In the feed of friends on Facebook every now and then there are posts about job searches, as well as new clients for freelancers. They don’t look like typical resumes: sometimes they are emotional declarations of love for work, colorful stories about professional victories or sad stories of dismissal. Such posts often collect a lot of likes and comments from sympathizers. The Village I decided to find out how much they really help to find a new source of income. We chose a few custom ads, contacted their authors and found out how they are doing.

Search for a new project

Katerina Gostyunina

project manager, 468 friends

“I have been looking for a job for less than two weeks. I am a workaholic, it is difficult for me without a job. I haven't been able to find a new place yet, but I'm not losing hope. All the offers that were only from people I know, so I don’t really believe in the power of the Internet, and even the crisis.

In general, I am a manager and negotiator, I was involved in large IT projects, in particular, support and relaunch of the corporate website „ Gazprom Neft “. But since the time of the Faculty of Journalism, I often take orders for a variety of copyrights.

Work for a journalist

Alina Smirnova

journalist, 330 friends

“I posted ads several times - strangers wrote to me who responded to reposts. Most of them asked for resumes and never showed up again. Several messages eventually led to interviews (although once a girl on Facebook incorrectly described the vacancy to me, in the end I came to the interview prepared for a completely different one, and failed miserably). Sometimes acquaintances write, but in the end everything turns into freelancing at the most. Several times I managed to get a job for a short time, but for various reasons I could not be hired. In general, I haven’t found a job yet, so it’s probably not the most productive way to find something more than occasional part-time jobs.”

New clients for the coach

Alena Popova

civil activist, 14 thousand subscribers

“I wrote this as part of our business-neighborly.rf project. My neighbor, coach Sergey, offered to do these workouts - 46 people responded to the ad in an hour. Now he will select the first group for three-week test classes.

I was elected to the Moscow City Duma in the SAO, but did not pass and continued to work on the territory. Three months ago my neighbors began to write to me. Mostly women. As in 2008, when we created startupwomen.ru, they were fired, but they cannot find work, many have children. I began to think what to do if there is such a task. After the elections, I remember that, according to Thomson Reuters research, 77% of Muscovites almost never travel outside their district. So, the solution must be sought in your location. That is, you can bake cakes, knit sweaters or work as a tutor, and your clients are your neighbors. She suggested that people simply put their business on a regular Google map. And then the activity began. We are now releasing a search application the right people in your area. Sport is one of the most common projects for neighbors, we want to develop it.”

Most likely, you already know that in addition to the traditional sites hh.ru and Superjob.ru, you can use social networks to search for a job. Facebook is especially popular. But not everyone knows how to use such a search tool effectively.

What is the reason that search through social networks in recent times becoming more and more popular? Firstly, some of the vacancies may never reach specialized sites. There is good companies who rarely look for employees. They do not have a paid account on job aggregator sites. Therefore, it is easier and faster for them to advertise in groups. Although there are really not many such companies. Secondly, people still do not often use social networks to find a job, so the competition between candidates is reduced to almost zero. And if your resume on the same hh.ru is one of a hundred (at best), then, subject to a well-written post, you will become, if not the only one, then at least a candidate from the top three or five for the vacancy you are interested in. Thirdly, your post may catch the eye of someone who is just thinking about looking for an employee, or who is not looking at all yet, but will be interested in your achievements.

The main disadvantage of such a search is that this is not a marathon, but a sprint. Your post, at best, will attract attention for a week and a half. And then for this you need comments and likes. By the way, this is one of the reasons not to give a link to the resume on hh, but to offer to send a resume on request. They write comments to you with a request to send a resume - your post goes up. A little trick: unsubscribe right there under the post after sending, they say “sent (a)”.

On well-known sites, you can update your resume as much as you need, and there are more vacancies to choose from. Therefore, placement in in social networks does not exclude traditional channels at all.

Where to begin?

The first thing that comes to mind: you need to make a post on your page that you have entered the labor market. A mandatory first step, but it alone is not enough. Even if you have an audience of about 3-5 thousand, I would still recommend that you write to thematic groups. And even more so, you should not rely on your page if you have only a few hundred people as friends.

Facebook job search groups can be divided into several types:

1. Especially for HR managers where we discuss our internal professional issues. This is just an ideal option, since there is the maximum concentration of people we potentially need, who are invited for an interview. There is one problem with these groups: the most popular, as a rule, are closed, the pass is only for their own. What to do? Either try to seep through there, or ask recruiters you know to post your post and recommend you.

The most famous groups:

2. Groups for job search. As a rule, recruiters are also subscribed to them. They post vacancies there and look at ads from job seekers. At the same time, look, maybe you will find an interesting offer for yourself.

Examples of groups (actually there are more):

3. Highly specialized groups by field of activity. In such groups, vacancies can also be posted, but already focused on a specific audience. Experienced recruiters keep track of who and what writes there if there is a request for a specific specialist.

Summary: we are sorting out the list of groups where we plan to post a job search post. The best option is to place an ad in all three types. If it was not possible to get into a professional public, we throw it into job search groups and groups that are close to our topic.

A large list of groups that recruiters also use can be viewed

What to write?

Your ad should catchy from the first lines. Therefore, the first five lines should at least answer the question why it is worth continuing reading and, as a result, inviting you to work. Let's get straight to the point of "I'm looking for a job @position title". And then we write about how we can be useful to the employer. Pre-visit sites with vacancies, see what requirements apply to candidates for similar positions. Every time you apply for a job, you have arguments in your mind why you should be called, even if you don't really fit the description. So this is your chance to voice your thoughts and even dispel some fears.

“I have been doing “cold sales” for 5 years”, “a marketing department has been built from 0”, “in six months we have organized 8 thematic exhibitions for our clients, numbering ...”, and so on. We write why we are suitable for the position, what we are proud of, you can write about solving some difficult case (people love stories).

We drew attention to the post, then we need to tell you how to get a resume. You can simply write: “I will send my resume upon request” (you can immediately see where and how your post will work). You can, as I did, make a separate website with the ability to download a resume (In my case, only a few people guessed to follow the link and download a resume, the rest asked to send it. But it works for someone). You can simply attach a resume file to the post. What you should not do is post a link to a job search portal. First of all, there is a generally negative attitude towards such links in the HR environment, and this is immediately a small minus for your karma, and our goal is to collect pluses after all. Secondly, someone who is interested in a resume may not have paid access to the portal, which means that he will still have to write to you and ask for contacts. Our goal is to make a resume with contacts as accessible as possible, literally in one click.

As a result, we are writing a post, the purpose of which is to tell about our main advantages, to give general idea about the experience and work out possible objections. In the announcement - only the essence, lengthy introductions are unnecessary.

To write in a group on a social network about a job search is like stepping into the spotlight. Firstly, many will immediately go to your page. Therefore, put it in order in advance. Ideal if you have posts and materials related to your activities. Remove all ambiguous content: reflections on politics, faith, possibly mate in the comments. All photos that feature alcohol abuse. Someone recommends that you also remove photos in swimsuits, here it’s up to you, a lot depends on the level of the position you are applying for. AT this case, your page is actually part of the resume - it forms an idea about you.

Be careful with comments on your post. Perhaps there will be individuals whose comments will not be pleasant, they can criticize salary expectations, the form of submission, and whatever. There will be a desire to fight back. Don't get into arguments. At most, you can answer the attacker, but not in order to convince him, but only in order to explain to other readers your position (well, and raise the post, of course). But you need to do it as correctly as possible.

Social networks provide an opportunity to stand out from a large stream of candidates, draw attention to your resume. Use a platform where competition between candidates is still small. But in order to get the most out of this source, you need to decide on groups to post, write an attractive post about yourself and prepare a suitable resume in advance, which you will send out upon request.

P.S.

I was also looking for a job on Facebook not so long ago, here is an example of my ad that got a lot of responses. It aroused the main interest in the HR hub group, but since this is a closed group,

Social networks have become an integral part of everyday communication... In them, we not only communicate, but also conduct active business activities (PR, buying and selling, marketing). The direction of HR was not bypassed by the explosion of activity.

Social media has always been one of the tools for finding employees (LinkedIn, My Circle, Facebook, Vkontakte), but now online job search is gaining popularity with the help of specialized groups and associations.

One of the most popular resources, according to research by Brand Analitics in 2016, is Facebook. This social network is the leader in terms of the number of active authors (Large coverage and the number of various groups (open and closed) are simply teeming with posts about finding employees.

The main segment is people whose work is related to the Internet (programmers, copywriters, Internet marketers), this includes designers, sales, account managers and those who are looking for remote work.

On social networks, you can find jobs that are not published on specialized sites like HH.ru and Superjob. These resources mainly publish large companies, which have a large selection, but also small organizations buy accommodation. The peculiarity of publishing in social networks lies in a more targeted and recommendatory search. In real time, you can immediately communicate, find out necessary information, explore a person's profile, view mutual friends, and request recommendations. This liveliness and mobility resists the dry resume and phone call response from the site. You see how a person lives, how he behaves, and you can already understand in advance who is in front of you.

If you decide to look for a job in this way, I recommend that you follow some rules:

1. Pay attention to your profile

Stop, do not run to delete your photos in a swimsuit and upload photos from your passport. Don't try to be someone you are not. First of all, you need to fill in information about yourself: places of work, contacts, education, so that the employer already has an impression of your professional experience.

2. Write a “post of kindness” about your search

In your feed, you need to write a short post that you are looking for a job. Reflect in it what kind of work you want to find, your most strengths, something personal and humorous about yourself, contacts for communication, a request for a repost and attach a link to your resume. There is no need to write treatises. I recommend attaching a catchy image.

3. Start looking!

Here are some options for finding your dream job:

• Facebook groups

There are groups specifically for job searches (such as Jobs from Digital HR, HR: jobs and resumes, JOBS, Happy New Job, Got a job! Need a job! and Jobs from friends and specialized (professional) communities. These include SMM News, Copywriting, IT Recruitment, Digital/ IT/ Marketing, Design Manager Community, PHP, Distant work, SEO: promotion and optimization, where specialists from the field you are interested in communicate, where you can publish your job search post and get acquainted with the offers, first send an application to add you to the group.

• Official company pages

If you clearly know what area you want to work in (IT, finance, real estate, etc.), then feel free to go to the pages of these companies (Retail Rocket, Ingate, Notamedia) and follow their publications. This is well applicable to Internet agencies (their number is not very large and not everyone keeps a Recruiter in the state), so vacancies often float in their feed and you can directly write to contact persons by mail or in private messages (the likelihood that your response see much higher than on specialized sites)

• Recruiter

Finding a recruiting manager on social media is not difficult. You will recognize him out of a thousand by his disaster posts about finding the right people. Look for a recruiter who works in a recruitment agency or freelance, he definitely has vacancies in different companies or he can refer you to the right person. You can search in the groups Association of recruiters, All about recruitment and not only, HR-consulting.

The most popular and well-known expert in HR is Alena Vladimirskaya.

4. Be active but careful

• Keep up the communication culture and don't spam everyone with your job search posts.
• Join only communities related to your field and job search groups with the largest number of members.

Where to begin? Join someone else's startup? Run your own? Focus on pumping knowledge of algorithms and data structures? How to get your dream job?

First, a few useful links mentioned in the answers:

• Problem Solving in Data Structures & Algprithms Using Java: The Ultimate Guide to Programming Interview

So here are the top 3 most voted answers.

1. Anshuman Singh, co-founder of InterviewBit, developer at Facebook

Typical interview process

1. 2-3 telephone interviews. Usually, before a personal meeting, several telephone conversations take place in order to “probe” the interviewee. As a rule, they can be given simple algorithmic tasks, but in general telephone interviews are designed to identify "red flags" - potential undesirable features and possible problems upon entry of a hired person into a team.
2. Private conversations
   • interview 1-2: programming, algorithms and data structures, programming culture, code "purity";
   • interview 3: programming or systems design. This stage depends on the experience of the interviewee. The applicant is tested for understanding the scope of his intended professional activity;
   • interview 4: behavioral. After several technical interviews, an interview with hr follows. Its purpose is to identify your psychological pros and cons, to assess how you are able to join the team.

About preparing for an interview

There are many blogs and websites that contain a variety of materials for preparing for a technical interview, but it is difficult to find at least one that would offer the structure and procedure for this preparation in order to successfully get a job.

That is exactly what the InterviewBit project is. It is absolutely free, and provides anyone with an orderly and thorough structured plan preparation for a technical interview, to some extent playing the role of a personal mentor.

Consistent approach. No trees or hashes until you get the hang of arrays and lists.

Each topic is divided into subtopics

Imitation of an interview in the process of solving problems

Jimmy Saad, got a job at Facebook

An extended and very informative post from a person who himself prepared for an interview on Facebook and, as a result, successfully passed it. He details his preparation for an interview for about one month, after which he got a job at Facebook.

One of the main aspects is that when preparing for an interview, you never know for sure what awaits you there. Therefore, it is necessary to be savvy a huge number possible topics, but some are more likely to occur than others.

So let's say you have an interview in a month. How would you plan your preparation during this time?

Days -∞-0: raw data

It is assumed that you know algorithms and are familiar with basic data structures, including binary search trees, hash tables, heaps, stacks, queues, graphs, as well as basic methods for working with them and know the time complexity of each of them.

If this is not the case, you will need much more than a month. To get started, take a look at the book "Introduction to Algorithms". You are also expected to know a programming language like C++ or Java.

Day 1: book

Purchase the book Elements of Technical Interviews. This is one of best books on this topic. It contains over 300 questions asked in real interviews.

Day 2-14: Algorithms

Read the book chapter by chapter, one a day, from 5th to 19th. Solve every problem. Do not program, just find the solution algorithm. Set yourself a deadline for each task, depending on its complexity. If you cannot solve the problem within this time, go to the answer and carefully analyze it.

Day 14-24: programming

Go through the book again, this time programming. Now you know the answers, so you can remember the algorithm for solving each problem pretty quickly (if not, you can peek). This is the programming phase, so don't waste time re-selecting algorithms.

Day 25-30: more questions

Day 31: non-technical part

Yes, it's a bit of a scam to add a 31st day, but it's highly recommended to do so. You need a day to prepare for the non-technical part of the interview (especially if you get a job on Facebook, non-technical interviews are practiced there).

First, prepare the questions you would like to ask the interviewer. Then think about your education and experience: what projects you were involved in, what teams you were part of, what difficulties and conflicts arose.

Prepare to answer questions like “why did you choose our company?”. Such questions usually make the applicant confused.

Marcelo Juchem, Developer at Facebook

30 minutes a day is definitely better than 3 hours 30 minutes a week. Practice often and regularly. It makes no sense to work continuously for 8-10 hours, it is fraught with burnout. Schedule small activities at convenient time slots throughout the day. Make this schedule flexible, give yourself a rest if necessary (there is no point in taking a break for just 15 minutes if you are really tired). You don’t need to be heroic, it’s enough to develop a regime that will allow you to develop steadily.

When learning algorithms, data structures, and problem solving from job interviews, never try to memorize code. You should focus on understanding how and why problem solving works.

Do not focus only on the end result - the process of preparation should be fun. If this is not the case, there is a high probability that you are doing something wrong: for some wrong reason, you have chosen the wrong profession.
Be humble. No one teaches what he thinks he already knows. Nobody improves if they think they are good enough. You are competing with yourself, so be honest with yourself.

Even if you think you're well prepared and ready for an interview, you might need to work out more.

Don't give up by failing an interview. Analyze your possible mistakes and take them into account. The interview process isn't perfect, things happen.

Interview Formats

Most developer job interviews fall into three categories:

1. behavioral (psychological)
2. system design
3. algorithms and programming

Most often, interviews of the third type are conducted. The first type helps the job seeker put himself in the place of a recruiter and ask himself questions: “I would like to have a job with this guy for the whole next year? Would I have a beer with him or invite him to lunch to discuss how the weekend went? Would other members of our team want to deal with him?” Type 2 interviews are designed to analyze your past experience.

Where to get resources to study

• GeeksForGeeks
  An excellent blog where not only technical problems are considered, but also examples of their solution are given.
• Introduction to Algorithms (The MIT Press)
  Good book on algorithms.
• It may be useful to read the first chapters of Modern Operating Systems» 2nd ed. to refresh 3 processes, threads, contexts, and the like.

How to make progress

• Start with how much time per day you want to spend on classes. Make a rough plan and try to stick to it.
• When encountering new material, try to understand how it relates to what you have already learned.
• Build a dependency graph to structure the information.
• Track your progress and note if you are on track with your plan.
• From time to time return to already solved problems. You will be surprised how quickly a person can forget everything.
• Find a study partner or start a blog to share your experience with others.
• Write your own library of learned algorithms and data structures. Try to use it whenever possible.

Colta told the story of a Moscow marketer who has been unable to find a job for almost a year

To bookmarks

Colta contributor Natalia Zotova spoke to several unemployed people about how they are coping with this condition. Among the interlocutors is Ivan Fedosov, a marketer from Moscow. According to him, he has not been able to find work since October 2015.

Ivan Fedosov told Colta that he worked for a year and a half in a large financial company as Head of Marketing and Communications. One of his tasks was to monitor the media for CEO, who did not have a computer and subordinates did everything for him.

“One fine day - in October last year - I removed the publication of Komsomolskaya Pravda from monitoring as garbage - this is, in fact, a tabloid. But it turned out that there was a large meeting with representatives of companies in the industry, and everyone discussed this article, but our leader did not know about it. So I was asked to write a statement,” writes Fedosov. - I did not resist, I did not want to fight. It wasn't my dream job - maybe that's why. Her pluses were a good salary, thanks to which I was able to pay off the mortgage.

Now I do not beat the bucket. In the morning I have breakfast and sit down at the computer: I have the HeadHunter application set up for vacancies, for directions, I look through it every day, respond, write cover letters.

Made an account on LinkedIn. But it turned out that those who worked in Western companies, plus IT direction. On HH I have 200-300 responses all the time - that's a lot. But 70% of my responses go into the void, they don’t answer me. Somewhere I get rejected.

There were five percent of invitations, but either they did not suit me, or something else did not grow together. In addition, I have some kind of salary bar - it is already psychologically difficult to go down to a lower salary. I have some financial cushion: there were savings, in addition, I rent out the apartment that I bought on a mortgage. I don't have a family yet. In addition, there is a small allowance: after two months of wandering, I decided that I needed to register with the employment service.

Ivan Fedosov

Marketer notes that the unemployed have psychological barrier: people are embarrassed to admit the problem, they are afraid to register. Therefore, the official unemployment statistics in Moscow are about 7%, "but knowledgeable people we were told that we could safely multiply by three or four.”

My environment also told me that it was shameful - you are only 35 years old, are you some kind of weak? But that's what people who have jobs say. And when you do not work, the worldview somehow changes.

The allowance is 7000 rubles. But in order to register with the employment service, I had to come three times - there, as in a Soviet clinic: scandals, queues. And twice a month you have to come to check in, look at the offered vacancies.

I do not hope to find a job through them, but the service has a big plus - a list of 26 professions that you can go to study at the expense of the state: from a locksmith and an elevator technician to a web designer. For example, in my English group there were 17 people - teachers, accountants, psychologists, people absolutely different professions, even bank employees. And 90% are women.