MARK S. BABBIT<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text text_orientation=”center” max_width=”140px” disabled_on=”on|on|” admin_label=”Text” text_font=”PT Serif||on||” text_font_size=”16″ text_text_color=”#363636″ text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”10px||60px|”]<\/p>\n
Mark Babbitt is a father of five, a grandfather of two\u2026 and CEO and Founder of YouTern, named by Mashable as a \u201cTop 5 Online Community for Starting Your Career\u201d and by Forbes in both 2012 and 2013 as a “Top Website for Your Career”.<\/p>\n
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We\u2019re now ten years into the Social Age. Social media has clearly changed many aspects of our lives including how we communicate, how businesses are run and \u2013 yes \u2013 how we build great careers.<\/p>\n
And yet, many job seekers feel social media isn’t helping their job search. They just aren\u2019t sure that investing their time on social media is paying off. Still, I\u2019m a big believer. I’ve seen first-hand how technology helps us meet many more hiring managers, influencers, decision makers and potential mentors much faster.<\/p>\n
And yet, despite all the promise and potential of social media there is a trend developing:<\/p>\n
Through ineffective branding, many job seekers are just getting to “no” faster.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nWhy? Because employers \u2013 who used to have to wait until the job interview to decide if you are a good fit or not \u2013 now remove you from consideration by judging what they see online. And many eliminate candidates for one reason: the failure by job seekers to differentiate themselves from every other job seeker.<\/p>\n
After years of trial and error, we now know that branding and digital communication is nothing more than a delivery method \u2013 a relatively easy way to pitch you to a potential employer. The trouble is that many job seekers are still peddling their \u201cattention to detail\u201d and \u201cteam player\u201d attitude instead of demonstrating real value. Or they talk about how they are an \u201ceffective leader and motivator.\u201d Even worse, younger professionals naively tout their GPA and newly acquired college degree as a reason they should be hired \u2013 instead of talking about their experience and achievements.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, because they see these and every other job seeker clich\u00e9 a million times, recruiters fall asleep due to boredom.<\/p>\n
Regardless of how your resume got in front of them (including social media), if you\u2019re delivering something I\u2019m not interested in, you are wasting your time, and mine.<\/strong><\/p>\nYou\u2019re not getting a job this way \u2013 you’re just getting to \u201cno\u201d faster. So, what does get you hired?<\/p>\n
The answer is simple: you must be able to articulate one good reason why I should hire you \u2013 what makes you different in a sea of applicants who, just like you, could easily do the job.<\/p>\n
Fact is: most job seekers still haven\u2019t figured out the most important aspect of the job search: they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re selling. Yet, they get on Twitter, build a personal landing page, start blogging and apply for dozens of jobs \u2013 all before they understand what specifically makes them employable.<\/p>\n
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most job seekers still haven\u2019t figured out the most important aspect of the job search: they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re selling.<\/p>\n
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MARK S. BABBITT<\/p>\n
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Think of it this way\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\nYou’ve opened a brand new restaurant in a highly competitive area of town; diners have endless choices within just a few blocks of your front door. At first glance, each restaurant would serve a fine meal. Among all this competition, how will you attract the attention of would-be customers to your restaurant?<\/p>\n
\n- Would you talk in general terms about the great food… or would you point to unique talents as a chef, past achievements and awards won that clearly demonstrate your previous success?<\/li>\n
- Using all the words you think the customers want to hear, would you shout out what great a restaurant you have… or would you present glowing testimonials from the customers who love your restaurant already?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n