MARGAUX ZION

I attended a career panel hosed by the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation yesterday at the SES New York Expo moderated by Matt Mc Gowan. (Managing Director, Incisive Media) On the panel were 4 acclaimed guests; Chris Boggs, (Director, SEO, Rosetta) Michael DeHaven, (SEO Product Manager, Bazaarvoice) Bryan Eisenberg, (NYT Bestselling Author) and Noran El-Shinnawy (Internet Marketing Manager, Aquisio). They shared a lot of great insight on the Search Marketing Industry, and a few personal stories of how they found love in the business. Here is my take on the generous career advice they shared with the attendees:

A LinkedIn network presence is very important for young professionals to establish. This is a great way to be seen by recruiters, and to show passion for your career. Here are some tips to get involved:

1. Join groups. Find groups with interests that match your own, and sign up for the email digest. This is a great way to learn “shop talk” amongst established industry members, and will give you an idea of the current events in light. Join the discussion every so often, and post a helpful insight or ask a question. You are more memorable than you think.

2. Follow companies. Not only do companies post jobs regularly on LinkedIn, but you will be able to follow the vein of your own connections to people in the company. If you don’t know anyone who works for a specific employer, follow the company anyway. You may find that you have second or third degree connections to employees on the inside. Ask your connections to introduce you to company employees.

3. Try to go for a 100% profile completeness score. Ask for recommendations, and recommend others. Also be sure to fill out your skills summary with keywords applicable to the kid of job or industry you are interested in. Robust profiles match recruiters’ search queries much better than weak profiles, and rank you most favorably. Add apps like Events and Reading List to show your personality, and to give prospects a better feel for the kind of person they would be hiring!

4. Feel free to do a little stalking of your own! It gives you a friendly advantage when you know a thing or two about the person interviewing you, and helps break the ice if anything! Steer clear of Facebook stalking, it is just a bit too personal. Try and keep the conversation to professional topics sourced from LinkedIn.

I hope that this is helpful! Best of luck everyone!