What to Expect from Employer Profiling

Although job boards continue to be the least effective job search method, they remain the one most frequently used. And we get why. They're alluring. It sounds like the jobs are right there, just waiting for you. You know there is an immediate need, and you know you can fill it. They make it so simple to apply, and you can do it in the middle of the workday or the middle of the night with very little effort.

And sometimes, just sometimes, but only sometimes, they actually work.

As part of our offerings at both NoddlePlace and ITtechExec, once our messaging design process is completed, we offer job search solutions. When I am working with one of our members to discuss the best strategy for him or her, I don't fuss about whether or not to use job boards. If it's there, and you want to go for it, go for it. But I wouldn't put a lot of hope in it.

Instead, I encourage our members to look at other methods that might not be quite as easy but tend to be more effective if you stick with them and give yourself some time to see them through. One option is recruiter matching, which I have discussed extensively here on this blog.

Another is peer-to-peer networking, which still ranks the #1 most effective job search method. The problem, however, is that most members don't have very engaged and well-matched professional connections...or at least they don't have very many of them. And when it comes to networking, you want to have those and as many as you can.

So what do you do when you don't? Well, one option is to try profiling. First you profile the employers that best meet your criteria, and then you cultivate connections at those employers.

Sounds time consuming? I'm not going to kid you: It is! BUT it can, and has, opened some interesting doors for our members...doors that job boards and recruiters would never have led them through.

At NoddlePlace and ITtechExec, we now have our own job search agent, Sue, who takes care of most of the "grunt" work when it comes to employer profiling for our members. But the real value is in what you do with the new connections made.

We've put together the following presentation as an overview of employer profiling as a job search method and what you can expect from it.

What to Expect From Employer Profiling from Stephen Van Vreede