Social Media Resume

Don’t Tell ‘Em, Show ‘Em!

Gary Davis, author | Associated Content.com

This article may not be one a text writer like me enjoys reading about. With hard times comes necessity, which as we all know is the “mother of invention.” It has yielded a change in resume format. I hear you saying,  “I know all there is to know about selling myself. I’ve been to power seminars.” This information on resume formatting is state of the art.

Kavita Kukday-Deb has posted an article on the “Economic Times” that reports back in 2008 Christopher Penn coined a phrase termed “Social Media Resume” or SMR. What this means is that a person takes their information which they would put on a text resume and makes it “come alive” by using audio and video snippets along with of course, slide show presentations.

This “presentation” gives the would-be employer a much better idea of who the applicant really is.

You can upload you answering basic questions as well as showing you in action such as teaching.

You can provide a URL which allows your information to be accessed by many companies. Also it is a good idea to toy with effective “search tags.”

I never thought of this but it’s a great idea and that is to have people give you recommendations both past employers and acquaintances.

As effective as the SMR can be, don’t overdo it. There is the obvious problem of looking like a “glory hound,” but on a more practical level, your SMR will take longer to load and frustrate the viewer.

As a corporate executive, I had the responsibility of hiring department specialists and upper management.

I did not have time to interview everyone who applied so I had to use arbitrary screening tools such as the existence of a college degree (when at that time I didn’t have one). I knew that a college degree didn’t guarantee the best worker but there had to be some way to pare down the group.

While the SMR doesn’t completely solve the problem I had of limited time, it does encourage employers to spend more time looking at “resumes” because they are getting a better view of these applicants.

In this desperate economic period where so many people are finding themselves out of work, the Social Media Resume may be the difference between a bump in the road and a terrible tragedy.

NOTE:   The Hardest Thing to do is Get an Interview when Trying to Get a Job