Yesterday I spoke with cbsatlanta.com about tips for standing out in the job hunt. We covered how you can use social media to find contacts at your dream company, and the all important use of “key words” to save your resume from the so-called black hole. Check out the video above!

Last week I attended an amazing conference, the Atlanta Urban Entrepreneurship Forum, featuring keynote speakers Tyler Perry and one of our own featured GGGs, dancer Ofelia de la Valette. As I was sitting here going through a zillion business cards gathered throughout the day, I thought of how often people ask me, “how do I follow-up when I meet someone new at an event?” For my debut video tip, here’s my answer.

Warning: the production values ain’t no Today Show!

Stacii Jae Johnson believes careers always come full circle—and mentally, you should start at the end point and work backwards. Few understood why after acting in shows including Martin and ER, and a number of films, Stacii took her current role as Director of Special Events for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. But Stacii knew better. “My life is always intentional, though I follow the natural direction and patterns that emerge,” she says. “If you allow yourself to flow into different things, it still gets you to the same place but you have a more interesting path and stories to share.” Case in point, she’s about to become the commissioner of Atlanta’s new Office of Film, Television, Music and Digital Media Development where surprise, surprise, all those Hollywood connections she forged 15 years ago will come in pretty handy. Here, Stacii shares three great lessons she’s learned along the way.

Act Like You Own the Room

To this day, I still use an acting tip I learned from Suzanne Batson [acting coach to the likes of Nicole Kidman]. You know how a room has four corners? When you walk into the room, visualize that you are stretching and shooting your energy out to each one of those four corners. I literally look in each direction—as if I’m shooting a web of energy like Spiderman. Then, I’m bigger than the room. If you walk in feeling you’re bigger than the room, you have more confidence and command your audience.

Follow through—and check your pride at the door.

Here’s how I got my first job as a production assistant on Martin: I’d call up the production coordinator to beg for a meeting, and she’d shoo me away and say call her back. So, I’d set my alarm to call her back when she told me to. 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes later, the next month. I always called her back. I never thought “Who does she think she is?” or that she was blowing me off. Eventually she invited me in for a meeting, where I talked non-stop about how much I wanted to work on the show. I got the job, and they later told me it was because they were amazed by my energy and just wanted to be around me!

Make Friends on the Way Up

When I started doing fundraisers for politicians like Hilary Clinton, people were shocked by how many celebrities I could draw to events. But these were people I knew from my days coming up. I can call actors like Taraji P. Henson and Martin Lawrence and say, “Hey, do you want to do this for me, please?” and they say yes because we’re friends, and they remember how we all were broke together. They remember when we went to Boston market and had to split a chicken dinner! It’s the truth. You might not know right now why you need a certain relationship. But know that as you get older, as long as don’t burn those bridges, those relationships will be the key to your career.

A recent report in USA Today showed that almost a third of college grads are using Linkedin this year to find a job (up from just 5%  last year). But how can college grads make social media actually work for them in the job search? I recently spoke about the topic on CNN, and here are a few tips:

• Be bold. Grow your network before you need to use it. On Linkedin, for example, they recommend you build at least 50 contacts because that’s when you start to see 2nd and 3rd degree connections. For college students, you might start with your friends, sorority/fraternity connections, colleagues from internships, or even professors you admire. What about Facebook? Say you want to work in magazines. Well, yes, it’s okay to “friend” big name editors you admire (the same goes for execs at companies you’re really passionate about). On a daily basis I see status updates from Facebook friends announcing actual jobs with actual email addresses of the person who is hiring. This is how you can get the inside scoop on real opportunities out there– before they hit the job boards.
• Complete your profile. Linkedin is the new resume– and you wouldn’t send out a half-completed resume for a job application, right?! According to Linkedin, you’re 12 times more likely to be viewed for opportunities if you have more than one position listed in your profile– so make sure to add all those past internships and summer jobs. Also, you’re 7 times more likely to be viewed if you have a picture on your Linkedin profile. Even on the new Facebook profile, you want to make sure your relevant professional background and school shows up at the top of your page. And of course, if you’re on the job hunt you need to recheck your privacy settings and scrub your profile of anything that would turn off potential employers (including watching those tweets and status updates)!
• Start “stalking” your favorite companies: I’m kidding a little bit (!)– but one of the best ways to utilize social media is to research the companies you want to work for. Use Linkedin to look up hiring managers or executives; research relevant levels of experience for employees; or you can even follow companies to see who’s recently joined or departed the company. Check out what’s happening on their Facebook and Twitter pages and discussion groups. This gives you great insight into the hot topics and relevant industry trends that will set you apart in the interview process.
• Close the loop OFFLINE: Social media isn’t enough. Yes, it’s easier to FIND people (and for them to find you) through social media– but what then? You actually need to take the step to ask for an informational phone call, meeting, or lunch. Or, ask them if they’d take two minutes to review your resume. Or, maybe you meet a recruiter at a college job fair;  THEN follow up through interaction on Linkedin or Facebook. It’s the in-person connection and cultivating the relationship offline that really opens the doors to new opportunities.

Dear GGG, Help! I’m a communications student trying to land a summer internship, and so far I’m having no luck. I’ve applied to dozens of posted positions on literally every job board I can think of—and nothing.  I’m even willing to work unpaid! What am I doing wrong? – Madison, age 23, Washington, D.C.

Hi Madison!

Well, it sounds like your major mistake is relying on job boards! Don’t get me wrong; job boards have a place in the hiring eco-system. It’s just usually not the best way to apply to and land open positions, especially in glamour-type professions such as publicity. Why not? First, if it’s a big job board (e.g., Monster), or the website of a large company, your resume is a needle in a haystack of literally tens of thousands of resumes gathered for the position. Even if it’s a smaller board, you’re leaving too much to chance that a “key word” search of the database will pull up your application, or that a recruiter’s quick glance of your resume will sufficiently grab his or her attention.

Second, most good jobs are either 1) already filled –or ‘slated’ with internal candidates– by the time they’re posted or 2) not ever listed on a job board. This is particularly true for highly-competitive industries in which the supply of candidates far exceeds the demand.  Before even looking through a stack of new resumes, managers usually have a handful of folks on their radar—such as people who have informational interviewed with them before, former employees, or other professional acquaintances—that they can pick up the phone and call about the opportunity.  Which is why you’re kind of wasting your time mindlessly dropping your resume into a job board black hole.

You’d be much better off spending zero (you read that right: zero!) time on job boards. Starting today, research a dozen medium-sized companies/firms that really inspire you.  Do some investigation on Google, Linked In and even Facebook and figure out how to get in touch with the company’s executives. Send ‘em a letter or email passionately expressing your interest in the company and any opportunities there. Include your resume. Ask for an informational call or meeting. No, you’re not being “too aggressive.” Think about it: What do you think you’ll be doing if you actually get hired to be a publicist? You’ll be cold calling people, trying to sell yourself and your client! The skills needed to be good at the job—e.g., confidence, fearlessness, resourcefulness—are exactly the skills you need to get the job.

Now, get after it!