Dear JobsBlog:
I'm looking for a new job, but finding that the longer I look, the rustier I feel.

Any suggestions for good job search techniques that help you to stay sharp and gain visibility even if you don't land your dream job?

-Trying to Keep Job-Ready 

Dear Trying to Keep Job-Ready:
Conferences are a great chance to network, showcase your expertise and learn from domain experts.

Almost every conference has a Career Fair where companies in that domain area attend and look for great new talent. It’s an excellent way to get one-on-one time with a corporate recruiter and see first-hand what type of people work at those companies. 

You can bet that any good corporate recruiter will look at speakers and those who have submitted/are presenting papers to see who’s who amongst the crowd. It’s also a very rewarding way to show off your work to your peers and share knowledge with those passionate in your area of expertise. 

Attending presentations and panel discussions in person is so refreshing in the sense you see who these people are and their honest and genuine opinion on what they are discussing. 

Here are two conferences our Online Services Division recruiters will be attending in the near future. The first is near and dear to my heart: the International Conference of Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM) and the second is something I am very passionate about too: the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). 

We would love the chance to meet you in person and see if Microsoft is a part of your next career endeavor.