With technological advances continuously making communications easier, companies and business recruiters are straying away from traditional recruitment channels like newspapers. Classified ads have gone the way of the dinosaur, except in their new digitalized forms like Craigslist. Today, it is simpler than ever to use technology to become pro-active in your job hunt. Instead of looking for an employer, a number of modern resources make it easy to sit back while they come looking for you.

Build A Self-Promoting Website
With website development simple through content management systems such as WordPress, many job seekers are creating their own websites to promote their job search. These sites can be brought online with minimal time requirements and have the potential to increase your professional appearance significantly.
The two most common types of self-promoting websites are:

• Simple Resume Sites – These websites often consist of only two or three pages and focus on presenting a resume or information about you to potential hires. Many times, this type of a self-promoting website is used alongside other attempts to get in contact with hiring managers and recruiters by including the web address in e-mail signatures, on social profiles and on business cards. The biggest advantage of this type of site is that it is simple to create and requires little maintenance on your part while still remaining professionally appealing. A disadvantage is that employers are unlikely to find your resume site on their own – you’ll need to connect them with it or integrate it into your existing online network of websites and profiles.
• Blogs – For the job hunter looking for a better way to have future employers coming to them, creating a regularly updated blog is a powerful and often underestimated tool. Not only can blogs incorporate all of the information you’d provide on a simple resume site, they also give you a chance to showcase your expertise in your field to employers before they even contact you. In addition, employers can find you and your website through the blog articles you post, reducing the networking efforts you’ll need to put into the job hunt. One disadvantage of blogs is that they require a higher time-commitment to maintain and update.

Whichever type of self-promoting website you decide to create, make sure that you integrate it with your already-developed online identity. This means adding the link to all of your social profiles and integrating the website with services such as Facebook and LinkedIn which allow you to share newly posted articles with business contacts that you’re connected to. Integrating your website with online social networking platforms also makes it easier for your website’s readers to share your content and market for you.

Using LinkedIn To Expand Your Social Circle
When it comes to business social networking, LinkedIn is by far the largest and most widely used site on the internet. While job search engines with Monster.com and Indeed will connect you with employers looking to hire, LinkedIn gives you the chance to develop a connection with potential employers and recruiters.

There are two keys to being successful in having job opportunities come to you through LinkedIn – networking and creating a profile that makes you stand out from the rest of the competing job-seekers out there.

Networking on LinkedIn isn’t just about getting as many connections as possible. It is about being socially active on the site, keeping in contact with your connections and sharing your expertise in groups related to your job field. By being active in your communications you are able to build a relationship with people in your industry who can be important assets in locating your next job.

Communications alone may keep you fresh in the mind of potential employers, but in order to ensure you’re considered as a feasible applicant, you need to stand out. Unless you’ve had sufficient communication to relay your expertise and value to hiring managers and recruiters, you need to find another way to get the benefits of hiring you across to them. On LinkedIn, this is through developing a profile designed to catch the attention of and intrigue those browsing your page.

In business terms it can be put much simpler – you need to develop your own personal marketing plan. The same concepts that work for businesses will work for you if you apply them to your profile on LinkedIn.
A few of the things that you can do to your profile to increase your likelihood of being contacted for available jobs include:

• Browse other job-seekers (competitors) profiles and see what they’re doing. With so many other options out there for hiring companies to choose from, you need to make sure that you’re profile stands out from the rest. Avoid simply rehashing the information that everyone else is sharing and create something that will make recruiters and hiring managers stop and pay closer attention to your profile.
• Once you know what *not* to do, add content to your profile that focuses less on your past achievements and more how you can be advantageous to a potential employer. Unless you’ve held a prestigious position with a large company, no one cares about what job titles you’ve had or what tasks you’ve performed. Instead of listing your capable proficiencies, instead highlight major events such as “Handled the $86 million merger between ABC & XYZ” or “Developed a strategy which trimmed department expenses by $750,000 annually”.
• Take care to ensure that you don’t look desperate to find a job. This can make you less attractive to employers (“If they’re so good, why haven’t they been snatched up yet?”) and it also significantly lowers your bargaining power if you are contacted.

Enlist The Services Of A Professional Recruiter
If you’re looking for the method of finding a job that requires the least amount of work on your part but still provides the best results, contact a recruiter. Thanks to the internet, finding an experienced recruiter in your industry is simple and no longer geographically limiting. You may be an expert in your field or position, but recruiters are experts in connecting companies looking for employees with individuals hunting for a new job.
Recruiters have:

• Existing relationships with hiring managers
• Access to a myriad of different jobs
• Expertise in the hiring process
• Inside advice to increase your likelihood of getting a specific position

Recruiters have plenty of reason to help you find the best, highest-paying job possible. Most often they are compensated by the hiring firm with a fee that is a percentage of the new hire’s base salary. On the same note, they do not get paid unless they find a job for you. This method of earning revenue guarantees their dedication to connecting you with your next employment position.

The most important thing for anyone hunting for a new job is to be pro-active with the search. Instead of waiting to hear about a job opening and then applying, put yourself out there for potential employers to take the initiative to seek your services. By increasing your networking and exposure to hiring managers and recruiters, you have a platform to highlight your accomplishments and position yourself ahead of the competing job-seekers.
Louise Hudson has extensive experience as a business recruiter. Her articles appear on employment blogs across the internet. Visit the Dubizzle Egypt link to learn more.