Job Hunting Case Study – Interview With Lindsey Kirchoff

Lindsey Kirchoff is a job hunting Tufts University student. She thought that the traditional job hunting process was completely backwards from what she’d learned in her marketing classes. So Lindsey created a blog called “How to Market to Me; Your Guide to Getting to the Millennial Market.” Her story is a great example of how to use #CareerGravity to expand your network and find new opportunities.

Let’s break down her strategy and see how she’s tackled each of the three main steps in #CareerGravity.

Build a Personal Website

In last week’s webinar, Do You Have a Flag?, we stressed the importance of owning your own domain and not renting. Lindsey decided to make the investment and purchase howtomarkettome.com rather than use a free WordPress URL. When considering your web strategy, there are two foundational approaches you can take.

• The Online CV: One approach you can take is to register your name and Create a WordPress Resume. In this approach, you’re focusing you your own background and experience. It’s probably the more straightforward and least risky of the two approaches.
• The Subject Matter Expert: The second approach you can take is to blog about a particular subject and establish yourself as a subject matter expert. Lindsey decided on this approach. She wanted to “show” her story instead of “telling” it. Her “How to Market to Me” blog does that by demonstrating her marketing knowledge and writing skills effectively.

There are other variations on these two approaches, including doing them both! You can create an online CV and then also create a second website with your subject matter expertise. The web real estate you own, the more attention you can grab and the more gravity you’ll generate.

In either approach, it’s important to tell everyone exactly what you want. Are you looking for a job? Speaking gigs? Consulting engagements? Newsletter subscribers? Lindsey’s “Hire Me” page is crystal clear about what she wants and she gives prospective hirers tools to easily get the information they need and to contact her with an offer.

Build Outposts

Your personal website is your home base. The next step in #CareerGravity is creating outposts where you can meet and influence people in your professional network. The channels each person will use depends on their preferences and goals, but there are three where pretty much everyone needs an outpost:

• LinkedIn: Lindsey’s LinkedIn profile matches her branding by including “How to Market to Me” in her profile picture. Her blog is also linked to her profile.
• Twitter: Once again, Lindsey remains consistent with her branding by creating a Twitter account with HowToMarketToMe as her username. She properly uses this outpost to connect with other marketers, curate content and further establish her subject matter expertise.
• Facebook: In speaking with Lindsey, she was on the fence with regard to establishing a Facebook fan page. I was able to give her the nudge she needed and now she has a branded fan page where she can continue to build her online network.

Promote

The final step in #CareerGravity is to use your website and social media outposts to promote your content and your brand. With a lot of work and little luck, your promotional efforts will pay off as others will begin to talk about your content. Lindsey hit pay dirt when David Meerman Scott wrote a blog post about her job hunt efforts. That’s how I found out about her, which led to this Skype interview and blog post. As you’ll see in our discussion, she’s also starting to receive phone calls from employers and offers to collaborate on projects.

That’s what #CareerGravity is all about. Generating a gravitational field that pulls new opportunities to you!

Skype Interview with Lindsey Kirchoff

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Links Mentioned in the Interview