Be The HR Expert Companies Are Thrilled To Hire
by Kevin Donlin
Executive Search Consultant
You already know that most employers will use Google to research your HR background before hiring you, right?
If hiring managers find nothing online about you, you won’t stand out from the crowd. That’s bad.
If they find photos on MySpace of you table dancing in a fur bikini or videos of you on YouTube doing keg stands … that’s worse.
But, what if, during their Google search, the HR or the hiring executive finds out that you’ve written several industry-related articles and you’ve been published all over the Internet? You’ll look like an expert in their eyes — and be much more likely to get a job offer.
Sound farfetched? Actually, it can be easy to do, according to Alan Collins, CEO of SuccessInHR.com and former vice-president of human resources at PepsiCo and Quaker Oats.
“By writing and submitting industry-related articles to a few key Web sites, you can get your name all over the first pages of Google search results. When employers search for you, they will find content written by you that’s related to your area of specialty within HR, which will definitely impress them,” says Collins.
Best of all, this won’t cost you a penny.
Now, don’t worry about the writing part. If you’ve ever written a book report or a coherent email, you can write an article that positions you as knowledgeable in your field — and makes you more attractive to employers.
You can do it by following these five steps …
1) Go back through your past HR jobs and the files you’ve kept…and dig up any reports, memos and papers you wrote over the years. “Basically, you’re looking for anything you have written that’s related to your field,” says Collins.
2) If you’ve already written 450-550 words on a human resources-related topic, great! That’s enough for an article. If not, combine or break apart your writings until you get roughly 500 words. Then, edit and clean up the language so that it reads well.
3) Still can’t find anything relevant you’ve written? No problem. You can write something now.
Visit Google, Wikipedia, industry Web sites, online magazines, etc., until you’ve gathered enough raw data for an article. Write fast and don’t censor yourself. Put your draft article away for at least 24 hours. Then come back and revise slowly. For extra editing, show it to two or three friends for input.
4) Write a short bio, also called a resource box, to insert at the end of your article. “Obviously, you want to write this with an eye toward the job you’re seeking,” says Collins.
Example bio: “Janine Smith is a senior HR manager at Exelon in Chicago, IL. Janine has a BS and MS in Industrial & Labor Relations from University of Illinois and has a passion for helping leaders build high performing teams. ”
Note: If your name happens to be Barack Obama, Bill Gates, or something else that’s already “taken” on Google, be sure to use your middle name or initial to create a unique moniker for the search engines.
5) Now, the fun part. Get published by uploading your article(s) to free online article directories that share your work with multiple Web sites — this is how Google finds you.
Collins recommends you submit to three directories: EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com and SearchWarp.com. “You can send the same article to all three, but definitely be sure to use EzineArticles.com — it’s well-liked by Google and will get you found the fastest,” says Collins.
Bonus: While you’re waiting for Web sites to find your articles, why not set up a free blog and self-publish immediately? Blogger.com is an especially useful blogging tool, because it’s owned by Google, which means your writing — and your name — are likely to be found by employers faster.
If you’ve never been published before, you’ll get a kick out of seeing your name in print. And your job search will get a kick, too, when employers find your name in Google — for all the right reasons.
Remember: Everyone wants to hire an expert. That expert could be you, if you write and publish articles about what you’ve done in human resources.
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Kevin Donlin, an expert on job search, has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others. For more information that can help you cherry pick your next HR job, download Kevin’s FREE INFORMATION KIT for his “Instant Job Search System” which you can get by CLICKING HERE!
August 8th, 2009 at 5:19 am
your updated ideas on HR is perfect .can i have your full fledged article for our college. as our college is having an international joural .i want from you to support on that.
thanks
shilpa
August 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Kevin, this is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Chrlene Guss
August 18th, 2009 at 9:29 am
As always, great resources and very content rich!