One of the biggest challenges in launching a stealth job search (a job search you conduct while you’re working) is letting recruiters know you’re open to new opportunities.
You can’t very well update your LinkedIn profile to say “I’m looking for a new job” while you’re still working at your current job!
If your manager found out about your job search, you could be terminated for the crime of job-hunting.
It’s shameful that in the U.S., employers have the right to fire employees for job-hunting or for no reason at all, but that’s how our employment laws work here. Stealth job-seekers have to keep their job-search activities quiet.
If they don’t, they could be out of work before they find the new job they’re looking for.
LinkedIn has launched a feature that makes it easier for stealth job-seekers to tell recruiters they’re open to learning about new opportunities.
If you flip the switch on LinkedIn to let recruiters know you’re job-hunting but you don’t hear from recruiters, that’s a signal from Mother Nature. It means your LinkedIn profile isn’t showcasing your talents and experiences as well as it could be.
Here are steps to take to update your profile so that it does a better job selling you to recruiters and prospective employers.
Once you begin alerting recruiters that you’re open to hearing about job opportunities, it’s time to get your job-search engine up and running!
Here are 10 ways to do that:
1. Get a black portfolio, the type artists carry around with them, and begin filling it with samples of your work. A visual representation of your projects is a powerful way to share your career triumphs with a recruiter at a coffee meeting or with a prospective employer at a job interview. For example, Marisa is an Office Manager. She filled her portfolio with samples of the newsletters she’s created, the calendar of company events she designed, a few pages from the employee handbook she wrote and other examples of her work. Marisa’s portfolio makes a big splash wherever she interviews, and she’s got competing job offers already!
2. Add a Power Point presentation, images, a video or other visual elements to your LinkedIn profile. You can upload these elements to show visitors to your profile page what you’ve produced at your past and current jobs and even how you present to groups.
3. Make a Target Employer List for your job search. Don’t rely on any one job search channel, including third-party recruiters, to get your new job. You can reach out to your hiring managers directly, whether they are working with recruiters or not.
4. Tell your friends you’re job-hunting, and tell them exactly what kinds of jobs you’re looking for.
5. Go to at least one group networking event a month. Since you’re employed, you won’t introduce yourself to strangers by saying “I’m job-hunting.” Instead, you’ll introduce yourself this way: “I’m working at Mutual Bank downtown, and I’m doing some independent consulting, too.”
6. Sit down for coffee or lunch at least once a week with someone you know well, and fill them in on your job search. They will give you ideas and moral support — two things every job-seeker needs! You’ll do the same thing for them, whether they’re job-hunting or just trying to get through the week like everyone else.
7. On the job, gather as much resume fodder as you can. Seek out any new challenge that will buff up your resume and that you can talk about on your upcoming job interviews.
8. Read job ads to learn about the skills and experiences employers are looking for. If you decide to respond to a job ad, don’t do it by completing an online job application.
9. Write your Human-Voiced Resume to bring across your power and personality for the benefit of hiring managers and recruiters who don’t know you.
10. Finally, get a journal and start writing in it every day or whenever you have a moment. Writing in a journal helps you capture your good ideas and clarify your thinking. A journal is a job-seeker’s best friend, if you use it often!
If you’re bored or frustrated at your current job, there’s no good reason not to start a job search right now!
Imagine how amazing it will feel to walk into work one day and tell your manager “I’m giving my two weeks notice.“
The sooner you launch your stealth job search, the faster that day will arrive!
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