get you
found for the job you want. The default perspective of any Linkedin
profile is backwards looking – it looks at what you’ve done,
rather than what you are going to do next. You need to change that
if you want to be found for your next role.
To do this, you
begin by assessing
your skills and the skills needed for the position.
Work out how well they match up and then reference your most relevant
skills on your Linkedin profile. You’ll need to use skills
repeatedly – on your tagline, the summary and so on.
You’ll also
need to push yourself up the search rankings. You can do this in a
variety of ways, but a good tip is to engage on the platform. Post
content on the news feed, and respond to Inmails. Linkedin rewards
those who help it!
I hope that this
advice will help you get on the radar for headhunters, and help you
win your next position!
