You know whom I am talking about when I say successful job seekers.

When they get laid off, or are just dissatisfied with their current position, they find that next position with ease.

How do they do it?

They have three things in common:

  1. Strong Personal Brand
  2. An Online Presence
  3. A Large Supportive Network

Let’s talk about each:

Strong Personal Brand

These people know who they are and can communicate their brand both online and in person.

They can clearly articulate the skills they have and how they can help their next employer or client.

Another way of stating this is they can clearly articulate the problems they can solve.

This is key! It is not just about having a set of skills but articulating how you use them to solve real world problems!

An Online Presence

This should start with your LinkedIn profile. You should have a profile with a great picture, a defining headline, a summary section with your brand story and sample of your work attached directly to your profile.

Do you have a blog or personal website? Does any of your work appear online for people to find? This will vary from industry to industry.

I know may people who work for the government where they are strictly forbidden from posting examples of their work.

Are you active in any online communities? LinkedIn groups, tweetchats, FaceBook Groups, Google+ Communities,…. These are great places to build up your online presence and personal brand.

A Large Supportive Network

We live in a referral economy. Your next job will likely come through a connection in your network.

It is not just to have 1000+ Twitter followers, 500+ LinkedIn connections, or 1000 FaceBook friends you must reach out and connect with this network.

Notice I did not say “A Large Network” but “A Large Supportive Network”.

This requires careful and regular cultivation. Think of your network as a vegetable garden, where you have to regularly, weed, water and fertilize your plants to get them to produce a bounty of vegetables. The same is true for your network. If you reach out and connect on a regular basis and weed, water and fertilize it you too will get a bounty of help in your career.

What about you?

Do you possess all three of these traits?

What do you need to improve?

What are you going to do today to be a successful job seeker?

Author

Marc Miller is the founder of Career Pivot which helps Baby Boomers design careers they can grow into for the next 30 years. Marc authored the book “Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers”, published in January 2013, which has been featured on Forbes.com, US News and World Report, CBS Money-Watch and PBS’ Next Avenue. Career Pivot was selected for the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career. Marc has made six career pivots himself, serving in several positions at IBM in addition to working at two successful Austin, Texas startups, teaching math in an inner-city high school and working for a local non-profit. Learn more about Marc and Career Pivot by visiting the Career Pivot Blog or follow Marc on Twitter or Facebook.