This morning I woke up to find that Dr. Jim Anderson wrote a blog post on “Which Job Boards Work Best For Product Managers?” I typically enjoy his posts, but today, Dr. Jim – you missed the mark.
In today’s job market for product managers, the rules have changed. As I’ve written, you need to go where the market is. For a job seeker, this means where are the “good” product managers/directors/vps having the conversations? It is not on Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com.
Traditional job boards like Monster.com, HotJobs.com and CareerBuilder.com are tools used by the HR staff, not the product management staff. SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com are just aggregators – that is, taking the posts of many job boards and combining into one site. They do not offer additional value.
Leaving what?
Experienced, and non-experienced seekers in today’s job market need to look in their networks. This starts with LinkedIn. Even young seekers need to have their professional network built early – yes, start in college. More experienced networkers need to consistently build their network. On LinkedIn this also means getting recommendations! And, those recommendations are much easier to get when the memories are fresh.
Facebook does have its place as well. In my opinion, this is more geared to the less experienced market, learning how to leverage their personal connections into professional ones; but, Facebook as a tool does have job postings. I have seen many start-ups using fan pages as career postings.
And, of course, Twitter is also in play. This reality slapped me in the face a few weeks ago. I have had a Twitter account for 18 months now. And, reality is it was only recently when I realized what the value truly was. Twitter offers both the opportunity for the job seeker to network, through following, but also to show value by engaging in conversations. This takes dedication – as any Twitterer will agree – but when the hiring manager is following the same conversation, you immediately add credibility to your credentials by sharing.
Blog! Blog! Blog! Show you have knowledge about the issues in your field. Less experienced people can share lessons learned from studies and leave questions about how this gets applied in reality. The more experienced seekers can share their learnings. It is all about building your credibility, and setting yourself apart from the rest of the field. In fact, just today Martin Zwilling added a post to his blog about how business blogs have more value than Websites. (And, of course, be sure to include your blog URL on your resume!)
There is so much more to add on each of these tools. The key is to learn how to make each tool work for you – and not all will. That is fine. Today’s job hunt is an easy equation:
1) Make a good first impression (clean up your Facebook account!)
2) Prove your knowledge in the conversations; and,
3) Meet people.
This time I’m looking out from the inside. And, the new job search rules are about engaging in networking – both traditional and social media. Go where your market is playing – don’t make the market find you. Yes, the traditional job boards are necessary evils (I’ve said this before; ) but relying on any of these older methods of looking for a new job will simply leave you sitting on the sidelines longer.
Filed under: Business Culture, Communication, Job Search, Management, Marketing | Tagged: Blog, Job Hunt, Product Management
So I guess first off, thanks for reading my post! I agree with a lot of what you have to say, but…
If you’ve ever been laid off, you know that rotten, sinking feeling that you get just after you’ve been told that you’re being let go. At this moment, most of us have our absolute worst thought – “I’m never going to be able to get another job.”
Now we all eventually realize that that’s not true, but it’s a really bad feeling when it happens. Job boards ARE a poor way to find your next job. However, in the initial days immediately after you get let go, they are a great way to make yourself feel like you are doing something positive.
I agree that networking is probably what is going to get you your next job, but just like playing the lottery – somebody has got be getting jobs using these boards!
- Dr. Jim Anderson
The Accidental PM Blog
“Home Of The Billion Dollar Product Manager”
Well, I am going through the process right now – and the ‘traditional’ job boards have been useful to start some conversations, but have so far not led to anything concrete. But, I continue to check them (as you say Jim, it feels like something positive to do) whilst at the same time working the social networks hard.
And I have made some valuable contacts through blog comments and Twitter.
I guess my message is, when the media are as fragmented as they are right now – and the economic times so tough – you have to work doubly hard to find the next opportunity!
Every morining you need to get up, get dressed, and get out there and meet people in person. Tweeting is great! The search engines have their place. But, you need to meet people, because you will want to end up working with someone you like. An interview won’t inform you as to your fit. Oh, they can tell you the measurements 2 ft wide by what? But, you won’t know how deep the fit is. Do they need someone now, like right now! Or, are they being thoughtful and long term? Would they hire an employed person, but not an unemployed person? Yes, you will be facing that.
The way out is to build a deep social network in the face-to-face world. It’s a bit late, but everyone, even the employed need to get started if it isn’t built into their schedules already. I’ve known only one person that had such a network. On the day he got his notice, he picked up the phone and went to a new job in the morning. Even that would be hard these days, but he put the effort into his network.
At one job, an FBI agent walked in the door. He wasn’t quite unexpected. “FBI.” I just kept working. His being there didn’t have anything to do with me. And, finally, he interpreted what he meant, “STEP AWAY FROM THAT MACHINE! Yeah, you, out there….
Thoughful post. Lots of actionable ideas. Especially loved the suggestions for blogging.