“Yes,” I said, “Expose yourself!”

Woman Speaker In Crowd

Before your mind drifts into the gutter, what I meant was to ensure others see you in a professional work environment.  Be seen performing at your best, as a showcase in your work environment, in volunteer responsibilities, and in outreach to the community.  Here are some examples of ways you can expose yourself.

Trade industry conventions and shows are great public relations for a company, business service, or product, but this is also an opportunity to demonstrate your Subject Matter Expertise (SME).  Can your company offer to provide a targeted demonstration (captive audience in a set-aside room)? Is there an opportunity to be a SME speaker (dinner, luncheon, or highlight of the cocktail hour)?  If so – you want to be the one speaking. Have your business card ready to pass out to those interested in your company’s services, and have seen your ‘spark’ during the presentation.

Speaking engagements are a big draw if you pick a popular topic or venue.  Join a speaking association or agency that lists your speaking availabilities.  Offer to provide free speaking engagement (or for a donation to your favorite charity – double exposure!) to organizations that are looking for speakers. Review the newspaper for lists of non-profit organizations (NPOs) or visit the national organization’s website for local chapter’s meeting times and dates.

If you can’t find a place to present a speech, then create the event yourself!  Rent a room at a local library, advertise and email your friends, industry co-workers, or potential symbiotic business partners to share the stage. Pass out evaluation forms at the event and gather contact info from the attendees. Use the forms to follow-up with one-on-one meetings at the local café to continue the conversation.

Write editorials to the local newspaper or for trade organization media releases.  Offer a constructive, ‘let’s look at both sides of the coin,’ viewpoint.  Write books.  Print on demand book publishing has become exponentially popular and provides business entrepreneurs huge opportunities for book signings at local bookstores, trade fairs, sales shows, and private book parties.  This adds another bullet to your resume, and visibly demonstrates your expertise (especially if the book is well-written and formatted).

Look for contests and competitions.  Even if you don’t win, perhaps you’ll receive an honorable mention. Add that participation or consideration to your resume, which may spark longer interview conversations about your commitment to a goal.  If and when you find a contest, don’t just humbly wait for someone else to get the bright idea of submitting your name.  Find a champion, and help them submit your name (or your company’s name) for the award.  If you have a brilliantly written resume on hand, it could be a simple matter of copying and pasting the information into the application.

Attend job fairs – even if you aren’t actively looking for a new job.  Pick up business cards and brochures, and obtain point of contact information for recruiters and hiring managers.  When the activities and backlog of the work missed from the job fair dies down, then a few weeks later it’s time to develop a business relationship with those folks in LinkedIn.  Send an email indicating you hope they were able to fill all the current job openings with qualified candidates, but if not, were there any specific qualifications or candidate that you can assist them find?  If you know an active job seeker who meets the open job requisition’s needs, push the resume to the search firm.  When it’s time for your next career move, these recruiters will remember the pre-paid favor.  Headhunters love a strategic alliance for qualified candidate leads, reducing their overhead, time, and labor.

Get out of the house, even if it’s a walk on the beach where there is a crowd around you, and start friendly conversations. Personal hobby clubs, meetup.com groups, and business networking groups are a dynamic way to meet new faces and learn about other people.  Make a point to say something humorous on the elevator to make people smile.  When you expose yourself, as you are job searching, you get attention, and then you can direct the conversation towards your goals.

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., is the owner of D. Boyer Consulting – providing resume writing, social media management, business development, and human resources consulting. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@DBoyerConsulting.com or https://dboyerconsulting.com.