Having a spelling error or typo on your resume is no longer the only factor that may play into whether a hiring manager calls you to interview for a job. NPR reports that hiring managers are steering clear of candidates who make these digital 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 e-mail address. Some executives say those are outdated.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.
Hiring managers also are looking to how job applicants use these technologies to determine future success on the job. Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin, an online real estate brokerage, tells NPR that someone applying for a job in marketing, for example, will do much better in an interview if he or she already commands an audience through a blog, and people in sales look better if they can prove through their Facebook page that they have a broad network of contacts in their field.
As the government looks to streamline the federal hiring process and adopt new Web 2.0 technologies, I wonder if these new rules for digital job-seeking will play a role in evaluating applicants. Or for some agencies, perhaps some of these rules apply already?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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