On best of HR - Berufebilder.de® an interview with Regine Heidorn has been published Job Search propagated via Twitter. In my opinion, Xing is still the better tool for networking and effective job searches in the social media sector. I would therefore like to describe my very personal experience of how to find a job with it.

Martin-Salwiczek

After graduation ...

I have a degree in social sciences or sociology at the University Studied Duisburg-Essen. During my main studies, I started working as a student in the HR department at a Cologne company Companys.

Although I was from the Company taken on for a limited period, but unfortunately the employment ended in December 2008 and was due to the large Crisis not extended.

Difficult career advancement

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It was difficult at this point to get a job in the human resources department. Due to the economic crisis, positions in this area were few and far between, and I competed with business economists, lawyers or psychologists. So I started to reorient myself without knowing which way to go.

Despite my professional experience, I had the feeling of starting from 0 and was suddenly confronted with self-doubt and fears. As Alternatives I thought, one Further Training to make and got a consultation appointment with a training provider in Mülheim. That was January 1st, 2009.

Get out of the motivation hole

The Conversation was a gain for me, because beyond the suggestion for further training, the consultant built me ​​up and gave me new impulses: “Go out, attend events that interest you and go to job fairs. You can also use the new media such as Xing. As a social scientist, building networks is even more important!”

These tips were not particularly new to me, but the conversation pulled me out of my motivation hole. From the Further Training nothing came of it, but I took the nice advisor's tips to heart and got started. I took on the role of a job seeker at Xing (which wasn't easy for me), got hold of specialist literature that helped me to optimize my profile and started Xing with all of his Features to use.

What to do to find a job?

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Among other things, I registered with the University of Duisburg-Essen alumni group and was informed there about the career day for humanities and social scientists, for which I registered directly. I learned one there Employees of the company Scholz and Friends, who previously had one Lecture about career opportunities in the advertising industry.

I openly asked him if his company HR seeks. He replied that they had no open vacancies, but that they would need people who are familiar with the subject of personnel recruitment in Web 2.0.

My new hobby: Employer Branding

When he added that the need for HR professionals in this area would increase across industries, he put the “employer branding worm” in my ear. That same evening I made a contact request, which he promptly accepted.

Two days later I received from him via Xing an invitation to an event organized by Scholz and Friends on the subject of employer branding, which of course I also visited. Personnel from the larger companies in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area and I in between were invited. I got to know many interesting people that evening, with whom I networked via Xing.

The network is growing

I got in touch with groups on employer branding, Recruiting in Web 2.0, etc. I learned what RSS feeds and alerts are, watched YouTube videos from HR conferences and began to read the blogs of HR managers and HR consultants such as Gero Hesse, Lutz Altmann, Manuel Koelman, etc. and network with them via Xing .

At that time (early to mid-2010), I worked freelance as a lecturer and helped unemployed people, among other things, to exploit the opportunities of the Internet in finding work. The various HR and employer branding blogs and my Xing experiences were of course a great help to me.

First of all, have a chat ...

In July 2010 I suddenly received a contact request from a Mr. Lars Hahn via Xing. He would have my introductory email in the Xing group Ruhrstadt Network read and remembered me. I would have been with him for a consultation for further training and he would find it exciting to network with me.

Of course, I immediately agreed, because the conversation with him had remained in positive memory. When he posted a few weeks later about Xing that he was represented with the LVQ as a continuing education provider at the job fair Essen, I went. My former lecturer job ended and I was still looking for a permanent position, so I could combine my job search with a casual chat about training.

... then find the job

I visited Mr. Hahn at the LVQ stand and we talked about further training opportunities. In addition, he would find it exciting, what I had last professionally and with whom I would be so all about Xing networked.

Actually, that would fit exactly with the job profile that the LVQ for a position in Marketing would have defined. I should just send him my application documents and we could meet the managing director of LVQ for a coffee in a relaxed group of three. After a one-month trial period, I was then offered a permanent position.

Xing: Jobs search for Schüchterne

So much for my job search via Xing. I know of other examples Peoplewho got their job through Xing. I don't think Twitter would work for many of the job prospecting people I've mentored so far. In addition, my experience in adult education shows that many people have reached the limit when it comes to job acquisition in social networks with Xing.

Before I started my job at LVQ, I worked as a lecturer with a few smaller providers in adult education. In addition to the “classic application training”, I explored the possibilities of the Internet for job searches with the participants.

To be found!

I looked after a participant who was rather reserved as a type. Although he was skeptical of Xing, he created a profile there. He limited his activities to networking with direct contacts and tracking group contributions in Xing groups that he was interested in. He created his profile so that he could be found for his specialist area and looked in the power search for people who offer what he is looking for. During his search, he ended up on the profile of a production manager and looked at it without making contact.

The production manager, however, became aware of the visitor to his profile I aufmerksam and looked at his profile again. He was so impressed that he wrote to him and asked for his contact details to be released. First there was an exchange of communication over the phone, then came the invitation to the job interview. In the end, we were able to agree on a collaboration.

uniebook only private, Twitter too abstract?

Via Twitter or Facebook This contact would probably not have come about, as the participant I supervised was not represented on the two platforms mentioned and did not want to.

"Facebook I only use it for private use and Twitter is too abstract for me” – This is a statement I often hear while Xing as Businessnetwork is understood and accepted.

Missing skills

However, it is not just the skepticism of many people about the meaningfulness of many social media job search platforms that gives Xing a head start over Twitter as a job acquisition platform: Often, there are also missing cognitive or technical skills to understand and handle multiple platforms.

I have supported the most diverse people, who differ in age, nationality, level of education, as well as in communication, technical and analytical skills. The work on the Online-Presence of the participants different.

Jobbörsen: Easier to trade than social media profiles

The creation of profiles in Monster or Stepstone under guidance worked mostly well, even if there were already crumpled faces, if one pointed out the necessary regular profile care.

It usually became problematic with social media profiles: the participants who were on the social mediaa-Zug jumped, got at most to the Xing, occasionally to the LinkedIn wagon. After that it was mostly the end of the line.

Twitter and Facebook too fast for many

Twitter (and also Facebook) may be the more innovative, faster, more direct communication medium than Xing, but that's exactly what it's all about Problem for many job seekers - many are too fast, too dynamic, too present.

And here I include the 28-year-old literary scholar (“I've been trying Twitter for two weeks, I don't get it”) as well as the 58-year-old engineer (“Do I need a Facebook? ”).

Many participants with whom I speak appreciate the communication skills of Xing, as they are not constantly under communication pressure. They consider it much more important to have gathered their contacts, to be informed about what they are doing, and to be able to easily find out about events through which they can expand their network.

My conclusion

Comparing Xing and Twitter as a tool for job search with each other, always take into account who is using it. Twitter may be faster and more innovative than Xing as a communication medium, so it is not the same as the more effective media for job search.

In the end, it is important to find suitable tools, to know their functions and to use them properly.


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