NPR story highlights the new trends in job hunting and recruiting
NPR’s Morning Edition had an interesting story today about the new rules of engagement for job seekers and the new trends in recruiting. With the advent of email and professional networks, the methods of looking for jobs and finding talent have changed dramatically. While in the recent past, paper resumes and dark suits were de rigueur, nowadays these things may be turnoffs.
Not participating in professional networks like LinkedIn is also a possible turnoff according to NPR. Companies are more and more depending on these networks to find talent. The new digital age makes recruiting both easier and harder. On the downside, recruiters can be inundated with the vast increase in resume submissions for each job. On the positive side targeted searches with tools like LinkedIn Recruiter allow recruiters to find people with very specific criteria. Another plus is the ability to do a quick job reference before even talking to a candidate. This can be a real time-saver.
These new rules are especially true for high-tech fields. With all this talk about new technologies, one might think this advice is targeted at older generations. To the contrary, people in their 30’s and 40’s who just missed the social networking boom have to play catch-up. Click here for the audio clip on NPR.
Here is NPR’s full list of job seeking mistakes:
- Not having an updated profile, with recommendations, on sites like LinkedIn or similar sites relating to your line of work
- Having a husband-and-wife e-mail address
- Having an AOL address. Some executives say those are very outdated.
- Not doing extensive research about the company, its culture and the position you’re applying for
- Not filing your resume digitally, even if you bring paper backups
- “Cold” e-mailing executives with whom you’ve never made a prior connection, either online or in person
- Asking an executive you’re hoping will hire you to be your “friend” on Facebook
We are interested to know what is on your list of job seeking mistakes. What would you add to this list? Write a comment on this blog and let us know.
Tags: Recruiter
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1) not having a profile on these professional social networking sites can make you loose opportunities, but not having recommendation is not a problem in itself as the vast majority of the candidates don’t have any and this doesn’t make them bad candidates
2) True, but much worse is having an email like: poetic.lover@ or sexygirl@… Please stick the first and last names…
3) I agree more or less…
4) This is a problem that happens way too often. Use Google News or Google Blog Search and find more details about the company you are about to set a foot in.
5) Always file digitally and always bring a paper copy of your resume for the interview. Don’t send your resume via mail or fax. We don’t deal with paper anymore…
6) I think you could do it smart but it cannot be a mass mailing. Let them know you’ll follow up at a precise day and time, and actually do it !!
7) I hope it is a joke…
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Echo all of the points made!
AOL is robust at blocking unknown/unexpected emails. Almost every applicant who tells me they didn’t receive our email response is someone using an aol account. Problematic for a jobseeker who is applying to lots of different companies!
Jobseeking mistakes I would add to NPR’s list:
– saying “no relocation” (which is usually the default setting on job board accounts) and then applying for job that requires relocation;
– failing to indicate whether qualified to work in the US for any employer, and then applying for job that requires an answer to that question (and ignores any application that doesn’t answer it!).
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Hi-
I’ll add another one… it’s not having a keyword-rich resume or LinkedIn profile. Many resumes and profiles I see have a lot of corporate mumbo-jumbo related to their current or last employer… using internal acronyms that mean nothing to a recruiter.
And most of all, the number one job search mistake I see is when people apply for a job online and DON’T check LinkedIN to see if they have any contacts at the hiring company. What a waste! Through groups and personal connections, (and using the “who do I know” job search plugin), people can often find internal company contacts who are willing to vouch for them.
Kathy Robinson
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathyrobinson
http://www.turningpointboston.com
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If you make your questions and answers visible on your public profile then you should be careful about what you put in these items.
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