Recruiting tips

Job Seekers Find New Rules Of Recruitment - NPR Story

NPR story highlights the new trends in job hunting and recruiting

NPR's Morning Edition had an interesting story today about the new rules of engagement for job seekers and the new trends in recruiting.  With the advent of email and professional networks, the methods of looking for jobs and finding talent have changed dramatically.  While in the recent past, paper resumes and dark suits were de rigueur, nowadays these things may be turnoffs.

Not participating in professional networks like LinkedIn is also a possible turnoff according to NPR.  Companies are more and more depending on these networks to find talent.  The new digital age makes recruiting both easier and harder.  On the downside, recruiters can be inundated with the vast increase in resume submissions for each job.  On the positive side targeted searches with tools like LinkedIn Recruiter allow recruiters to find people with very specific criteria.  Another plus is the ability to do a quick job reference before even talking to a candidate.  This can be a real time-saver.

These new rules are especially true for high-tech fields.  With all this talk about new technologies, one might think this advice is targeted at older generations.  To the contrary, people in their 30's and 40's who just missed the social networking boom have to play catch-up.  Click here for the audio clip on NPR.

Here is NPR's full list of 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 address. Some executives say those are very outdated.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

We are interested to know what is on your list of job seeking mistakes.  What would you add to this list?  Write a comment on this blog and let us know.

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