There was a time about 4-5 years ago when it was a job-hunter’s paradise. The economy was booming and there were jobs galore.
Companies were more likely to overlook minor negatives such as resume typos if the candidate seemed a good fit otherwise. Today, your resume might go right into the trash (electronic or literal).
Before applying for jobs take a critical look at your electronic presence.
Email Address
Your cute email address might be okay for your friends and family, but what kind of image does it communicate to recruiters?
The best advice is to create an email account as follows: [email protected] . It’s straightforward and has no potential to be offensive or send any message.
Voicemail
What does your voicemail message convey about you? Hopefully that you are professional. Don’t drive prospective employers to hang-up with joke, or even worse, messages for callers.
Social Network Presence
Companies routinely “google” candidates. Are those photos from parties in college going to pop up? Remove all questionable photos from your profile. If they were posted by others, remove the tag.
Add security to your accounts so searches don’t return images. Also restrict people from seeing your page unless they are friends.
Resume
The usual rules regarding resumes and cover letter still apply even when being sent via email or online applications.
Have friends and family proof both for spelling and grammar accuracy. You want to make it past the initial screening.
———-$$$$$———-
In today’s market there is a lot of competition for fewer jobs. Don’t put yourself out of the running by making a bad electronic impression.
Have you experienced any of these job-hunting mistakes as an employer or job-hunter?
photo credit: Brent Nelson
To be sure not to miss any Bucksome Boomer updates subscribe via RSS reader or by Email.
Content © Bucksomeboomer 2009-2010. All Rights Reserved.
{ 4 comments }
I’ve been out of the “real” work force for so long it would be like starting over for me if I ever had to send out resumes again. But you did inspire me to google my name and I found that fascinating. Amazing what’s out there! I would say that I try to run my on-line life in the way that I run conversations with people face-to-face: as though anyone in the room (internet) were listening. It truly is like you’re talking out-loud in a very, very crowded room. With a tape recorder on your lapel.
Jolyn, five years ago when I googled my name all that came up was my dad’s genealogy page and one of my employer’s web pages. It’s amazing how many social media messages shows up today.
Good advice to consider yourself publicly speaking. The worst part is that much of it you can’t cleanse.
Sometimes I wonder do potential employers have time to google a candidate and look over what shows up? I guess it is a reality nowadays, huh? Background checks are not enough enymore. We do reclessly put a lot of info about ourselves on the Internet. We should be more careful. Great points!
As a manager, I’ve goggled candidates. You don’ t do it for every resume, just the ones that make it past screening.
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 4 trackbacks }