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PayScale’s VIP Blog Roundup: The One Thing You Should Do to Get Hired (and Probably Aren’t)

Topics: Career Advice
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Do you Google yourself? If you answered “no,” you’re in good company: according to TopResume, half of professionals surveyed said that they’d never Googled themselves, and 33 percent said they only did so a few times a year.

That’s a big problem, because if you don’t know what comes up in search attached to your name, you don’t know what hiring managers are seeing when they Google you. And they do Google: according to Jobvite, 55 percent of recruiters say they’ve reconsidered a candidate, because of something they found online.

In this week’s roundup, we look at how “ego-surfing” can help candidates manage their personal brand — plus, how to use cold emails to land a job and how to find your dream employer.

Amanda Augustine at TopResume: Why You Should Google Yourself to Monitor Your Online Personal Brand

“If you’re not managing and optimizing your online personal brand, you could unknowingly hurt your chances of landing your dream job,” Augustine writes. “Today, Google your name, as it appears on your resume, to see what employers will find when they search for you.”

Find something you don’t like? Don’t resign yourself to dealing with the fallout for the rest of your career. Augustine’s tips can help you redeem your online presence and improve your personal brand.

Do You Know What You're Worth?

Ryan Robinson at The Hard Refresh: 6 Tips for Landing Your Dream Job with a Cold Email

Unless you’re an experienced sales person, you’d probably never dream of sending a cold email to a random hiring manager. But maybe you should. Robinson makes the case that tech workers in particular should embrace the cold email:

You need to be extremely proactive. It may seem intrusive at first, but I’ve personally gotten my last two jobs in tech by sending a strategically crafted cold email to the person I suspected to be the hiring manager for the role. Both of these emails opened up a dialogue that led to a phone call, interview, and subsequent offer within about a week’s time. The same principles apply if you’re pitching your freelance services to potential clients.

Not sure how to go about doing that? Robinson’s step-by-step advice will help you get started.

J.T. O’Donnell at LinkedIn: My Best Job Search Tip: How To Create An ‘Interview Bucket List’

If you’re still looking for jobs by scanning online ads, it’s time to step up your game. O’Donnell explains how focusing on employers via an “Interview Bucket List” can help you find work that you’re truly passionate about:

An ‘Interview Bucket List’ is a set of companies you admire and respect. Ideally, they’re located in your commutable area, or in a place you desire to live. But, more importantly, the companies you choose can only be on the list if:

  1. The company’s product or service is something you believe in.
  2. You can explain in detail, what experiences you’ve had in life that have taught you the company’s product or service is worthy of your admiration or respect.

The goal is to come up with a minimum of ten companies (twenty would be better), that meet the above criteria.

For a blueprint of how to create and use your bucket list, see O’Donnell’s post.

Tell Us What You Think

What’s the best career advice you’ve read this week? We want to hear from you. Share your tips in the comments or join the conversation on Twitter.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
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