I have a question for you. Why are so many hiring managers complaining about the “Skills Gap”, while at the same time, economists are reporting over 14M unemployed Americans. Wouldn’t you think with 14M people to choose from, organizations could find the right fit? It doesn’t make any sense.

Or does it.

Besides the obvious factors of mobility and staying up to date with skills, I think most job seekers are completely missing the mark in positioning themselves. And the Skills Gap is evidence for this.

Many professionals have been trained over the years to job search in a certain way. Tell a potential employer what your skills are, tell a few success stories, and hope that they pick you. This is a strategy based on hope, and it simply doesn’t work any longer. You can’t expect recruiters and hiring managers to spend more than 30 seconds on an application which is seeker-focused.

And if this is a belief you have about how to run your own job search, it’s not your fault.

Imagine a horse pulling a cart along a well worn road. The horse changes directions veering off the road, but the cart is stuck in the deep tracts. At a certain point, the yolk will strain and become tense, and possibly even break. Hiring practices really drive the way we should approach our careers. Yet, our training and assumptions for the job search remain stagnant. And sometimes, we just need some help in getting back on course.

Fact: hiring has become social (i.e. enabled by social media). Study after study is proving that this is not just a trend, but a complete shift. Yet, how much of your energy is focused on really mastering social media skills or building a strong online presence?

You do not have to contribute to the Skills Gap!

You can build your online authority, become sought out, build a reputation and drive your career by providing expert value to organizations who need you. That’s why I’m so excited to announce my partner ship with Corporate Warriors, an executive coaching and representation firm.

In my new role as VP of Social Media, I’ll be helping executives become highly sought-out authorities by building their thought leadership blogs, training them on social media engagement, and facilitating live speaking events. This program has had amazing success over the last few years, and I’m excited to build on this and make it even more valuable for executive leaders.

Here is an excerpt from an announcement made to the Corporate Warriors executive community regarding my new role.

Joshua is recognized as one of the nation’s top authorities in using Social Media to drive an executive level search. He is the author of Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies. Joshua is in demand across the nation for radio, TV, and press interviews. He is conducting trainings, live talks and webinars for career centers and professional organizations all over the world.

Joshua will provide the leadership for Corporate Warriors Catapult Program. The Catapult Program, is a one-of-a-kind social media strategy for driving an executive into a new challenging position. It is implemented in conjunction with Corporate Warriors representation of executives. Corporate Warriors has earned a nationwide reputation for using world-class online portfolios with video clip introductions and a network of top recruiters, VC’s, PE’s, and corporate decision makers to connect executives to new leadership opportunities.

If you are an executive, or have VP or C-level friends in your life, please find more information about the Executive Leadership Catapult Program here.