LisaWhether you’re looking for a job, thinking about your next career move or content with where you’re at, you should always be thinking about how to demonstrate your expertise and position yourself in the industry.

What do I mean by this? Think about technical conferences, online blogs, RSS feeds you subscribe to. When you want to stay informed and learn more in your specific industry, you turn to these sources. More than likely there are specific names that you would immediately associate with if you heard them... how about Danny Sullivan or Joel Spolsky or Robert Scoble?

Why am I mentioning this? These are great ways to get your name out there and become an expert in a specific field. At Microsoft, we hire people who apply to our jobs, but we also have recruiters who look for and contact people who haven’t applied yet. After all, there might be a perfect job out there for the perfect person who just doesn’t know it yet.

Our recruiters will search the internet for blogs, forums, conferences, etc. It’s not about a resume but rather looking for the people who specialize in the field. I would recommend that if you want to leverage your expertise to supplement your “career brand” online, you should include your email address when you post so potential employers have a way of contacting you.

Being visible also is a great way for hiring managers to get to know you as well. They attend the conferences and read forums too and this is a great chance to network with them. So take a few minutes each day and write a blog post (be sure to reference other post or articles) or answer a question on a forum. Whatever you do, be sure it’s intellectual and thought-provoking so other readers will then sign up to your RSS feeds.

- Lisa