New Year resolutions are never easy to keep.
However, one of the most popular commitments for the new year - searching for a new job - has become more challenging in recent years. It’s not just the pressures of the higher unemployment and looming public sector cuts that make things more difficult, but the added pressures of recruitment in a digital age.
Rapid advances in technology and media are changing the way job hunters search and apply for jobs, and provide novel ways for them to market themselves to recruiters. Employers are also turning to digital media to search for the best employees, recruit specialist skills and even test the truth behind all the claims made on CVs.
Rapid advances in technology and media are changing the way job hunters search and apply for jobs, and provide novel ways for them to market themselves to recruiters
The digital CV
In the midst of all the doom and gloom from the latest employment figures, one recruit had no problem in securing a job in the ultra-competitive world of public relations. Graeme Anthony, a PR executive, used a highly creative YouTube video to promote himself and his skills to leading London PR firms. It worked and he landed a job at Frank PR.
Graham Goodkind, chairman and founder of Frank PR said, "It's always amazed me in this day and age, that when things are moving so quickly from a technological point of view, CVs and resumes are really the same as they were 10, 15 or even 20 years ago. So this really opened up our eyes to how it really could be done and we wanted to meet the guy straight away." I wonder what would happen if Graeme had just sent a paper based CV and hoped for the best?
LinkedIn for recruitment
LinkedIn has been all over the business media lately and its popularity increase daily. I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn and always encourage clients to use it more effectively. Apart from using it as a professional profile tool and networking hub, I’ve used it for market research and generating real leads for my business.
In addition to all these benefits, it’s also a recruitment tool. Professionals can identify suitable businesses and contact their executives regarding future positions or project opportunities. In turn, recruiters can search for talented professionals by sector, experience, position and skill set.
I know of several executives who have secured jobs and contracts by networking on LinkedIn. And I also know of a few business owners who have used the network to bypass expensive recruitment consultancy costs.
The digital eye
If the latest figures are to be believed and you are hunting for a job, your online reputation is now more important than ever. Studies show one in five employers use the internet to check out candidates, and two thirds of those admit their final decision has been influenced by what they found.
Given the power of new media, it’s not difficult to see why. Internet search engines such as Google create a highly visible platform for finding out more about job applicants, and social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace are full of ‘digital breadcrumbs’ about people’s lives – photos, comments and videos, which might convince an employer to think again about an appointment.
No demographic group leaves more digital breadcrumbs than younger people and graduates who have very exposed lives on the internet. As a generation who grew up with the internet they are much more comfortable with displaying their personal lives online and have a fundamentally different concept of privacy.
Indeed, Google Chief Eric Schmidt recently stated that the problem of online reputation was so great for young people that in the future some will just assume new identities. Although, I’m not really convinced by this, as a law of economics would suggest that society might ending up just caring less!
People have different views on the ethnics of checking up on potential employees online and there’s certainly a debate around the fact that more employers are doing it. Aside for the rights and wrongs, online searches about job applicants are a growing reality. So instead of just ‘dusting off the CV’ consider ‘becoming a video star’ instead.
