When a new job vacancy comes through to us our task of recruiting the best candidate for the role is split into; 50% posting job descriptions to job boards and social media.
50% headhunting potential candidates.

When it comes to job boards, candidates will have included contact information, experience and qualifications on their CV. This makes a recruiters job a lot easier and allows a quick scan of a CV to establish if the candidate is right for the role.

With headhunting on the other hand. A recruitment consultant can only work on the information available either through the internet or through contact. This is why making yourself findable is vital for opening up opportunities headhunters may bring.

Here are a few tips to ensuring your online and offline presence is as findable as you want it to be.

• Ensure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and you have selected what opportunities you are interested. LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool and used by hundreds of recruitment consultants everyday. Ensure your contact details are up to date and visible in your profile if you want to be contacted. Ensure your precious job experience is all there to as consultancy are always looking for relevancy and experience.
• Having a website is a great way to ensuring your work is visible to recruitment agencies. Having your name on the website is vital for allowing search engines to index yourself. Having a website is not always practice for those in full time employment and should be used by the unemployed and recently redundant. Because of the scale of the web now it’s easy to find cheap if not free methods of getting online. Software like WordPress and Blogger are free to use and will allow you to showcase your work and contact details for recruiters to find you.
• Utilising social media, such as Facebook and Twitter can be a powerful method of drawn in opportunities and a great platform for communicating with agencies. Be warned though, providing an unprofessional appearance through social media will seriously compromise job opportunities.
• Uploading your CV to job boards is a great way to generate new employment leads. Websites like Reed, UK Staff Search and Indeed all have an option for employees to upload their CV’s for free for registered recruitment agencies to download. Recruitment agents will have to pay to access your CV and therefore will enable you to avoid spam. Most recruiters will use websites like these to headhunt new potential candidates.

By combining a healthy mix of the above, making yourself applicable and visible to recruitment agencies will increase your chances of finding exiting new opportunities in the CAD industry. Ensure that the online and offline personas you give off match each other and give credit.
The Internet is a minefield and needs to be taken seriously, especially for those looking for employment.