It’s no secret that we are in a tough job market right now. Recent college graduates or those with little experience in their desired career field are going up against seemingly insurmountable odds in their job hunt. You often get to a point where you wonder what else you can possibly do or where else you can look for employment. Here is one idea: Create content to get the attention of an employer and land your dream job.
Many businesses rely on content that is produced consistently to keep their website afloat in search engine results, and to keep their social media campaigns vibrant. 13% of this content is created by the company, but 87% of it is curated, or gathered, content from various sources around the web.
Your first goal, then, should be to write content that is curated by the company you’re going after. First you will need a website with a blog that looks professional and uses your name or something close to it as the URL address. Then, you will need to write, write, write. Write posts related to trends in the industry, write product reviews, write about the actual company or one of its events, etc. You don’t need to have a ton of experience in your industry or be a thought leader, but you do need to be willing and eager to research, learn, and be creative.
Once you’re churning out content, get it in front of the company you want to work for. Do this by trying to get published on industry blogs, leverage social media, and correctly optimize your blog for search. And most importantly, be a part of your target company’s community. Intelligently comment on their blog, reply to others who comment, occasionally leave a link to a blog post of yours that may have similar content or a different perspective on the issue IF it is appropriate to do so.
I think the job market has changed in that you should treat your name like a brand. Promote it, build its authority, make sure you control where it is on the internet and the content related to it, and make your name known in your industry. This is easier than ever to do through blogging and social media. Also make yourself easily accessible to recruiters and company representatives through email on your website and LinkedIn.
Your second goal should be to actually write content for the company. Once you’ve established yourself, reach out to the company about guest blogging. Don’t just approach them empty handed, but provide them with some really great blog ideas that they can’t refuse.
Your final goal? Land your dream job!
If you’re looking for pointers on how to blog, follow Danny Brown or Darren Rowse. And for great tips on how to use LinkedIn to builds leads and job search, follow Adam Karwoski.
