Don’t Make These 5 Job Hunting Mistakes

The following is a guest post by Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. Her blog covers living expenses, saving for your future, and the fun stuff in between.
According to the Yahoo Finance article, Five Mistakes Online Job Hunters Make, these actions will NOT get you hired:

1. Forgetting Manners –
If you use Twitter or you write a blog, you should assume that hiring managers and recruiters will read your updates and your posts… “Assume your future boss is reading everything you share online,” says Miriam Salpeter, an Atlanta-based job search and social media coach.
2. Overkill
Blanketing social media networks with half-done profiles accomplishes nothing except to annoy the exact people you want to impress: prospective employees trying to find out more about on you. One online profile done well is far more effective than several unpolished and incomplete ones, says Sree Sreenivasan, dean of students at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
3. Not Getting the Word Out
When accounting firm Dixon Hughes recently had an opening for a business development executive, Emily Bennington, the company’s director of marketing and development, posted a link to the opportunity on her Facebook page. “I immediately got private emails from a host of people in my network, none of whom I knew were in the market for a new job,” she says. ” I understand that there are privacy concerns when it comes to job hunting, but if no one knows you’re looking, that’s a problem, too.”
4. Quantity Over Quality
Choose connections wisely; only add people you actually know or with whom you’ve done business. Whether it’s on LinkedIn, Facebook or any other networking site, “it’s much more of a quality game than a quantity game,” says Ms. Canfield. A recruiter may choose to contact one of your connections to ask about you; make sure that person is someone you know and trust.
5. Online Exclusivity
Scouring the Web for a position and doing nothing else is rarely the best way to go. “When job-seekers choose to search for jobs exclusively online — rather than also include in-person networking — they may be missing out on ‘hidden’ opportunities,” says Mr. Schoonover. “Higher-level jobs are not posted as often as lower-level jobs online. In-person networking may be needed to uncover these higher-level positions, which may be filled by executive recruiters.”

I completely agree with all of these.
1. I know my company Googles the employees and has laid off people based on a few Facebook posts. One post was anti-boss and the other was crude.
2. I’d think leaving a professional account unfinished would be the definition of of unprofessional, right? So yes, make sure your accounts are completed and have at least of couple solid contacts.
3. I talk alot (surprise, surprise, hahaha), and I’ve gotten all my jobs by talking about the fact that I was looking. My hubby-to-be actually referred me to the contact I used to get into my current job. A solid contact and some people skills can make things pretty easy.
4. If a prospective employer calls one of your contacts and they don’t remember you, that would probably get an aplication tossed. Being picky is just a good idea when you are talking about people who will be actually speaking for your future.
5. I got all but one of my college jobs and my main job by applying in person and by networking…the one job I received through an online application was seasonal work that I was way overqualified for. 🙂
What do you think of their list?