If you're a savvy job hunter who knows that 80 percent of job vacancies are filled through networking before they ever "hit the street" then you are probably already networking through family, friends, professional associations, college alumni, volunteering and social media. But, are you tapping into talent communities? If not, start now. In a few minutes you could be directly connected to an employer whose team you've been dying to join.
Companies with large recruiting budgets are building online forums, known as talent communities, to engage with potential candidates long before trying to hire them. They can be found in the careers sections of companies’ websites. You can sign up using a social media account or by providing basic contact information, share a little about yourself and the types of jobs you have your eye on and that's it! You will have opened yourself to a whole new level of networking.
Take for example, Zappos, a company that invites you to become an Insider in just a few clicks. Zappos considers its talent community the best way for you and them to get to know each other and touts the Zappos Insider (Jobs.jobvite.com/zappos/p/inside) as "a special membership for people who want to stay in touch with us, learn more about our fun, zany culture, know what's happening at our company, get special inside perspectives and receive team specific updates from areas are most interested in."
Marriott International calls its talent community hospitalityonline and has a Facebook page (@marriottjobsandcareers) where you can meet the talent community crew who are ‘the official voices of Marriott International who are here to converse with you on social media channels.”
Recruiting approaches like these obviously benefit the employers, but don't take lightly the fact that they can also push you way ahead of your job market competition. Imagine this:
- Instead of trying to dig up information about what's going on in a company, the information will literally come to you.
- Instead of getting emails blasts about anything and everything, you decide what types of alerts you want to receive, like those about products and services, business happenings and affiliations with local community organizations.
- Instead of reading generic FAQs and marketing material, opt to attend company-specific webinars, chats and other online events that enable you to interact with recruiters, current employees and past employees who want you to ask burning questions and who will give you answers.
- Instead of reading through countless job boards and applying for everything, find out only about jobs for which you are best suited before they are announced to the general public, which narrows down the field of competition and that's the whole point, right?
Once you have gotten to know the company and employees, and become known to them, use all the insight you've gleaned from the experience to present the best picture of how you are a match for that company. Tailor your resume, application and cover letter, and do mock interviews to practice showing how well-informed you are when the right job comes around. Not only might you find yourself on the short list of candidates, but you may soon find yourself on the other side of that very same talent community, providing a leg up to others. Recruiters are going out of their way to find YOU. Be found!
After all, as the saying goes, "If you stay ready, you never have to get ready."
