There’s social networking sites which you can adapt to your own needs with work in mind and there’s social networking sites purely with work in mind. Jobhop is one of those sites, it came about because there was a gap in the market, businesses need digital talent to survive, business decision makers hang out on Linkedin but our digital natives don’t.
Approximately 80% of Linkedin users are 35 years plus and its average age of a user is the oldest of all social networking platforms. With this in mind you can see why young digital talent avoid it, which is a shame because there’s a need to connect the young and old generations.
Jobhop appeals to young job seekers, there’s a clear understanding that’s where they go to make the most of their profiles for employers or recruiters and there’s none of the “business networking” which you find on Linkedin. For young job seekers business networking has an air of stuffiness about it, now “socialising” that’s different.
When you speak with older generations about the term “jobhop” it’s something that’s always been frowned upon, but then again some of these people have been in the same employment for 30 years or more. Our young generation want to jobhop, to gain as much knowledge as they can from different sources, they also want to climb the career ladder fast and will jobhop to do so. The average life span of a job these days is three years, times are changing.
So if you’re a generation Y job seeker or generation Z soon to be job seeker try Jobhop
Generation Y Born 1977-1994
Generation Z Born 1995-2012
Even without having to register there’s a whole wealth of advice through it’s blog posts on the subject of how to connect with employers or recruiters using social media.
You could say Jobhop is a bit like a stepping stone to Linkedin, for a young social generation Linkedin can be scary. Like anything though, once you dip your toe in a few times you gradually get a bit braver. By getting the mindset of social networking for employment, on a platform made for the young generation, it all becomes a little less scary.
Header
Like most social networking sites theres a header where the first step is to upload a profile picture
Your picture can be a more natural shot than it has to be on Linkedin. Graphic designers, web developers, community managers, digital marketers, AV technicians, all probably have a more relaxed attitude when it comes to dressing for work and the companies they work for accommodate that. I would recommend a good headshot or an action shot, perhaps one of you working at your computer for example.
Now in edit profile you need to put a description into your header, remember the importance of keywords here. Once you’ve filled in your headline, remembering your keywords fill in your summary. Always think what type of job is it you’d like to attract, with that in mind put words related to that job into your summary. If you were a recruiter or an employer what words would you use to search for your ideal candidate? They are the words you need to be using in your summary.
Once you’ve done that you’ll need to click whether you’re a Hopper or a Company ( Hopper meaning Job Hopper/ Seeker )
Experience
In edit profile, next to summary, just before contact details you’ll see experience, click on that. You should now be in a section where you can add all your experience. Always think about how you can make all past experience relevant to the job you’re looking for today. Sometimes it will the case that you’re looking to do something completely different, I would still recommend that you include all your past work experience, no recruiter or employer likes to see an unexplained gap.
Contact Details
Make it easy for a recruiter or employer to contact you. They can private message you on Jobhop but some of them may want to email you directly, so be accessible.
If you have a blog or website make sure you include the address as well as your Twitter name. One recommendation is that you include your Google+ url address to your profile, when Google makes a connection to your on line profiles and your content it helps you get found easier. To find out more read about Google Authorship
Once you’ve done all the ground to attract recruiters and employers it’s time to get connecting.
Unlike Linkedin there are no barriers you wont get asked how do you know someone, the ethos on jobhop is the same as when you’re out and about meeting people. Everyone starts off as strangers until they either approach you or you approach them to start chatting. You may get on brilliantly and be friends forever or perhaps you wont, in that case you don’t arrange to meet again, on Jobhop you would just remove them. Before you remove anyone though just ponder for a while, could they know anyone who could open doors to opportunity for you?
Connecting
The best starting point is to go to “What’s happening on Jobhop” here you can view all the activity going on, favourite some posts, comment and connect with any Hoppers or companies of interest. Just under what’s happening is “Groups” Here you can join suitable groups, network and start connecting with more hoppers and companies.
Have a look at companies that you’re interested in working for and connect with them. A good thing about Jobhop is that you don’t need to be connected to send a company a public or a private message, all barriers are taken away enabling you to get as close to your job opportunity as you possibly can.
What’s new?
You have to constantly think about marketing yourself and what would make you attractive above anyone else to recruiters and employers?
One way to keep in peoples minds is to regularly share an update, in the box which says “what’s new?” onto your activity page.
Types of updates would be:
- Sharing knowledge
- Share your story
- Latest projects
- Your latest job interview and what you thought of their process
- Job seeking tips for others
- Job vacancies that you know of which aren’t suitable for you
- Company expansion news, you may have heard but others haven’t yet.
- Blog posts
- Other great blog posts
- Opportunities e.g internship, work experience, voluntary work
- Employment days/fairs
Helping others will help you. If you haven’t, read the book The Go-Giver I urge you to, this book will explain more about how helping or giving to others will help you in return. The main character Joe learns that when he changes his focus from getting to giving it leads to unexpected returns. It’s a very easy read with a very powerful message.
So by giving away freely your knowledge in your particular field of expertise you could attract an employer who’s looking for your skills for their business. By letting someone know that your local science research park is expanding could be reciprocated when a member of their family is looking for a web developer for a 6month contract.
You want to stand out in the minds of employers but you also want to stand out in the minds of other Hoppers. Remember this, you never know who knows who!
Just like jobseeking etiquette on Linkedin or any other platform, always respect others, check your spelling and grammar, respond if you get asked a question and remember that juicylucy@hotmail.co.uk is not a good contact email to have.
via:http://www.jobhop.co.uk/jobhop-jobseek/
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