Having your resume online is the nice bond paper of twenty years ago now that so many companies have an online first approach to recruiting employees. However, the state of network security in some organizations might be directly at odds with the tools job hunters use to post their resumes online.
I had the opportunity to give my talk about social media and job hunting again at last week’s meeting of the Messiah United Methodist Church Jobs Ministry. As a volunteer, I am happy to be there to help people, and find myself learning something new whenever I talk to folks on the subject. Getting up and talking in front of a group about LinkedIn and the use of social media as a job-hunting tool also challenges me to refine my own online brand and job hunting approach.
Here are some lessons I’ve learned from two presentations and a lot of reading and research about the subject in between and try to stress during my talks:
The Wall Street Journal Blog recently published a post entitled “No More Resumes Say Some Firms”. Through the points it raises, it got me thinking because when I was just out of college starting as a young technical writer, the resume was a key job hunting tool. Now, the resume is just one (albeit shrinking) element of a job hunter’s toolkit when you factor in a LinkedIn Profile, Facebook Profile, blog, twitter feed, and maybe even a professional website.
I’ll be giving a presentation about using Social Media (LinkedIn in particular) for job hunting at the Messiah United Methodist Church Jobs Ministry at 7:00 pm. You don’t need to be a member of the church to attend the Jobs Ministry meetings. More information about the Jobs Ministry can be found on their web page. I’ll be posting the presentation slides on my blog after the event.
Despite making a living as a contract technical writer for years, I never really given much deep thought to job hunting and resumes in particular until I started volunteering for my church’s Jobs Ministry. For so long, it was just part of the business and it got a lot harder when the economy began to tank. When it was time for me to get involved with the church and I thought all of my experience seeking work and dealing with recruiters could help somebody out. I had also been online as a job hunter since before it was cool.
One of my first personal challenges with volunteering was to really reflect on my experience job hunting online especially with my recent experiences using LinkedIn.The intersection of social media and resumes is something I am finding very interesting right now. When I first got online, you were on the leading edge if you owned your own domain where you posted your resume. Now with domain registry and web space costs at reasonable prices it is within reach of anybody wanting their own web presence. While I have a LinkedIn Profile, FaceBook profile, and tweet, I really don’t consider myself a social media maven but I realize its business value and that an online social presence for a resume has left the realm of tech industry-only early adopters and become a necessity for today’s proactive or passive job hunter across all industries.
I’ve already written about what I think are the basics in a LinkedIn Profile and looking over my Jobs Ministry Social Media & Job Hunting presentation, I think there are a few elements beyond the basics that everybody should attend to when building out their LinkedIn Profile.
I’ve had the opportunity to speak to the Messiah United Methodist Church Jobs Ministry twice now – my first seminar was about using social media for job hunting – got me thinking more about what goes into building a solid LinkedIn profile. Personally, while I recognize the growing importance of social media, I am far from a devotee to it so I tried to offer the attendees the benefit of my own experience using LinkedIn to interact with recruiters, potential clients, and to find work.
My own LinkedIn Profile has undergone a lot of changes and growth. I didn’t get serious about LinkedIn until 2008 when I was on contract at company that I consider a “LinkedIn culture” where many of my clients were and still are quite active on the social network.
As the economic apocalypse drags on, I am noticing a big uptick in contacts I get via my LinkedIn Profile so I am definitely keeping up my time investment in the proper care and feeding of my presence.
The foundations of building a solid LinkedIn Profile in my opinion include:
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