he key here is differentiation, when it comes to implementing that plan, by applying what I call ‘social engineering in job search’. This consists, in short, of ‘going beyond’, increasing the chances of success. Basing it mainly on 4 fundamental pillars: planning and organisation, time management, personal branding and LinkedIn strategies.
Planning and organisation: The basis of every plan
One of the fundamental pillars of job search social engineering is planning and organisation. I always recommend tools to help you do this, such as, for example, an Excel spreadsheet where you can record all the companies you have sent your CV to.
And if we apply this ‘go beyond’, we will add essential information when we have a first contact with the company and even for the interview. What additional information do I mean, apart from the name of the company? The position I am applying for, the mission and values of the company, what it does, country offices (if any), the website (from which we will extract most of this information), etc. Why is this important? I always tell of cases where I have called people who had sent their CV to apply for a vacancy, and the most common response you get is ‘what company were you calling me from? I don’t remember, and what position? Turning around this first impression you have projected to the person in charge of the selection process is very difficult. So let’s avoid this by having that exhaustive record of all the positions we apply for.
Another strategy that can help you is to ‘save time’, imagine that at that moment you don’t have the information at hand to consult it, I would suggest you thank them for the call, show interest and ask them to call you back at another time so you can review all the information, significantly increasing your chances of success.
Time Economy: Focusing actions and maximising results
The second key pillar is the economy of time. In general, in life and more so in job search, time is one of the most valuable resources.
One of the most common mistakes is to spend many, many hours sending mass applications to different company vacancies, without tailoring the profiles to those vacancies. This method does not usually have an impact on companies, but it does have an impact on individuals, as it leads to attrition and demotivation. It is therefore preferable to prioritise quality over quantity.
Based on this social engineering in the job search, before starting to send CVs, it is essential to look for what is in demand in the market in my profile, observing and noting down the main common characteristics. I recommend exploring between 25-50 professional offers, for which you can use AI tools (GPT Chat, Copilot…), Google alerts, LinkedIn, etc. This is essential for two reasons. On the one hand, to see if in an agile way, we can carry out any common training among the offers (on free platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, Coursera, etc.), getting even closer to the profile required by the companies. On the other hand, apart from saving time, focusing the search, we train personal skills which will make you more competitive in the labour market.
The last step would be to personalise the CVs and cover letters for each offer, using the key words that come in each one of them, highlighting them in bold, to favour the visualisation of these words. In this step, it is very important to apply the 80/20 rule: 80% of your CV (both written and visual) should be oriented towards the position you want to apply for and 20% should include your professional background. This is essential for both junior profiles and profiles with a great deal of experience and professional reorientation, as this is where it is more difficult for the people involved to apply this rule. Additionally, aesthetics is also an important part of the process, choosing a clear and structured CV is key (a very powerful tool that can help you is Canva, which even has free designs). And even if we go further, even the colours we use play an important role, I always use the same example, if you have to send a CV to BBVA Bank, what colour would you use? In this case, it would be important to avoid using red (more similar to the Santander Bank in its sector) and blue would be more recommendable, as it will be perceived more corporately and in a different way.
Personal Branding: The Differential Value
The third pillar is the personal brand, which plays an important role in the job search and even in the development of a person within a company. Professional personal branding is how we are perceived by others in that environment, and differentiating ourselves from the rest is the key; bearing in mind that more than 1000 people can apply for the same job.
What can we do to make a difference?
It is important to be clear about your values, personal skills and most significant achievements in order to build an attractive personal brand.
Many of the things we have mentioned in the previous sections make us stand out from the rest: organising the information about the positions we apply for in order to make a better impression when we are called, focusing actions, highlighting keywords, the 80/20 rule, CV aesthetics, etc.
Undoubtedly, one of the most powerful strategies today is the presence in professional social networks. Creating content, actively participating in the network, writing articles related to your profile/sector are effective ways to raise visibility, favouring professional connections and creating a stable digital footprint that will help you to be identified and remembered.
LinkedIn, for example, is the most powerful tool in the current paradigm, and although in the next point we will detail a bit more about the tool, I would like to highlight the importance of those first contacts to other professionals, as it is fundamental how we treat people and build a proper personal brand.
Strategies on LinkedIn: Key Platform for Employability
Finally, LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools for job search and professional networking, in fact, the data speaks for itself:
- More than 58 million companies on LinkedIn.
- More than 2 million articles/news items are published every day.
- More than 20 million job offers are posted.
- 90% of professional profile seekers use LinkedIn.
However, having a LinkedIn profile requires more than just having an up-to-date profile, it is about applying social engineering, bringing a more proactive and strategic approach.
First of all, it is essential to optimise the profile, knowing the key points for the algorithm and for people looking for talent on the network:
- The photo on the profile (preferably a professional photo) is very important, as, LinkedIn has facial recognition, to avoid fraudulent profiles/bots, etc.
- Include keywords throughout the profile.
- In the professional title it is essential to put the profile where we want to go. Often, in professionals who reorient their profile, the old one still appears, or even both. Avoid special characters or emoticons that are not recognised by the algorithm.
- Include a professional extract. Remember if you use AI tools to help you with ideas, avoid copying it literally, as, in addition to the fact that it is usually noticed, there are tools that confirm when you paste the text if you have used AI.
- It is important that the dates that appear on LinkedIn match those on your CV.
- Actively connect with key people in your environment/sector/profile. The more contacts, the more visibility you will have on the network. However, beware of fraudulent profiles.
- Applying to vacancies directly through LinkedIn often allows you to attach recommendations from contacts, adding value to your application.
- Personalisation of invitations is key, not only for personal branding, but also proven to be more likely to be accepted+.
It is important to connect with superconnectors (people with more than 500 contacts), as they amplify your network a lot, therefore, greater visibility. - Publish frequently (waiting at least 3 hours between one publication and another).
- It is essential to define a strategy for using the tool, in order to focus actions, reduce time and maximise results. For example, if we know that the best times to publish are in the mornings, avoid publishing at 5pm, because it will have less impact.
Conclusions
In short, it is all about having an updated and careful profile, it is our image on a global scale, and above all it will give us the visibility we are looking for.
I hope it helps you to face the great challenge of finding a professional opportunity, go for it all using that social engineering in your job search!
