A non-compete agreement is a contract between you and your current, and — possibly — former, employers that usually imposes some limitations to your employment options after you no longer work for this employer.

Typically, the employer requires employees to sign a non-compete to protect the organization from an employee taking important competitive information with them to a new job with a competitor.

Non-compete agreements usually apply to you when you have moved on to your next employer. So they are very important to your future.

9 Non-Compete Agreement Tips

Whether you’re searching for a new job or signing on to the job of your dreams, it’s important to be aware of the terms of the non-compete agreement that you are asked to sign.

If you sign, or have already signed, a non-compete, retain a copy of the agreement for your records in your home or other safe place off your employer’s premises.

Often, you have no choice about signing a non-compete agreement, if you want to to work for the employer.

NO guarantees, but these tips can help understand what you have signed and possibly help reduce your risk of a legal battle.

NOTE: The information provided is intended as a broad, general overview and is not legal advice.

1. Be aware of your non-compete.  

Before you sign, it’s a good idea to have someone knowledgeable review the agreement to assess the scope and enforceability of post-termination restrictions. You may be able to negotiate revisions.

If you’ve already signed a non-compete, you’ll want to be aware of what the document says so that you can assess how it may affect your future business plans.

2. Be prepared to answer questions about previous non-competes.  

Prospective employers are likely to ask about previously signed non-competes.  They don’t want to be surprised by a former employer seeking to enforce restrictions.

3. How enforceable is the non-compete?

The law favors allowing people to earn a living in their chosen profession.  Overly broad restrictions are not enforced.

As a general rule, non-compete agreements are enforceable if they:

• are fair and reasonable (in scope, duration & geography);
• protect legitimate business interests; and
• do not impose substantial hardship (preclude a person from earning a living).

To make the agreement “reasonable,” suggest that the restrictions be limited to direct solicitation of customers or working on specific projects of direct competitors.

4. Has there been a material change in your employment since you signed the non-compete?  

A non-compete may become invalid and unenforceable as a result of a “material change” in employment. “Material change” includes changes in compensation, responsibilities, direct reports and title.  If you have received a promotion or job change, the original non-compete may no longer be valid.

5. Ask whether everyone is required to sign the same agreement.  

The non-compete needs to be tailored to the specific situation. The type of position and duties involved greatly influence the individual’s access to company confidential information and the potential for harm to the company.  Hence, post-employment restrictions are appropriate to protect legitimate company interests for employees with access to key technologies or key customers. A boilerplate, “one-size fits all” non-compete, is less likely to be enforceable.

6. During your job search, don’t use company time or resources.  

If you’re planning to leave, remember that as an employee, you have a duty of loyalty to your employer.  This means it’s usually OK to work on your job search or your next business opportunity on your own time (nights and weekends) but it’s not OK to work on the job search  during the employer’s work time or using employer resources.

7. Exit carefully.  

If you’ve signed a non-compete, and you’re going to work for a competitor, you’ll want to carefully plan your transition.

I encourage employees to leave on good terms, if possible.

Sometimes the former employer can become a customer or potential business partner.  If that’s not possible, plan your departure and transition carefully to avoid a direct violation of the non-compete and hence reduce your risk.  Sometimes, departing employees position themselves to be “laid off” or “fired” or appear to be pursuing another activity.

8. Do not take any company confidential information with you.  

Do not take (or email) any company confidential information.  Use a personal email account (not the company’s email system) for any communications related to your next business opportunity.

Be VERY careful in job interviews for your next job. Sometimes an employer asks you in for an interview only to “pick your brain” about what your current employer does or how they do it. Read 5 Landmines to Avoid when Interviewing at Competitors for detailed information.

9. Keep a low profile (for a while).

Sometimes employers want to “set an example” to keep other employees in line, so it’s better to keep a low profile and avoid provoking the former employer.

The Bottom Line on Non-Compete Agreements

To achieve a smooth job transition and reduce the risk of a legal battle about a non-compete, it is wise to get experienced legal advice. Reasonable non-competes are enforced to protect an employer’s legitimate business interests. Departing employees can reduce their risk by using these tips to anticipate and prepare for issues related to their non-compete.

More Information About Non-Compete Agreements

• Overview of Non-Competition
  Agreements from FindLaw.com
• 5 Landmines to Avoid when Interviewing at
  Competitors

The post Understanding Non-Compete Agreements: Definition & Tips appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Using these techniques, Google will likely become much more useful to you.

These tips help you leverage many of Google’s hidden capabilities.

Become an “advanced Googler”! Use Google to help you find jobs and potential employers, to research those employers (financial stability, competitors, etc.), and to separate the good opportunities from the not-so-good ones.

Leverage Google to prepare for job interviews, as described in Job Interview Preparation with Smart Google Research. To avoid an employer heading for trouble, check out the 50 Google Searches to Avoid Bad Employers and Layoffs.

7 Tips for Better Google Job Search Results

Google is the largest and most popular search engine in the world, constantly changing and trying to improve. Google offers many tools to help users find exactly what they need. In this post, find 7 very useful functions for job seekers that Google has implemented.

Note: Not every website is included in Google’s database of Web sites. Some sites are not included because they are very new or are designed in a way that Google cannot see or catalog the site’s contents.

For best results, review the Google Search Ground Rules to be sure that you understand those basics (like the use of quotation marks). This post builds on the concepts in that post.

  1. Ask Google to find local jobs.  

When you simply type “jobs near me” into the Google search bar, you will find this blue box with a short list of jobs available where Google thinks you are located (the text in “Your location” below). At the bottom of the box will usually be a link to more jobs.

Notice that Google offers you the ability to choose the industry, age of the job postings (new is best), type of job (Full-time, Part-time, Contractor, or Internship), additional keywords, and many other options.

Click on the arrow at the right for more options. Or, scroll down the list of jobs and click on the link at the bottom to go directly to the Google for jobs page to see more job listings.

  2. Find potential target employers using Google Maps.  

Often, employers have open jobs that have not been posted anywhere public (a.k.a., “the hidden job market“). So, finding and reaching out to these local employers can be a great way to find a new job with minimal competition.

Google Maps can be a very handy way to find local employers. Simply go to maps.google.com, choose your preferred location (if it is not already on the map). Type the kind of employer you want into the search bar.

The example below shows what the results page looks like when you type “accounting firms near Boston” (without the quotation marks) into the search bar.

Click on the “+” sign on the map to get a closer look at the search results and where the employers are located. Use your mouse to shift the map around to see results in different locations.

Click on the image below to see live search results on Google Maps.

Click on any of the red dots on the map, and a box will open that gives you the address, contact information, a link to the website (if available), plus the times the business is open (if available).

  3. Tell Google the time frame you want for the search results.  

Perhaps you are interested in the latest news about an employer you are considering or the newest jobs at a specific employer. If so, choosing the time frame for search results should be very helpful. [Note: this is not necessary for the “Jobs near me” search.]

If you want the search results to be focused on a specific time frame, Google offers you the ability to limit the search results to a specific period by clicking on the “Tools” link and then clicking on the “Any time” link above the first search results. Google offers you the ability to limit the search results to a specific period in the past.

By default, the time frame used is “Any time,” but you can easily change that to a more recent period by choosing from the options Google provides (past year, past month, past week, etc.) or clicking on the “Custom range…” link to specify the exact dates you want.

To check on the latest news before you leave for your interview, choose “Past 24 hours” or whatever time frame would cover the last time you checked for news about the employer.

  4. Ask Google to fill in the blank.  

When you are not sure exactly the word to use in a phrase, replace that word with an asterisk ( * ) with spaces on both sides of it. When it sees the asterisk, Google will replace the asterisk with a word it thinks you might need.

For example, perhaps you want an entry level job or assistant job, but you aren not yet sure which job title you want, you could type this query into Google to have Google show you your options –

“entry level * job”   –   This search would find many different entry level jobs

“assistant * job”   –   This would find many different assistant jobs, including assistant cook, assistant bookkeeper, assistant manager, etc.

[Remember, from the Google Ground Rules, that Google will search on a phrase when you enclose the phrase inside quotation marks, as above.]

Or, maybe you want a manager job in a new location (not “near me”), but you are not sure what is available in that location. If you are curious about the jobs in the Boston and Cambridge area of Massachusetts, this search would show you the different manager jobs available in that location —

” * manager” job (Boston OR Cambridge)   –   This would find many different kinds of manager jobs, like project manager, marketing manager, etc. located either in Boston or Cambridge

In the last example, putting Boston OR Cambridge inside parenthesis helps Google understand which words are included in the either/or statement.

  5. Tell Google to find EXACTLY what you’ve typed into the search bar.  

This is the opposite of the fill-in-the-blank asterisk search above.

Because Google tries to help us find what we are searching for, the Google spell checker often corrects our misspelling and typos when we type our search queries into Google’s search bar. Most of the time, this is a good thing.

But, sometimes, even if what we type looks misspelled or there are many different versions of the word or other version of the search query, we want Google to find exactly what we typed into the search bar.

Fortunately, Google provides a way for us to tell Google to search for exactly what we have entered, without “correcting” the query or using stemming. This is called “Verbatim” search.

To activate the Verbatim search, click on the “Tools” link (circled in the top right of the image above) on the search results page.

Next, click on the term “All results” (in the box in the image above), and select “Verbatim” from the short drop-down list. When the check mark appears beside Verbatim, Google has accepted your choice and will apply it to your next search..

  6. Focus the search on a specific website.  

To focus Google’s search to a specific website: Use Google’s Site Search capability. Type your query into Google’s search box, type the word “site” with a colon (:) after it. Then, immediately following “site:” add the domain name of site you want searched.

For example, to search through the Harvard University website for an administrative assistant position, you would use this search query —

Please note! Do NOT put a space between the “site:” and the domain name you want Google to search. The search will NOT WORK if you add a space after the “:” and before the domain name.

Perhaps you are looking for Amazon recruiters on LinkedIn without logging into LinkedIn. Since some employers use the term “talent acquisition” rather than recruiter, an either/or query works best —

(recruiter OR “talent acquisition”) Amazon site:linkedin.com

To specify the company name and a location and searches only in LinkedIn, an additional version of this query could be —

(recruiter OR “talent acquisition”) Amazon Boston site:linkedin.com/in/

This search goes directly to the LinkedIn Profiles by specifying site:linkedin.com/in/.

If your goal is an administrative assistant job at a college or university in the Boston area, you could search for jobs in ALL .edu websites by using this query —

“administrative assistant” Boston site:.edu

Or, use your target employer’s domain name and location to limit the search to that employer.

  7. Have Google exclude one or more specific websites.  

Perhaps one or two sites dominate the search results, and you would like see your options without those sites cluttering up the results. Google offers you the option of adding a minus sign (-) immediately ahead of the domain name for the site you would like to have removed from the search results.

So, the query site:URL becomes –site:URL with a minus sign immediately in front of the “site:URL” part of the query, like this query which would exclude search results from both Indeed.com and Monster.com —

Please note! Do NOT put a space between the “site:” and the minus sign. The search will NOT WORK if there is a space between the minus sign and the “site:”.

In this example, above, we are searching for administrative assistant jobs with a focus on results from sites other than Indeed.com and Monster.com. We could also have excluded employers we did not want to see in the results by adding the -site:example.com (using the employer’s real domain name) to the query.

Again, if you choose, you can exclude whole categories of employers by excluding specific top level domains. So, your query could contain a search term like -site:.edu to avoid all colleges and universities.

  BONUS Tip: Combine the techniques.  

When you have a complex search, you can combine the various techniques into one long query.

For example, assume you wanted an assistant job for a bank located in Boston or Cambridge, MA, but you do not want to work for the South Cambridge Savings Bank because your spouse works there.

And you prefer to see jobs on employer websites so you want Google to exclude results from the big job boards like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor.

This is how you would structure that query –

“administrative assistant” job (boston OR cambridge) bank -“south cambridge savings” -site:indeed.com -site:ziprecruiter.com -site:glassdoor.com -site:linkedin.com

So, you have two phrases, one to be included in search results (“administrative assistant”) and one to be excluded (–“south cambridge savings”). You have a included an either/or (boston OR cambridge) and a single term (job). In addition, you have excluded results from several websites.

That’s a pretty complicated search, but the results should be exactly what you want. And they are! Of course, you can refine this search even more based on the search results you receive. Perhaps there is another bank or job board to be excluded.

When you find the perfect search, one that you would like to use in the future, set up a Google Alert, and Google will run the search for you again and again (you decide how often).

The Bottom Line on Using Google for Your Job Search

Maximize the benefit you have from using Google by becoming an “advanced Googler” — leveraging Google capabilities that few people know how to use, making your job search smarter and shorter.

More About Using Google for Your Job Search:

• Google Search Ground Rules
• Interview Preparation with Smart Google Research
• 50 Google Searches to Avoid Bad Employers and Layoffs
• Defensive Googling: Know What Employers Find Associated with Your Name
• Setting Up Google Alerts
• 5 Google Alerts for Your Job Search

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post Search Smarter: 7 Ways to Leverage Google for Your Job Search appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Because of all that searching, monitoring your online reputation via Defensive Googling is not optional today!

Being inappropriately visible in search results can be very damaging to your job search, your career, and even your social life.

Employers are recruiters are not the only ones researching job candidates.

What do you do when you are considering working with someone or meeting them socially? You Google them! People research those they have met — or are meeting — for business or socially.

Employers and Recruiters Research Job Candidates

Making a “bad hire” can be career suicide for the recruiter, HR, and the hiring manager, so they research candidates they are considering to learn as much as they can.

Even when you are employed, your employer may also Google you and other employees. Having an employee post something nasty in social media can be embarrassing and cause the employer to lose business or be publicly humiliated, which they want to avoid.

A 2018 CareerBuilder survey revealed that:

• 47% of employers have rejected applicants because they could not find any online visibility associated with the applicant’s name.
• 48% of employers Google their current employees (10% do it daily).
• 70% of employers research job applicants via social networks.

However, only 30% of job seekers worry about their online reputations. BIG MISTAKE!

You must know who and what is found when your name is Googled (or Binged, etc.)

The actions of someone else – who has the same name you have – could be sabotaging your job search.

Recruiters who Google the name you put on their application or in your resume will be unaware that the “bad” person Google showed them is not you. Result: opportunity lost! Perhaps, many opportunities…

Mistaken Online Identity Is a Major Issue – Defensive Googling Is the Solution

Since the best defense is a good offense, find out what is available online related to your name. If you don’t know about a problem, you won’t be able to address it. When you do know that someone else has the same name, you can differentiate yourself from the individual(s) with the problem.

You need to use one version of your name consistently for your job search and career. I call that your computer “screen name.” Your name is one of the most important keywords for your job search — critical for your personal online reputation management and personal SEO.

[MORE: Your Most Important Keywords.]

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  1. Search Google (and Bing and DuckDuckGo) for the name(s) you have been using in your resumes, job applications, and other job search documents.  

You need to know if someone who has the same name you have is causing you a problem in your job search to avoid using that version of your name.

To search –

Type the name you usually use on your resume into a Google (or Bing) search bar with quotation marks around it, like this:

“Robert Smith”

Enclosing your name within quotation marks tells Google and Bing that you want those words in a phrase, side-by-side. Otherwise, the search engines will show you results where those two words appear anywhere on the same web page, regardless of how far apart or unrelated in context.

If you typically include your middle initial, middle name, or some other configuration, search for that version of your name, too.

NOTE: Use an “Incognito” or “Private” version of the browser for the best results because it ignores all of your previous search history, showing you what most people see when they do the search. If you are using Chrome as your browser, click on the 3 dots in the top right side of the browser and choose “New incognito window.” Then, type your search into the search bar as usual. All browsers offer you this ability.

[MORE: Case Study: How One Guy Named Bob Almost Ruined Another Bob’s Job Search.]

  2. Carefully study the first two to five pages of search results.  

Look for anything negative that an employer would see associated with your name (even if it is NOT about you).

This could include photos and videos as well as standard web pages, blog posts, comments on blog posts, news items, public records (like court dockets), and other information readily available online.

If you find something inappropriate associated with your name – something that would make an employer put your resume in the “reject” pile rather than the “possible” pile – you have a potential problem.

The problem could be someone with your name who has been arrested for drunk driving, posted inappropriate photos of themselves in social media, been accused of being a tax cheat, contributed racist, sexist, or other nasty “*ist” comments on blogs, or hundreds of other things.

If that entry is on the 8th page, and moving down toward the 9th, it may not be a big issue. But if it is on the first page or the second page, pay close attention. Monitor that entry. You need to find a version of your name without something bad associated with it.

  3. Continue to search using different variations of your name until you find a “undamaged” version or a version that is undamaged in your location.  

A clean version of your name does not have anything negative – from anyone – associated with it, but it is still your real name. Check all the versions of your name you can think of – with your middle name or middle initial, etc.

My favorite example of smart name usage is the famous actor, James Earl Jones. There are probably very many people named “Jim Jones” in the world, and one is definitely infamous. But James Earl Jones is distinctive!

He could have called himself “JJ,” “Jim Jones,” “Jimmy Jones,” “James Jones,” or even ”James E. Jones.” But there is no confusing him with anyone else now. He claimed a clean version of his name, and made it famous.

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  4. Claim that version of your name with LinkedIn.  

The best place to take ownership of your name is LinkedIn. Recruiters use LinkedIn relentlessly and consistently, making it the perfect place to grab your professional name.

If you must, add (or remove) a middle name or middle initial. A woman can add her maiden or married name. You can also add other identifiers to make your name unique, like a college degree or professional certification.

You are not changing your “legal name” — you are only changing the professional identity you make visible online.

  5. Consistently use that version of your name for your job search, work, and career.  

Use that professional version of your name, and use it consistently for your job search.

This will enable recruiters and others to connect your job search, career, and business documents to your LinkedIn Profile.

• Resume
• Cover Letters
• Email address
• Email signature
• Business/networking cards
• Job applications
• Meeting badges and name tags
• Online professional visibility (LinkedIn, professional associations, etc.)
• Anything else related to your job search or career

Keep everything “in sync” particularly in relation to your LinkedIn Profile.

  6. Set up a Google Alert on all versions of your name, including the “clean” version.  

Keep track of what is happening to your clean name in case someone else using that name does something that makes it unusable.

Google Alerts are free and will notify you when something new associated with the name appears in Google search results.

[MORE: Setting Up Google Alerts and 5 Ways to Use Google Alerts for Your Job Search.]

  7. Use a different name or identity for other online activities.  

If you like to argue online about politics, religion, sports, or some other controversial topic publicly on the Internet (Facebook, NOT LinkedIn), separate the professional you from the you who gets into unprofessional online disagreements by using another name.

Separate your professional identity from your private life to keep your professional reputation as clean as possible. Use a different version of your name, and use a different email address as well when you rant about politics, sports, or religion.

Online Reputation Management Is the New Reality

With those 100 million name searches a day on Google, this is NOT “vanity Googling” or “ego surfing.” This is “defensive Googling” – enlightened 21st century self-defense!

Defensive Googling is just the beginning of an online reputation management program, and it should not be suspended when the job seeker has found a new job. Mistaken online identity is a permanent risk for all of us, unless we have particularly unique names.

The Bottom Line

Being appropriately visible today is a requirement for most careers. Invisibility kills opportunities. So, be appropriately visible and be sure that when someone looks for you, they find the real you. Do not be a victim of mistaken online identity when someone who shares your name misbehaves publicly. Know what is going on for you!

More about Online Reputation Management:

• Guide to Online Reputation Management
• Finding the Best Version of Your Name for Your Job Search
• How Name Confusion Can Make Your Job Search More Difficult
• Your Most Important Keywords
• Guide to Personal SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• 5 Ways You Look Out of Date in Your Job Search
• Microsoft Privacy Study

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post Guide to Defensive Googling appeared first on Job-Hunt.

You may lead a blameless life, but a bank robber, sex offender, drunk driver, or someone else with a bad reputation and with your name could be sabotaging your job search.

No, I’m not referring to what we traditionally think of as “identity theft” — this person didn’t steal your Social Security Number and run up bills in your name. No!

I’m referring to “mistaken online identity.”

Mistaken online identity happens often, can be badly damaging your online reputation, and — worst! — you won’t be aware of it unless you regularly practice “Defensive Googling.”

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Defensive Googling – Minimize Mistaken Online Identity

It probably seems unlikely to happen to you, and, hopefully, it never will happen to you.

Unless your name is very unique, it could happen to you.

Best to understand how it works and what you can do about it.

  The Sad Story of Two Women Named Mary  

A professional resume writer shared the true story of what happened to one of her clients.

  Mary #1:  

She is an accomplished professional woman, a senior manager working in a well-regarded company.  She was looking for a job, and she hired the resume writer to help her with her resume. Her resume was impressive, accurately reflecting the person, experience, accomplishments, skills, and knowledge.

  Mary #2:  

She is a disbarred attorney living in the same state as Mary # 1, and also is named in a very visible Supreme Court obscenity case.  She uses the same name Mary # 1 used in her resume, LinkedIn Profile, and other job search documents because it is her name, too. Nothing illegal. Just very damaging to Mary #1.

The story:

Being experienced as a hiring manager, Mary #1 was sending her resume in a very rational, targeted way to people she connected with through networking.

She sent out her resume, carefully, for four months, with absolutely no result at all. Not even a thanks-but-no-thanks letter or message from these people she had met through her networking and thought she had developed some rapport with.

Mary # 1 couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Bad breath? Her age? Her appearance? Her LinkedIn Profile? WHAT was going on?

Finally, after four months of nothing, Mary #1 Googled her name. YIKES! Then, she found Mary #2.

The people who received Mary #1’s resume thought she might be Mary #2, and they were not interested in hiring Mary #2 for the job Mary #1 was seeking.

 How Did Mary #1 Recover?  

Being a smart woman, determined not to make the same mistake twice, Mary # 1 Googled several versions of her real name (with her middle initial, with her whole middle name, extending her first name from Mary to Maryanne, which is her real first name). She discovered that no one had (yet) sullied the version of her name which uses her middle initial, Mary W.

So, Mary # 1 added her middle initial to her name in:

• her resume,
• her LinkedIn Profile,
• her cover letters
• her email address,
• her email signature
• her business / networking cards, and
• everything else related to her professional identity in the world.

Then, she set up a Google Alert on her name, both the old and the new versions, so she can keep track of Mary #2 as well as monitor the current name (maybe there’s another Mary W #2 out there somewhere).

 Mary #1 Recovers!  

Within 2 weeks of changing the name she used for her job search, Mary W. was invited in for an interview after sending a resume (with the new version of her name) to an employer. More success followed, and she reportedly is happily working in a new job.

So, What Should You Do?

RIGHT NOW – Google yourself!

Type your name into Google’s search bar and enclose it in quotation marks, like this –

“First name Last name” (or whatever name you use in your job search documents)

The quotation marks around your name tell Google that you want it to find the pages where those 2 words are side-by-side, in a phrase.

Yes, I know some people call it “vanity Googling” or “ego surfing” – ignore them!

“Defensive Googling” is a much more accurate name, and it’s the smart thing to do all the time, but particularly during a job search.

You could be a victim of Mistaken Online Identity, but you won’t know unless you look.

But, you say, I haven’t done anything stupid on Facebook!  Excellent!   However, someone else with the same name may not have been as smart or as careful.  And their misdeeds could be impacting your job search.

Employers Google/Bing job seekers more than 80% of the time, according to recent research. Someone out there who looks like you may be hurting your chances, even if it is not really you.

Employers these days don’t have the time – or the need – to determine if the bad stuff they have found is about the applicant they are considering.

They just move on to the next applicant, and discard your application.

Bottom Line

We can no longer successfully operate in the world with our cyber-head stuck in the sand (to mangle an old cliche a bit). We must pay attention to our online reputations, or risk some very negative results to our reputations and, consequently, to our job searches.

More about Online Reputation Management:

• Defensive Googling: Find (& Fix) Mistaken Online Identity
• 5 Ways You Look Out of Date in Your Job Search
• Guide to Using Google for Job Search
• Microsoft Privacy Study

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post Case Study: How Name Confusion Can Make Your Job Search More Difficult appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Research with Google can help you discover if an employer is declining so you can avoid going to a bad employer or leave one that is headed for trouble.

Companies go out of business. Or, they layoff staff, and then go out of business.

Best not to be the last employee hired before the layoffs begin.

If you are unemployed, stay informed about potential employers so you can avoid pursuing employment with an employer who may stop hiring or may provide only short-term employment. You don’t want to be job hunting again very soon (right?).

If you are employed and your employer seems to be having a tough time, start thinking about moving on to another employer. Read Job-Hunt’s free Layoff Self-Defense ebook for suggestions about how to prepare to move on easily and smoothly.

Below, find more than 50 search queries in 5 categories of information that can be strong indicators of pending layoffs. Test them until you finds the queries that work the best for you.

Your mileage may vary. Companies with excellent management or very good luck can recover from setbacks, but not every company has excellent management or great luck.

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Use Google Search for Career Self-Defense

Millions of businesses appear while others disappear or “down-size.” Constantly…

Fortunately, being well-informed is easier today than ever, thanks to Google.

Discover the bad news, or speculation, about your current employer — or a potential employer. Having your antenna up (with Google) should help you avoid moving into an employer or a group/division that is failing. You may also leave a bad situation (the employer as a whole or a vulnerable part of it) before all employees are branded as undesirable by other employers.

Most Google searches are automatically “Everything” searches which includes websites, images, video, shopping, and other options. To learn the latest about your employer (or potential employer), the “News” searches may be more helpful for this research. So, news.google.com is a great starting point!

Read the Google Search Ground Rules to understand what Google can and cannot do for you. Also check out Google-izing Your Job Search article for advanced search tips to better leverage Google.

How to Use These Queries

Try these Google searches. Some will work better for you than others, and some may not be appropriate for your situation. Refine your search based on the search results you get.

Copy the search queries below for your searches. Then:

• Replace the brackets [  ] and the words enclosed inside those brackets with the term described.
• Put quotation marks “around phrases” << like that.

So [insert company name] restructuring becomes “JP Morgan Chase” restructuring — if that is the employer you are researching.

General Bad News

This simple query will flag any bad news about a company –

[insert company name here] “bad news”

5 Kinds of Bad News

Searching for specific kinds of bad news can be the most effective way to uncover problems that may be developing.

1. Restructuring or closure of a plant or office

Try these searches to find information about part of a company shutting down, which usually means that some jobs will be lost (and probably not filled in other parts of the company as employees are transferred):

[insert company name here] restructuring

[insert company name here] “reduction in force”

[insert company name here] “down-sizing” OR downsizing

[insert company name here] “right-sizing” OR rightsizing

[insert company name here] “head count reduction” OR “headcount reduction”

[insert company name here] “layoff pending”

[insert company name here] “layoff planned”

[insert company name here] “reduction in head count” OR “reduction in headcount”

[insert company name here] “moving production”

[insert company name here] “halting production”

[insert company name here] “ending production”

[insert company name here] “stopping production”

[insert company name here] “plant closing”

[insert company name here] “office closing”

[insert company name here] “branch closing”

[insert company name here] “division closing”

[insert company name here] “shutting down”

[insert company name here] “consolidating operations”

[insert company name here] “ending production”

[insert company name here] closing

2. Drop in sales or revenue

Try these searches to find information about sales or revenue going down, which may lead to layoffs to reduce expenses –

[insert company name here] “sales drop”

[insert company name here] “reduction in sales”

[insert company name here] “earnings drop”

[insert company name here] “reduced profits”

[insert company name here] “profits drop”

[insert company name here] “revenue dropping”

[insert company name here] “negative revenue” forecast

[insert company name here] “negative outlook”

[insert company name here] “negative sales forecast”

[insert company name here] “negative revenue forecast”

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3. Product or service discontinued

Try these searches to find information about products or services being discontinued because the people responsible for producing those products or providing those services may no longer be needed –

[insert company name here] “production discontinued”

[insert company name here] “production ending”

[insert company name here] “ending production”

[insert company name here] “will cease production” [insert product name here]

[insert company name here] “production ends” [insert product name here]

[insert company name here] “line closing” [insert product name here]

[insert company name here] discontinued [insert product name here]

[insert company name here] “no longer available” [insert product name here]

4. Company being sold

When a business is purchased by another business, the company doing the purchasing may eliminate jobs in the acquired company that are already being handled by their current employees. For example, two complete financial staffs may not be needed, so some employees of the acquired company may be laid off. Occasionally, employees in the acquiring company lose their jobs.

Try these searches for news about the employer being sold –

[insert company name here] “on the market”

[insert company name here] “looking to be acquired”

[insert company name here] “hoping to be acquired”

[insert company name here] “purchase pending”

[insert company name here] “pending purchase”

[insert company name here] “pending sale”

[insert company name here] “sale pending”

5. Executive or senior manager leaving

When senior executives leave unexpectedly, it may be a sign of turmoil in senior management, and that turmoil may signal the beginning of a decline. Or it may just be the change of one individual’s career. Pay attention if more than one executive seems to leave unexpectedly.

Try these searches to find news about executives leaving your target employers. Use the names of the members of top management. If you are employed, do this search on your current employer using the names of your manager and the other managers up the management structure to the head of the organization –

[insert company name here] “[insert executive name here]” resigned

[insert company name here] “[insert executive name here]” “resigned unexpectedly”

[insert company name here] “[insert executive name here]” departed

[insert company name here] “[insert executive name here]” “departure announced”

[insert company name here] “departure announced”

[insert company name here] resigned

[insert company name here] “resigned unexpectedly”

[insert company name here] fired “[insert executive name here]”

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Save These Queries to Use Again

Once you have refined the searches and figured out which work the best for you, set up Google Alerts for the searches that seem the most productive for you.

Google will email the results to you. Read the Setting Up Google Alerts article for details on how to use Google Alerts.

Bottom Line

Being uninformed today is a dangerous habit. Often a strong or smart employer can overcome bad luck or a change in the economy and survive successfully for many more years. Both Google and Microsoft have had layoffs in the past few years, for example.

Sometimes bad luck or a bad strategy becomes a death spiral, so paying attention is the smartest strategy.

More About Using Google for Your Job Search:

• Guide to Using Google for Job Search
• Google Search Ground Rules
• Search Smarter: 7 Great Ways to Leverage Google’s Power for Your Job Search
• Defensive Googling: Know What Employers Find Associated with Your Name
• Smart Google Research for Successful Job Interviews
• Setting Up Google Alerts
• 5 Google Alerts for Your Job Search

Using Your Google Research in Job Interviews:

• How to Answer the Why-Do-You-Want-to-Work-Here Question
• How to Answer the Why-Should-We-Hire-You Question
• How to Answer the Do-You-Have-Any-Questions Question (50+ possible questions to ask)
• How to Answer the What-Do-You-Know-About-Us Question

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post 50+ Google Searches to Avoid Bad Employers and Pending Layoffs appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Google is not perfect, no question. However, often when someone is describing their Google “problem,” they demonstrate some confusion with how Google works.

Google’s goal is to provide you with the most useful search results — they truly want to help you find exactly what you are seeking.

How Google Search Works

To help you use Google more effectively, here are some “ground rules” to keep in mind when you are using Google for search.

Understanding Google’s assumptions can help you use it much more efficiently.

1. Google assumes you mean “and.”

When you type two (or more) words into the search bar, Google assumes you want to find pages containing all of those words, regardless of how close they may – or may not – be to each other on a page.

Google thinks you are using an “and” between those words, even if you don’t type that word into your query.

Assume you want to find a job located in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, or Chicago, and you type

job milwaukee indianapolis chicago

Typing those terms into Google tells Google that you really mean job (and) Milwaukee (and) Indianapolis (and) Chicago. So, it will show you web pages containing all 4 of those terms scattered across the content.

2. Google ignores capitalization — MOST of the time.

Google ignores capitalization used in queries in most circumstances. So, Google will find the same pages whether you type “Chicago” or “chicago.”  Makes no difference to Google, with these exceptions

The exception to the capitalization-doesn’t-count rule: Either/or queries

Going back to our example above, if you wanted Google to find jobs for you in Milwaukee, Chicago, or Indianapolis, Google could find jobs for you in those cities if you typed the word “or” in all capitals between the city so your query would look like this:

job (milwaukee OR chicago OR indianapolis)

Be sure to put a space on either side of the “OR” and enclose the optional terms inside a set of parentheses, as above, to be sure that Google understands the terms that may replace each other.

If you don’t include the “OR” (in all capitals, as in the example above), Google assumes you intend an “and” between those words, so it would find only those pages which contained all the words – Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Chicago, and job.

[MORE: Google-ize Your Job Search with These Tips and Tricks.]

3. Quotation marks tell Google you have typed in a phrase.

Google always assumes — unless told otherwise — that you want it to find pages which include all of your search terms appearing anywhere on the page, not necessarily close together. 

So, if you are a senior sales and marketing person looking for a job in business development, you might type this search query into Google —

business development

Without quotations marks around the term “business development” Google doesn’t understand that you want pages only where the words appear together in a phrase, so Google would show you all the pages containing those words.

However, in this case, you really want those words side-by-side, in a phrase.  Enclose them inside double quotation marks (” “), as below, and Google will look for that exact phrase.  This search would look like this:

“business development”

This search will have fewer results because the quotation marks were used. This is good! Fewer results are better results because those results are more accurate — they are what you really want.

4. Google recognizes one mathematical symbol.

The minus sign can help you exclude some results from your query.

Assume you are looking for Florida banks (the financial institutions), but your searches for “florida bank” turn up too many irrelevant results related to fish banks and food banks.

How do you exclude results that are not good fits for what you want? Expand your search terms by adding words from the kind of sites you want to exclude (e.g. fish, food), but attach a minus sign (-) to the front of each word. So “fish” becomes “-fish” and “food” becomes “-food” for all the terms to be excluded.

Thus, your Google search query looks like this —

— and Google returns results that include pages that DO contain the phrase “florida bank,” but do NOT contain the words “fish” or “food.”

5. Google lets you specify the kind of results you want to find – news, videos, maps, and more.

By default, Google searches through every kind of web page it can find (a.k.a., “All”).

But, if you know what kind of results you want, you can save time and focus your search results by choosing the type of results you want. To do that, Google offers you the ability to choose a specific category of content by clicking on the appropriate term near the top of the search results page.

Depending on the query, Google’s search results page offers you an easy way to narrow down the search results. On the search results page, depending on the search you have done, Google offers you the option to choose from “All” and “More” plus 3 other options that could be what you might be what you are seeking.

In addition to “All,” the 8 options include: Books, Finance, Flights, Images, Maps, News, Shopping, and Videos. The “More” drop-down menu, circled in the image below, offers options not included in the primary choices, which change depending on your initial search. Selecting one of these options allow you ask Google to find very specific information in one of the categories.

When you have chosen the type of search, Videos, for example, Google will return search results that are videos.

Bottom Line

Most of the world uses Google hundreds of times a day without paying close attention or leveraging all the functionality Google makes available. Leveraging the tips above, Google will be much more effective for you than it has been in the past. For more tips, read 7 Great Ways to Leverage Google’s Power for Your Job Search and see the other links below!

More About Using Google for Your Job Search:

• Search Smarter: 7 Great Ways to Leverage Google’s Power for Your Job Search
• Interview Preparation with Smart Google Research
• 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers
• Defensive Googling: Know What Employers Find Associated with Your Name
• Setting Up Google Alerts
• 5 Google Alerts for Your Job Search

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post 5 Ground Rules for Effective Google Search appeared first on Job-Hunt.

[MORE: Guide to Online Reputation Management.]

Since the vast majority of employers do a search on job seekers’ names before inviting them into an interview, job seekers can and should monitor their names using Google Alerts. Someone else with the same name who has done something shocking, unusual, or disreputable can negatively impact YOUR job search.  Or, your own “digital dirt” may need to be buried.

When employers do their Google search, they won’t know if you are the person who robbed the bank or posed nude, but they probably won’t ask you if it is you or take the time to do more research to find out who it is. So, you might lose out, even if you were not the person who showed up in the Google search. The best defense in this case is knowledge!

Put Google Alerts to Work for Your Job Search!

Type your name in the “Search terms” box. Go to Google.com/alerts, and follow the steps below. Google Alerts are free, very easy to set up, and easy to cancel if you decide you don’t want them.

1. Search query:

Enclose your name inside quotation marks, as in the example below. The quotation marks will tell Google that you want the words in your name as a phrase, so Google will look for all the words together on a page rather than each word separately which is much less useful.

2. Result type?

I suggest “Everything” as the “Type” because that will mean Google searches through the entire Web, blogs, news, discussion, and videos. “Everything” throws the widest net which is what you want in this case.

3. How often?

“Once a day” is my preferred “How often” selection. The other options are “as it happens” and “once a week,” which can drive you crazy with too much activity or not notify you soon enough. If nothing happens on a given day, Google won’t send you an empty message.

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4. How many?

“Only the best results” is Google’s recommendation to keep volume down and to be informed only when a high-quality and relevant result appears. That seems like a good idea to keep from being buried with notifications about insignificant posts.

5. Your email?

Adding your email address and clicking on the “Create Alert” button are the last steps.

Don’t worry, Google won’t send you a message with 50 results in it unless everything in the top 50 results changes at the same time, which is extremely unlikely. More likely, you’ll receive one or two results per message, and only one or two messages per week unless your name is extremely common.

Done!

If you discover that your name is very popular, you should consider modifying your public or professional name to be unique. For example:

• MANY men are named “Jim Jones” but only one of them is “James Earl Jones.”
• Many women are named “Sarah Parker” but only one is named “Sarah Jessica Parker.”

You get the idea. Carve out a unique version of your name, use it on your resume, LinkedIn and Google profiles, and then monitor that name, too.

[MORE: Your Name: Your Most Important Keyword.]

Spelling out your middle name is only one option, find more options plus how to establish and strengthen your personal reputation in  Defensive Googling in 5 Steps and the Guide to Online Reputation Management.

You can establish up to 1,000 Alerts if you set up a Google account (free), enabling you to monitor multiple versions of your name as well as employers who interest you, industry news, competitors, friends, and much more.

For More Information

• How to Do Defensive Googling
• Defensive Googling Example: Beating Mistaken Online Identity
• Your Name: Your Most Important Keyword
• Guide to Online Reputation Management

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post Monitor Your Online Reputation with Google Alerts appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Getting Started

Before you start Googling, you need to do these four things to help you find the job postings you want:

  1. Know the job you want.  

An unfocused web search on Google is as useless as an unfocused job search in real life. “Anything” seems easy to find, but it really is not easy to find because no one describes their job opening as “anything.” Recruiters don’t search for someone who is able to do “anything” and you wouldn’t really want a job where your boss could ask you to do “anything.”

So, figure out the job titles typically used for the job(s) you want to do next. This provides you with the terms you will use in Google, LinkedIn, job boards, and also in your answer the next time someone asks.

In a Google search, add the word “jobs” to the job title to make it clear to Google what you want it to find. So, the search term “administrative assistant” becomes “administrative assistant jobs.”

When you do a jobs search, Google will show you a box, labelled “Jobs” near the top of the search results, likely showing jobs near your location.

  2. Analyze pages like the pages you want Google to find for you.  

Look for terms that are repeated on those pages (like “click to apply”), and then add those commonly-used terms in your search to find similar pages.

Read Ground Rules for Google Search to understand how Google “thinks” and to have the best search results.

  3. Test and modify your Google search until you find the best results for you.  

Often, search results can be improved by adding or removing terms.  Keep testing and modifying until you get the search results you want.

Read Google-ize Your Job Search with These Tips and Tricks for how to structure your search queries.

  4. Save your best search queries so you can re-use them.  

Once you have a search query that works well for you, copy it from the Google search bar, and paste it into a file you save for future use.

You can also use your best search queries to set up Google Alerts so that Google will email results to you when they change.

Tips for Effective Google Searches for Job Postings

If you are looking for a job, you must think like a recruiter or employer. You need to analyze what words people creating the postings you want commonly use in their postings:

  Search for the Correct Job Title  

Most job postings contain the title of the job, so those words should be used in your search. If you are searching for a specific job title, be sure to search using the most commonly used version of the job title, or, better, the job title used by your target employers.

Don’t assume that you know the job title used most often by the employers you want. For example, assume you were a “MIS Manager” for your previous employer. The majority of employers call that job “IT Manager” now, so a search for an MIS manager job would not be particularly effective.

Different employers and different industries often use their own versions of standard job titles. For example, perhaps your current employer calls your job “Member Services Associate,” but most employers use the title “Customer Service Representative” for people doing the work that you do.

This means that searching for “Member Services Associate” jobs won’t get you the results you need if your target job is really called a Customer Service Representative job by most employers.

[Related: Choosing the Best Keywords for Your LinkedIn Profile – discover the terms most employers are using in their job descriptions.]

  Search for the Appropriate Location Name  

If Google does not return “near you” jobs, or if you want to move to another location, you will need to tell Google where you want to work.

To find a job in a specific location, include the name of that location in your search query. Use the words normally used to describe the location, and think about how the location is normally described.

For example, if you are looking for a job in eastern Massachusetts, south of Boston, try terms like “greater Boston,” “South Shore,” “south eastern MA,” “eastern MA,” “south eastern Massachusetts,” or a list of the city names.

See the tips and tricks in the Google-ize Your Job Search article to search in several different locations with one query or Google Alert.

  Add Job Description Terms to Your Search  

If you are ending up with many results that are not job postings or not the job postings you want, you can fix that by adding terms used in job postings to pull those into your search results.

Some job postings contain the term “job description” and many often offer directions about how to apply for the job (like “click to apply” or “submit your resume”).  You can include those words in your search queries to find the jobs they have posted.

So, if you wanted a job as a “customer service” job (but not a bilingual job if your only language is English) in Boston working for a bank, you could search for those job postings using this search query:

bank “customer service” job Boston -bilingual

Often you will find developing effective searches is an iterative process. Looking at the results of the first search will help you refine the structure of the second search, improving your results each time. It shouldn’t take too long to develop the most effective search queries, and then you can turn those into Google Alerts to have Google run them for you on a regular basis.

  Search for the Appropriate Employer Name  

If you have target employers in mind, use those employers’ names in your search queries. When I worked for a company named Digital Equipment Corporation, the outside world often used the whole name in references to the company, or they used the initials, DEC. But, inside the company, we called it “Digital” or, less often, “DEC.” Which version of the name is most commonly used in the company’s job postings? How does the company refer to itself on the website and in press releases?

The Bottom Line:

Google is amazing and can find almost anything on the web for you — if you focus your search and structure your search so that Google understands what you want to find.

More About Using Google for Your Job Search:

• Guide to Using Google for Job Search
• Google Search Ground Rules
• 10 Google Search Tips Plus 3 Tricks
• Finding Jobs Postings Using Google
• 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers
• Defensive Googling: Know What Employers Find Associated with Your Name
• Setting Up Google Alerts
• 5 Google Alerts for Your Job Search

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post How to Find Jobs Using Google appeared first on Job-Hunt.

The amount of content and powerful technology makes Google one of the most important tools for you to use in your job search.

Google also provides tools to help you keep track of what’s happening online while it adds new content to its index

On an consistent basis, Google adds more new tools and services as well as increasing the number of websites included in their index for all of us to access.

Here are some ways that you can leverage Google’s the current tools and content.

8 Ways to Use Google for Your Job Search

We cannot cover all of the tools Google offers, but we’ll cover the ones we think are the most useful to job seekers:

1. Google Search Ground Rules –
   Understand 5 basic ground rules of Google Search.
2. 7 Smart Ways to Leverage Google’s Power for Your Job Search –
   Advanced tips for structuring your queries so Google finds exactly what you want.
3. Interview Preparation with Smart Google Research –
   How to smartly leverage Google to demonstrate your interest to the employer and to avoid bad situations.
4. Setting Up Google Alerts –
   Set up Google Alerts and let Google keep you informed about the topics that are most important to you.
5. Using Google Alerts for your Job Search
   5 ways to leverage Google Alerts to help you in your job search.

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6. 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Weak Employers
   Put Google to work scouring the news for information about your employer (if you have a job) or potential employers (if you are job hunting).
7. Google Alerts to Monitor Your Reputation
   Reputation management with Google Alerts as your first line of defense.
8. Defensive Googling
   Helps you manage your reputation.

Be Find-Able

In addition to finding job postings, understanding how Google (and search) works can make it easier for employers to find you. Read Job-Hunt’s Guide to Personal SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for details on how to be find-able.

Protect Your Online Reputation

In the era of Google and social networks, knowing what recruiters will find about you in a search is important.  And, so is knowing how to fix problems you may find (your problems or those of someone else with the same name). Read Job-Hunt’s Guide to Online Reputation Management for more tips.

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

The post Guide to Using Google for Your Job Search appeared first on Job-Hunt.

What Is “Social Proof”?

Social proof either confirms that you are who you say you are – know what (and who) you claim to know – or it damages your credibility.

For example, let’s say your resume shows that you are an expert in IT project management. Your LinkedIn Profile confirms significant relevant experience and accomplishments. And your activities on LinkedIn – your connections, recommendations, and participation in Groups and Answers – support and demonstrate your expertise. (Excellent! You read and implemented the tips in Social Proof: Linked(In) to Your Resume.)

Twitter can also support your job search by providing added social proof, too, in several ways.

Demonstrate that You “Get” Appropriate Use of Twitter.

A Twitter account, like most things online, can be the proverbial double-edged sword.

• An active Twitter presence is a very good thing for a job seeker to have. It demonstrates understanding and shows participation in today’s important online conversations.
• On the other hand, a badly-done, poorly-managed, or out-dated Twitter presence can hurt a job seeker.

A Twitter account is not always a “good thing” for a job seeker, depending on how it is managed. Potential employers may well see your tweets since 80% of employers conduct online searches about job seekers before inviting them in to an interview.

Do your tweets reflect the same professional image as your LinkedIn Profile? If you have been tweeting nonsense or sports scores, it may not (unless those are the fields you are pursuing). Change that.

Twitter as “Social Proof” of Your Resume and Your Expertise in 5 Steps

With your “business-only/professional/job search” Twitter account, you can enhance and demonstrate what your resume tells potential employers:

1.  Combine your “clean” professional name plus @Username SEO for the greatest impact on the professional/job search Twitter account.

Perhaps, continuing with the IT project manager example, you could establish the Twitter account’s Username as “ITProjectManager” (if it was available). So all of your tweets would come from @ITProjectManager. Nice keywords for search, and good for personal branding as well as SEO (“Search Engine Optimization”). Then, you could use your real name (e.g. Mary Jane Smith) for the Twitter Name on the account, connecting the two (more good SEO). So, when someone visited your Twitter account, they would see: @ITProjectManager  Mary Jane Smith.

(Read about “Defensive Googling” to understand why a clean name is important today, and read the 8 Twitter Power SEO Tips for Job Search post for more information about putting SEO to work for you on Twitter.)

2.  Follow – and connect with – the “thought leaders” in your profession.

Stay up to date with what is going on. Often you can interact with the thought leaders on Twitter which is a good way to become “‘known” in the larger professional community. Since many people follow them, such interactions can bolster your professional reputation online. And be very good networking!

3.  Share good information, on topic, using a professional tone.

Be on the lookout for good articles and information relevant to your profession (set up Google Alerts for “news” on your profession and relevant topics). Tweet and generously ReTweet good information which is on topic about your profession and/or industry.

In general, I think it’s a good idea to stay positive. Try not to spread unsubstantiated rumors and gossip. Stick to news and solid information that will help people or be of interest to your network.

4.  Follow the employers who are your targets.

Many, MANY employers tweet their job postings on Twitter, so it’s a great source of job leads. Search Twitter for the names of employers who interest you. You’ll find individual tweets and you will also find Twitter accounts. These will help you stay up-to-date on the latest news from the employer, and it may also help you connect with someone who already works for the employers you want.

@JobHuntOrg on Twitter created several popular Twitter Lists, and the most popular is Employers-Recruiting on Twitter – nearly 500 employers tweet about their job openings, career fair participation, and other information about their recruiting. Check it out, and follow the List or pick out the employers who interest you from those the List follows.

5. Stay active on Twitter.

Tweeting at least 2 or 3 times a day keeps you involved and visible. It also helps you stay up-to-date with your field and to demonstrate that you are up-to-date. Services like TweetDeck and HootSuite can help you manage a steady stream of tweets without keeping you tied to your keyboard all day.

Be sure to connect your business/professional Twitter account with your LinkedIn account and your other professional activities online using the same name for all of your accounts.

Twitter Just for Fun and Friends

If you enjoy Twitter for personal use – sharing your opinions on many things, people, sports, and political and religious issues – think about having a second “personal” account, separate from the one that supports your job search and career.

If you choose to have (or to use) Twitter only for your personal amusement, disconnect – or don’t connect – that Twitter account with your LinkedIn Profile, and don’t use your “professional” name on the personal/fun account.

Bottom Line

No question – if you have time for only one social network, LinkedIn should be the one. But, savvy use of social media is a job skill growing in importance! So, your skillful use of Twitter and LinkedIn is “social proof” that you understand today’s online social world.  It will help you in your job search, whether you are 24 or 64.

More About Social Proof

• What is social proof?
• How to create and maintain a strong, consistent identity for your social proof.
• How social proof can demonstrate your knowledge and skills.
• Social Proof: Linked(In) to Your Resume
• Social Proof: Twitter and Your Resume

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Facebook, LinkedIn.
More about this author…

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