On The Prowl

On The Prowl (OTP) in my vocabulary means Job Hunting.

Where do you look specifically when hoping to land a full-time fashion/beauty/lifestyle Public Relations job? Is there a one-stop-shop with job listings? How does one become an Executive Office Assistant at let’s say, Elle Canada mag?

It’s not as obvious as it may seem.

First thing’s first: there is no overarching database of all available PR jobs in your city, wherever that may be. Sorry. You will have to do a bit of research when it comes to tracking down that dream job (and this blog post is a great place to start). The following is a compilation of tips and tricks to help the OTP phase of your career go by with a little less stress.

The power of LinkedIn

ICYMI, LinkedIn is a networking platform where business professionals essentially have their resumes on display for the world to see. More importantly, businesses post their company’s profile on the site and available job listings. LinkedIn allows people to connect in a formal way, more so than any other social network does as it is centred around business.

If you do not have a public LinkedIn profile create one now. Immediately. Also, don’t neglect the importance of uploading a professional pic of yourself – not having one is akin to being an anonymous egg avatar on Twitter.

How to use LinkedIn to advance your job search:

• Use the search bar and enter key phrases such as “Communication jobs”, “fashion jobs”, “beauty jobs”, “public relations jobs” or “social media jobs”. This will provide a general overview of companies that are currently hiring. Use the sidebar to refine your job search based on location, industry, experience level and etc.

• LinkedIn search people in the company you want to work for. If you KNOW you want to work at a major beauty corporation on their social media team, see who is already employed there. Check out what they describe as their job role or what their past positions were. This allows you to get a better understanding of what experience it may take to land a similar position.

• LinkedIn search also has an interesting feature called “People also viewed”. Once you land on someone’s LinkedIn page you will be able to see their co-workers or people who hold similar positions as them at other companies, some you may not have even known existed.

Almighty social media

Use the IG search function to your advantage. Type in “torontofashion”, “torontobeauty”, “torontomade”, “torontoPR” and find a plethora of Toronto-based fashion designers, beauty products and locally made products. These places are businesses – businesses need PR people. It never hurts to message your favourite IG boutique or local cause and ask them if they need an amazing PR Account Coordinator. You can only go so far into Google search pages until you give up. This trick allows you to see which brands are out there and lead you to their personal websites. Many brands have a career/job page where they post available positions that won’t pop up anywhere else.

This tip can work for any city and almost any social media platform (Twitter and Facebook too).

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Unfortunately, these tips won’t guarantee you a job. What they will do is open up job opportunities to positions that you may not have been able to find before. The odds of being hired increase the more you apply.

I have a few more tips up my sleeve – keep an eye out for Pt. 2