Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas. Expatriate Women Living Abroad Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas. Expatriate Women Living Abroad Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas. Expatriate Women Living Abroad
Click here to join our online community
Occasional Updates * Free E-book
Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas. Expatriate Women Living Abroad
   
 
 
Expat Job Search In The Digital Age

Expat Women: Job & Careers Abroad

Expat Job Search In The Digital Age

Lois Freeke


Job search can be a frustrating process, especially if you are an expat trying to find your way abroad and unsure who to approach for that dream job offer.

However, as a job seeker in today's digital age, it is important to acknowledge that the job search process has changed irreversibly and gone digital, so that you can adapt your strategy to tap into the increasingly wide audience of potential hiring contacts online.

 
7 Steps to Digitalize Your Job Search

No matter where you are based as an expat, you can increase your chances of 'landing on your feet' faster, and beating the job applicant competition, by digitalizing your job search with these seven simple steps.

1. Branding: The foundation of any successful job search must be the development of your clearly-articulated career brand. If you do not clearly understand your unique value proposition, how can you expect a future employer to understand why they should hire you, or why a networking contact might refer clients to you?

Ensure you can succinctly communicate what you do, the specific benefits you bring, and to whom. Build a blueprint of your target companies, positions and job titles. Use this information to identify the keywords a hiring manager may use to search for you online. Build all your career communications documents around these keywords to vastly increase your chances of being found by recruiters and hiring managers more quickly as a "passive" job seeker.

Remember: Potential employers in your new location might not understand just how transferable some of your experience and credentials are from back home, even if they are listed on a traditional CV. Build an online presence which clearly explains what that experience and those credentials mean to someone who might not recognize your college name or previous company's name. Develop an online brand to present yourself as an active, online thought leader, whose skills are highly relevant to your new target market.

Resource: Research the most powerful keywords for your site and 'personal brand' by using the free trial at WordTracker and by scanning job advertisements to find out which keywords and phrases your target companies may use. Test your findings by searching for people based on these keywords on LinkedIn and Google. Do the search results match your profile and the job opportunities you are targeting? Perform a personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and take immediate action to address any the gaps you find you may have, whilst amplifying your key attributes and skills.

 
2. Digital Resumes: Create a digital resume and include the additional validation of your achievements employers seek. You can include recommendations and other proof of performance, plus links to your web portal site, or any publications and profiles you have online. A video resume is the ultimate in career brand communication vehicle and if done well, can be highly differentiating in many countries. A CD of any portfolio work you have is also an excellent addition to your career marketing kit, if appropriate.

Do not forget your avatar (or online photo/image). Every serious job seeker should have a professional photo that will promote their core brand attributes. In the digital age, more than ever, first impressions count.

Also, ensure you have both Word and PDF copies of easily up-loadable resumes which are keyword-rich. Include only measurable and data-supported achievements and list all certifications, training and awards you have received. Customize your resume for each opportunity and have examples of each format ready for tailoring to each specific position you are applying for.

Resource: Try VisualCV.com to create a free public or private online resume.
 
VisualCV.com
 
 
3. Build A Central Portal for your brand (ideally your own website) with the URL registered in your own name for optimum brand control and search engine dominance. Also consider having at least a secondary, if not primary, blog attached to your website.

Having your own professional, 'Brand You' website will distinguish you from the majority of job seekers. Include endorsements, your career-branded bio, sample projects, a portfolio of any work that is appropriate to showcase, photos that enhance your brand messaging, and any other videos, news, events and career highlight items (including white papers, publication links and so on). These will all strengthen your brand identity and hopefully create a positive visual memory for recruiters, hiring managers and career influencers who could refer you.

Resource: You can purchase name - or brand-specific website addresses and matching email addresses through reputable, low-cost companies such as Go Daddy. See WordPress or Typepad (my personal recommendation) for web hosting and to easily start your own website or blog.

 
4. Blog Your Expertise Online: A blog is a great, search-engine-friendly way to position yourself as either an industry or discipline expert – especially for expatriates who might now be physically based quite far from their target clients or marketplace. It may take around six to twelve months to gain momentum and exposure, but you will be surprised how much more visible and credible you will be in your sector if you adhere to the basic rules of keeping it professional, on-brand, well written, value-adding and interesting, with a clear connect to your target job type and audience.

Resource: Search Google Blog with your ideal keywords to find similar blogs to yours to comment on, build relationships and kudos with, and potentially exchange reciprocal links with to help drive people back to your own blog as a showcase of your expertise and wisdom.


5. Do You Pass The Google Test? Whether or not you host your own blog or website, you should maintain a professional and consistent web presence, as the majority of recruiters or hiring managers will 'Google' you in advance of a meeting. The more positive and career-enhancing information you post (or have posted) about yourself online, the more control you have over your career brand. Build profiles at the key social networking platforms to give you higher Google rankings (LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook should be the minimum).

Resource: You can actually use LinkedIn in lieu of a personal web site, as it has so many applications you can utilize to promote and communicate your career brand. Claim your vanity LinkedIn URL (for example, http://linkedin.com/in/yourname, and use it in your email signature to increase your exposure. You can also link your blog and Twitter accounts to LinkedIn for consistency and efficiency – provided that you use all three accounts for professional purposes – as you only want to link platforms that help boost your career brand, not detract from it.


6. Give First: Job seekers who constantly post online about the fact they are seeking a job can risk being perceived as needy and boring. A better strategy is to 'give first', whereby you promote yourself as a proactive connector and influencer by actively introducing connections you see a synergy between, willingly passing on useful resources, and trying your best to visibly 'add value' to your (current and target) network. This should endear you even more to members of your network, who might then offer or agree to help you.

Remember: Many of your contacts and network would love to help – if they could only understand exactly how to help. Use jargon-free language, unless you are networking with industry insiders, and be specific about who you wish to connect with (for example, "high-tech marketing managers" instead of just "people in marketing").


7. Maximize Your Presence on LinkedIn – the primary business networking site. Research people who are in similar positions to the ones you are seeking at your target companies and check their group membership and LinkedIn activities for ideas of how to optimize your LinkedIn membership. Then check also the group memberships of known recruiters, industry decision-makers and opinion leaders, to see which groups you should join in order for potential employers to find and notice you. Once you have joined your relevant groups, watch what discussions take place and who is saying what, then proactively contribute to those discussions when you have value to add, and increase your visibility as a thought leader and a potentially valuable and employable asset!

If you are employed, you can still conduct an 'under the radar' passive job search effectively online, and recruiters will still contact you if they can see a fit between your attributes and experience and their vacancy. Even if you are planning to create your own job opportunity, like many expats, it is still wise to have a solid online identity to help you stand out.

Resource: Here is a blog post that I wrote about how to get headhunted using LinkedIn. It is targeted to China because I am an expat in China, but it can easily be adapted to your country of residence.


Moving Forward

Even in the digital age, I recommend you combine at least three to four online and offline job search and networking strategies to maximize your job search campaign and to build trust.

If you feel one contact may not be able to help, do not discount them: invest time in introducing yourself to them and learning what they do (in order for you to help them as well), because their network can potentially assist. This is particularly true for expats who may not be currently working abroad and might appear, at first meeting, to have no useful employment network for the potential job-seeker. Never underestimate the power and connections of the non-working expat: many non-working expats are still very active in multiple networks and their industry contacts might actually prove to be exactly what you need to get you past the gate-keeper.

Effective job search today is all about numbers and digitalizing your search. Follow the advice above and hopefully it will bring that seemingly elusive job offer much closer, much more quickly.

Best wishes with your job search!
 
 
Lois Freeke
Lois Freeke is the only China career and personal branding strategist combining 18 years' (of mostly Asia-Pacific) marketing and recruitment expertise. Lois is a successful China entrepreneur and co-founded Niche, a ground-breaking specialist recruitment firm in China, and is Partner of the Industrial Division.

Leveraging her 10 years' China experience and deep China insights, Lois helps China expat executives and solo-preneurs effectively differentiate themselves in the highly competitive market for career and business success. She has helped hundreds of clients and candidates manage their careers and job search strategies, market themselves effectively and access hidden opportunities to land the jobs of their dreams. For more information about Lois, please visit: http://www.loisfreeke.com
 
November 2010
 
Share This...
 
 
Go to our Jobs & Careers Abroad main page  
Go to the top of this page
 
 
 
 
Expat Women: Confessions – 50 Answers to Your Real-Life Questions about Living Abroad
 
 
© 2012 ExpatWomen.com. All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the authors.