Signature May/June 2015 - 39


of professional networking, as well as for
potential strategic partnerships or acquisitions," she notes.
LinkedIn has also become a hub for
job postings. Sarah Lawler, who recently started a new position as director
of marketing and communications at
National Foundation for Credit Counseling, says that she made a point of
keeping her LinkedIn profile up to
date. "In a previous experience, a recruiter found me on LinkedIn, and I
was ultimately hired for that position.
Because of that experience, I have kept
my profile up to date."
Lawler, who says she applied for 23 positions and had a four-month job search,
admits that once she embarked on this
job search, she didn't think of LinkedIn in
terms of job postings. Instead, she set up
job alerts on ASAE Career HQ, Capitol
Communicator, Association Trends, and the
local Washington Post, and the aggregator Indeed.com, which pulls listings from
numerous job boards.
"I did not rate LinkedIn very high
on my list of sources because not too
many associations posted jobs there,"
she admits. But some associations are
there, and she says, ironically, LinkedIn is exactly where she found her latest
position.

Cracking the
Hidden Job Market
Even with the ease of applying for jobs
online, "As always, personal connections
and word of mouth are the best way to
find appropriate positions,"Garzarelli says.
Indeed, building and nurturing professional relationships is one of the best ways
to uncover high-quality jobs that have not
yet been posted or are in the process of
being developed. Such positions make up
what is often referred to as the "hidden
job market." And uncovering jobs in the
hidden job market often means much less
competition.
That turned out to be the case for
Rusignola, who served on the AM&P
board for several years and chaired both
the Education and Annual Meeting
committees. She found that building
relationships through AM&P was not
only a great career development experience for her, but those relationships
also proved instrumental in landing her
new position.
During a casual conversation with friend
and fellow board member Erin Pressley,
vice president of publishing for NACS
Media Group, Rusignola, who was in the
middle of a job search, learned that Pressley was looking to hire someone for a new
position.

"Make sure you
understand the
position and the
organizational
structure, and ask
questions about
future growth,
management style,
and about the
workplace culture."
ERIN PRESSLEY
NACS: The Association for
Convenience & Fuel Retailing

MAY/JUNE 16

signature

39
http://www.Indeed.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signature May/June 2015
