But it does more than give us unlimited classifieds. It offers new ways to connect to people who are looking for candidates and for candidates to screw up the opportunity.
Don’t let it happen to you. Here are some concepts you need to master when it comes to finding a job using technology and the Internet.
Resumes and Cover Letters Still Matter
Yes, these two pieces of paper are still important. Maybe they’re attachments to your e-mail. But you need to give the hiring managers something to print and read.
While you’re at it, make sure you use proper grammar and spelling. One HR professional says she cuts and pastes all the cover letters she receives into Word so the spell check can tell her who gets it wrong.
Use Social Networks
College students are ignoring Twitter but the people who want to hire them are on it. Get in front of the people who are looking for your talents. Network in their circles.
Don’t Abuse Social Networks
Take a look at your Facebook account. How many times do the words “drunk,” “wasted” and “PARRRR-TAY” appear on pages? That doesn’t cut it with most employers. Sure they did it when they were your age. But not they’re responsible adults who want to hire people who know how to pretend they’re responsible adults.
Don’t put anything in a tweet or update that you wouldn’t say in a job interview.
- Bonus Tip: Change your Facebook privacy settings so that the only photos of you that can be tagged with your name are ones you tag. So all those beer pong photos don’t show on your wall.
Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for finding a job. Make sure your public profile looks as good as your resume.
Clean up Your Email Address
Do you know how many people in your industry want to hire someone with the email address party_girl69 at hotmail.com? Unless it’s more than 90%, you’d better create a new job search email address. Any clean variation of your name will work fine – unless you’re John Smith.
Also, employers are searching social networks for candidates’ e-mail addresses. So give them one that’s not attached to your MySpace page.
Get Creative
Of course creative is a relative term. You don’t want to be seen as avant garde when you’re looking for a job in accounting, insurance or banking. But you want to stand out in a good way and show you know how your industry works.
Consider Alex Brownstein. The copywriter identified five creative directors he admired and started using Google Adwords campaigns for their names. When the directors Googled themselves, they saw this ad at the top of the search page:
“Hey, [creative director’s name]: Goooogling [sic] yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too”
You’ll never guess who got his dream job.
How does the Internet help or hurt your job search?