This is a guest post from Georgina Stamp of Marble Hill Partners, an executive search firm.

There comes a time in our careers when many of us may wish to branch out in different professional directions. Regardless of our motivations, attracting the attention of an executive headhunter is an excellent way to help propel our career prospects forward to the next level. So, let us have a quick look at five sure-fire methods that can help you become noticed in the headhunting community.

Who you know is just as important as what you know.

Networking is one of the most powerful tools to help increase your exposure in the professional community. The more contacts you make, the more likely you will be to cross paths with a headhunter or an executive search firm. While traditional methods such as attending industry-specific meetings are undeniably important, utilising such executive networking sites such as LinkedIn and BranchOut are excellent ways to proactively market yourself to a vast number of connections.

Industry Recognition

Simply boasting that you are highly motivated and a team player is no longer enough in the executive search industry. You need to remember that headhunters will normally seek out a potential candidate who is well-versed in a very specific field. The more recognition you are able to acquire in your area of interest, the more likely it will be that a headhunter will take notice.

Endorsements are Key

While networking is indeed a powerful tool for heightened recognition, contacts alone are insufficient. Instead, you need to proactively seek out endorsements from colleagues and associates in the industry itself. Even former employers should be contacted, for their willingness to vouch for your skills will display to headhunters that not only are you respected in your current field, but you also maintain a high level of integrity and value past relationships.

Utilise the Power of the Media

Positioning your name above a well-written and innovative article is another way to draw positive attention to yourself. Executive search firms will take notice of those who are actively engaged in their own professional communities. Blog posts are a good place to begin, but mediums such as trade publications or industry journals are more appropriately targeted and likely to be perused by a wider audience.

Locate a Mentor

Industry mentors will often have a great deal of experience in their field and possess a large number of contacts. In fact, they may very well be able to open doors that would have been previously inaccessible. They can offer a great deal of hands-on advice and simultaneously provide a powerful recommendation should the need arise.

These five simple tips can help guarantee that you receive the correct amount of targeted exposure in the executive search industry. By following this advice, that perfect change of professional pace may be closer than you think!

Georgina Stamp has worked in the interim managers industry for a number of years and understands the difficulty in finding executive talent for organisations. She currently works for Marble Hill Partners, who help to search for executive candidates.

The East Coast is still recovering from last week’s Hurricane Sandy. As a native New Yorker who has lived in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, I’m still trying to comprehend the concept of New York and major hurricane in the same sentence. And I’m not alone. No one expected anything like this to ever happen in the New York area, but then again, no one expected last year’s Hurricane Irene, a major snowstorm in October, or an earthquake either.

I think the same can be said for the demise of several companies over the last few years that were considered unstoppable such as Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. Like Hurricane Sandy, many people were unprepared and left in a daze after those companies folded and the impact of their demise had ramifications for everyone from Wall Street to Main Street. How can you be prepared if a hurricane hits your career in the form of a downsizing or company closing? Here are some suggestions.

Be willing to accept support. In the aftermath of the hurricane, even the proudest of people are now willing to accept help. They appreciate the generosity of their neighbors and embrace the sense of community.

Community is equally important in a job search. People often tell me that they want to manage their job search on their own. They feel that asking for help equates to asking for a favor. But a job search really does take a village. I’m not suggesting that you ask your contacts for a job, but I am recommending asking contacts for information and the names of other contacts in their network who may be able to offer support.

Prepare your job evacuation kit in advance. In preparation for the hurricane, people bought extra flashlights, batteries, and canned goods. Some were even prepared with back-up generators in the event their electricity went out. Others had no back up supplies and really had to scramble after the storm hit.

I often meet people who haven’t updated their resume in years and then scramble to put one together as quickly as possible if they lose their jobs. They are in a state of panic; they are managing their careers in a reactive rather than proactive manner. It’s best to have your resume updated and “ready to go” so you can offer it to someone on a minute’s notice.

Recognize and prepare for change. There have been signs of global warning and changing weather patterns before, and now that these “storms of the century” seem to be occurring every year, it’s difficult to ignore their growing impact on the way we live our lives. We need to come to terms with the fact that our current infrastructures may no longer be enough to support our changing environment.

Often there are signs of layoffs well before the pink slip is handed out. Yet many choose to ignore those signs.  Staying current on the issues that impact your industry, company, and job function can help you predict a future career hurricane and take precautions in terms of making a career change or upgrading your skills before your career is damaged by the changes in the economic landscape.

We may not be able to change mother nature or layoff decisions that can impact our careers but we can certainly manage how we prepare for these occurrences in the future.

Last week I led a presentation at the World of Working Women Employment Conference & Job Fair in New York City and discussed methods for leveraging technology to improve the quality of your job search.

Job Board Tips

1. Use aggregate boards to save time and build efficiencies into your search. Rather than spending time searching multiple job boards, use an aggregate board such as Indeed or Simply Hired. These aggregate boards pull information from multiple boards and allow you to search from one location in real time based on your specific search parameters.
2. Use niche boards to source jobs specific to your skills and expertise. Rather than spending time on a big board like Monster or CareerBuilder, source some niche boards that specifically recruit for your industry or job function. There may be less competition on a specialized board. Examples of specialized boards are eFinancialCareers and Med Reps (for medical sales jobs).
3. Set up job board alerts to automate job search and reduce time spent on certain tasks. You can customize the information on the types of postings you are interested in receiving by job function, industry, location, and skills.

1. Add keywords to resumes to make it easier to be found by employers. Many employers use applicant tracking software to source candidates. By adding keywords to your resume that indicate your functional and technical skills, you can increase the chances of being found.
2. Format your resume so an ATS system can read it. Be sure to place your dates of employment to the right of the company name and create clear category headings on the resume such as professional experience and education to ensure that if a software is scanning your resume it can find the information it needs.
3. Create a text version of your resume to upload to job boards. Save the resume as a text only document and clean up the formatting to create a presentable text version. Learn how to create a text document here.

1. Reach out to connections via LinkedIn and Facebook. Most people get their jobs through people they know. Tools like LinkedIn and Facebook help facilitate relationship building.
2. Improve your online presence via Google+, BrandYourself and ZoomInfo. Most hiring managers and recruiters will do an online search of candidates before calling them in for an interview. By creating a professional profile on these sites you increase the likelihood of being found online, elevate your professional positioning, and potentially improve your chances of being called in for an interview.
3. Use tools such as Jigsaw, Glassdoor, and Vault to research companies and people in companies. These tools offer great competitive intelligence about industries, companies, decision makers, corporate culture, and potential job opportunities.
4. Take advantage of free company databases at your local library. Many libraries have subscriptions to proprietary databases that patrons can use to create targeted lists of employers and key decision makers. This can be a great way to source contacts, turn cold leads into warm ones, or improve your networking efforts.

Jobvite recently polled over a thousand HR and recruitment professionals on their social media recruiting activity. The results of the survey suggest the trend towards using social media as a recruitment strategy continues to grow. More specifically:

• 92 percent use or plan to begin using social networks and social media for recruiting.
• Facebook and Twitter recruiting adoption is growing rapidly; 66 percent of those polled are using Facebook and 54 percent are using Twitter to source candidates.
• LinkedIn is becoming “nearly universal” for recruiting with 93 percent reporting using it for sourcing.
• 73 percent of recruiters have successfully hired a candidate who was identified or introduced through a social media network.
• 89 percent reported making hires through LinkedIn, 26 percent through Facebook, and 15 percent through Twitter.
• 89 percent of recruiters said they were likely to look at social profiles.

Interested in getting your social media profiles up to snuff? Check out these tips for building your online presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Most people I talk to really enjoy Facebook’s interface and spend at least a little bit of time there each day. Most acknowledge its benefits for keeping in touch with friends and family, but few recognize Facebook’s implications for job search and its growing relevance as a job search and career management tool. With over 850 million users (a network that is approximately eight times larger than LinkedIn) and a robust demographic of professionals with 10+ years of work experience, the potential to connect with a key business contact via Facebook is enormous. Here are 5 tips for optimizing your job search strategy on Facebook.

1. Like Pages – Most major employers have company pages and many even have separate pages with information about careers at the company. By viewing these pages you can learn a great deal about a company’s culture and products and their open positions. Just use the search box on Facebook to find some the companies you are targeting in your search. By “liking” the page you can start engaging in the conversations by commenting on the company page and you can also learn more about potential opportunities.
2. Use Job Search Applications – BranchOut, BeKnown, and Glassdoor Inside Connections are third party applications that run on the Facebook platform and allow you to connect with recruiters and people from companies you are interested in without sharing all your personal information on Facebook. These applications leverage Facebook’s huge network to help you connect with people who may be able to make important introductions for you.
3. Subscribe – What if you found someone who was a thought leader in your industry or someone who you wanted to get regular updates from but you don’t really know them? By subscribing to their Facebook updates you can receive their updates in your feed without friending them and they will be notified that you are a subscriber. Just key in their name in the search box, go to their profile, and click on subscribe if they have enabled this feature on their page. This is a great way to get on their radar and possibly turn a cold lead into a warm one.
4. Use Timeline – The new timeline profile is great for customizing your Facebook page and building your professional and personal brand. Important events and pictures can be highlighted, the pages you like can be prominently displayed, and you can show other interests such as the books you read or the music you like. Timeline is like your visual resume and it gives you many opportunities for building a compelling and engaging message of value.
5. Create Engaging Status Updates – Use your status updates to let your network know about professional events you are attending, interesting articles and books you are reading, and volunteer work you are doing to support your professional community. Write about companies and leaders you admire, share industry best practices, and give shout-outs to colleagues when they experience success. If you have a blog or videos to promote your professional brand, be sure to re-purpose this information on your Facebook page. These activities keep you and your professional areas of expertise top of mind with your friends and colleagues and this could lead to important career introductions.

Adding the professional slant on your Facebook page doesn’t mean compromising who you are. Part of the beauty of Facebook is that it gives you a platform for blending personal and professional messaging to show your authentic self and be memorable to friends, family, colleagues, recruiters, and employers.

Glassdoor recently launched Inside Connections, a Facebook application that allows users to find information on who their friends know at various companies. This information can be leveraged to build relationships and gain valuable introductions that could lead to job opportunities. At first glance, the platform appears very similar to two other Facebook applications, BranchOut and BeKnown, but Glassdoor offers something that is very unique and is not available on any of the top networking sites, including LinkedIn.

I have been recommending Glassdoor to my clients for several years because it offers a treasure trove of information on companies including self-reported salary information, reviews of companies from insiders, and information on the type of interview questions people have been asked at specific companies. But now, users can supplement this information with a new network of contacts that may be able to get them one step closer to the decision maker at a company they are interested in working for.

As a job seeker, you need every competitive edge you can find. Glassdoor has always been a great tool for career-related research. With the new networking features, I think it is a “must have” for anyone conducting a serious job search. You can watch a quick video on Glassdoor Inside Connections  here.

The holidays are behind us. And maybe you’ve made a few New Year’s resolutions…Lose weight, save more money…or maybe look for a new job. There are many simple, painless changes you can make in 2012 to increase your chances of finding your next job. Here are my top ten.

1. Update your resume. The last week of December was one of my busiest weeks ever. People who had no expectations of being sourced for a position and interviewed called me in a frenzy because they had to put a resume together pronto. You never know when someone will want to speak to you about a great opportunity. Update your resume before you need it and keep a list of running accomplishments throughout the year so if someone wants to see your resume quickly you will be ready.
2. Stop ignoring Facebook as a job search tool. I speak to job seekers every day and ask them if they use Facebook as part of their networking and  job search strategy. Usually they snicker or say, “I just use Facebook for personal relationships.” Job search is about all relationships…personal and professional. You never know where your next job lead will come from. Embrace the gray area and blur the lines. A friend is just as likely to introduce you to a great connection as a business colleague. Use tools like BranchOut and BeKnown to optimize your chances of finding key people via the Facebook platform.
3. Invest in a professional photo. With the explosion of social media sites, the expectation is that your photo will accompany your profile. If no photo is there people wonder why. By investing in a professional photo, you can ensure the best angle and lighting and be able to select from multiple shots. And some photography studios can help with hair, makeup, and wardrobe choices. Some can even Photoshop out certain imperfections from the shot.
4. Update your wardrobe. You don’t need to make a huge investment. A new jacket, tie, sharp scarf, pin or something similar might be all you need. If your look screams 1985, you could give hiring managers the impression that your skills are stuck in that era as well. Find a style savvy friend to help you update your wardrobe or hire an image consultant to get you on the right track.
5. Join a professional association. Many job opportunities are shared through professional associations. Why post a job to thousands of strangers when you can go to your internal colleagues and advisors and quickly source the best candidates? Being involved in a professional association helps you become part of the inner circle in your professional community.
6. Let someone pick your brain. Perhaps you read the recent Forbes article, No You Can’t Pick My Brain, It Costs Too Much recommending you be cautious about giving free advice because doing so means you are devaluing your knowledge. I disagree. Giving free advice could mean more opportunities in the future. Spend 20 minutes with someone to help them resolve an issue and they will remember it. And you will be on the top of their list of people to help in the future. It’s possible for someone to pick your brain without them siphoning your entire knowledge base. Don’t be stingy with information.
7. Give kudos. Offer endorsements via LinkedIn and other social media sites to people whose work you know and trust. This will keep you top of mind with your network and increase the likelihood that people will in turn help you when you are seeking advice and information.
8. Make time for lunch. We get so wrapped up in work and other priorities that we forget to take time to socialize during the work day. The lunch hour is a time to reconnect with people, share advice, and gather information. This is a critical aspect of career management. The more people that know you and the more people know about you, the greater the likelihood that someone will be able to assist you with some aspect of your career in the future. And if you’ve been spending your lunch hour with the same 2 people for the past 5 years, now’s the time to change that and branch out your inner circle.
9. Buy a piggy bank. For many job seekers money is tight. They forgo a promising networking event or dues for a professional association membership due to the cost. They may fail to realize that for every week that they make poor job search decisions they stay unemployed longer and lose valuable income. Inquire about “in-transition” rates for professional organizations. Some don’t advertise these cost reductions aggressively but do offer a reduced rate for in-transition professionals.
10. Learn something new. What’s trending in your industry? Which of your skills are rusty? What gaps are there between your skills and the needs of your industry? Gaining education doesn’t have to be expensive and doesn’t necessarily require a formal education. Read industry publications, follow the blogs of industry thought leaders, or make an investment in a class or degree program if you think it is warranted.

Here’s to your career in 2012 and beyond!

As 2011 draws to a close, I’m reflecting on some of my favorite blog posts of the year. Looking forward to sharing more job search advice, rants, and funny stories about the world of work in 2012. Happy New Year!

Job Search Advice

Common Interview Questions and What They Mean

Resume Writing Tips For Susan Lucci and Others Who Haven’t Written a Resume in 40 Years

Ask the Job Search Coach: How Can I Get a Raise?

Career Advice From the Class of 2015

Changing Careers: Look Before You Leap

Rants

The Real Reason Why Most LinkedIn Profiles Suck

Working Women Need Wives

Breastfeeding Breaks at Work: How Far Have We Really Come?

Working Mothers and Letting Go of the Guilt

Just for Fun

Handshake Horror Stories

Funny Job Postings

Outrageous Interview Blunders

Lying to Get a Job: 9 Famous Fibbers

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Other Famous Affairs With the Boss

Everyday I counsel job seekers on how to leverage social media to accelerate their job search. And I’m happy to report that over the last year, more and more people are using LinkedIn as a way to stay in touch with people and build new relationships. But when I ask clients if they use Facebook, 9 times out of 10 the reply is, “Well, I have a Facebook account, but I only use it to keep up with personal relationships, not for job search.”

Why is it that people think the two are mutually exclusive? Why do many  people assume that you can’t find a job on Facebook? According to a recent survey by JobVite, nearly nine out of 10 job seekers (86%) have a social media profile. Facebook has the majority with 84% of job seekers, followed by 39% using Twitter and 35% using LinkedIn. Nearly 1/3 of job seekers (31%) have a profile on all three networks. But more than 1/3 of job seekers surveyed that have a Facebook profile don’t use it in any way to look for work. On the other hand, nearly all job seekers with a profile on LinkedIn and almost 3/4 of those on Twitter leverage their networks for job hunting.

Of those surveyed, 42% had 150+ contacts on Facebook, compared to just 26% with the same number of contacts on LinkedIn and Twitter.  So job seekers are using social media more aggressively on the platforms where they have fewer contacts. The odds of finding someone who can help you are greater when you have a larger network to draw on. Why are avid Facebook users less inclined to use it for job search? Here are some of the reasons I have heard in the past and my rebuttals to the Facebook for job search naysayers.

1. My friends don’t know anyone. Usually when someone tells me this it means that their friends are not in their field so they don’t know anyone that could be useful in their search. But that is an incorrect assumption. You don’t know who your friends know until you ask them. Who are your friend’s friends and who do they know? That’s the real question you should be asking and Facebook is a great tool for shedding light on this.
2. I want to be myself on Facebook and I can’t do that if employers can view my profile. You don’t have to share everything about yourself with everyone. Facebook has an extensive privacy section and you can make decisions about who sees what every time you post.
3. My current boss is a Facebook friend and I don’t want  him to see my job search activity. Job seekers can use a third party application like BranchOut or BeKnown to source important contacts via Facebook without adding them as Facebook friends.
4. No serious employers will be sourcing talent via Facebook. Go to Facebook and do a search on an employer you are interested in. I’m pretty sure you will find their Facebook page. And that page is filled with fans who “like” their page and regularly comment on it. Facebook fan pages are a place where companies build engagement with the people who use their products and services. It’s also a place where job seekers can source valuable information about the company and even job leads.

Since its launch this year, BranchOut, a professional networking platform on Facebook, has been growing steadily. Before BranchOut, many job seekers were reluctant to use Facebook as a job search tool because of all the personal information that could be displayed. BranchOut leverages the power of the Facebook network, but the BranchOut profile only shows work history, education, and positive endorsements to business contacts. On BranchOut, users  can connect professionally without becoming Facebook friends, so they can keep their personal information private. I recently interviewed Mike Del Ponte from BranchOut to learn more about this exciting resource.

Who Uses BranchOut?

BranchOut is the largest professional network on Facebook, with millions of users in more than 60 countries. We have users that are Fortune 500 CEOs, and we have entry level employees. We’re empowering Facebook users to network with those whom they have the most authentic relationships – their friends – and search for hundreds of thousands of jobs through the world’s largest social network.

How does it work?

You have two options to add BranchOut to your Facebook profile.  Either visit branchout.com, or after logging into your Facebook account, search for the BranchOut app and select the app that appears. Once you have the app, click “Grow Network” and you’ll find a number of options to select from, including email, wall posts, and a few additional communication channels on Facebook.

Your Facebook friends who are existing BranchOut users will automatically be added to your BranchOut network. If you’re Facebook friends, but they’re not already BranchOut users, you can invite them to BranchOut using wall posts and the request channel on Facebook.

When reviewing the more than three million job postings or 20,000 internships, you’ll see all of your inside connections – your Facebook friends, who you’re connected to through BranchOut, and their friends. This alerts you to your vast network of insider connections, who you just happen to have the most authentic relationships, so that you can network with them to ensure your resume is at the top of the pile or make an introduction to a hiring manager.

Through BranchOut, you can upload your resume, or create one from scratch, ask for or give endorsements, share updates with your BranchOut network and browse jobs.

What was the inspiration for BranchOut?

The idea for BranchOut came from a phone call that BranchOut’s founder Rick Marini received from a friend. The friend asked Rick for an introduction at a company where the friend wanted a sales lead. Rick wanted to see who he might know at the company by searching Facebook. Unfortunately, that search functionality was not available on Facebook, a major frustration point for Rick, which lead to Rick asking his Director of Engineering to build a search widget. They immediately saw the potential for leveraging Facebook connections to increase professional success.

What do you think is BranchOut’s top feature?

One of the features our users love is the ability to see who they know at companies that interest them. For example, if they are looking for a job at Google, all they have to do is type in “Google” to BranchOut and see everyone they know, both their friends and friends of their friends, who can help them.

Can you share a user success story?

BranchOut has so many examples of people who have found jobs on Facebook. One BranchOut user, a salesman in Florida, was unemployed for six months. He used BranchOut and not only found a job he loves, but also got a 45% salary increase. Another BranchOut user is a disabled veteran in Detroit, who was looking for a job that allowed him to work from home. Through BranchOut he quickly found his dream job at Apple. He was thrilled and now loves what he does.

What’s on the horizon for BranchOut?

BranchOut continues to release new features that take online professional networking to the next level such as new professional profiles and enhanced job posts. We will also be launching more community features that facilitate communication and collaboration between BranchOut users. BranchOut has also recently released a number of tools that help recruiters find great job candidates on Facebook through BranchOut.