Do you need to cover your tracks?
Your footprints are everywhere today.
If you are online, you leave a trail of evidence everywhere you go and employers want to see your tracks. We know job seekers are practicing their answers to the tough questions after reading job search books and articles. And, we employers have been fooled before by big talk. We have hired people who said all the right things, but in real life couldn't do anything right. So, we go online to see the real you.
Seth Godin tells a great story about this-
The moral of the story is not just about covering your tracks. If you are not online, that could be just as damaging in many professions. As I mentioned before, we've been burned in the past by hiring candidates with all the right answers. And so, many employers will be looking online for evidence of real contributions and accomplishments you make in this world. We don't want to take your word for it anymore. We want to read your blog, understand what motivates you, what's important to you, see your circle of influence, know where you've been and where you're going. Seeing is believing.
Fortunately, we want to do this for your benefit as well as ours. What counts in our business as well as in your life is to find a good fit between every hire and the position. In the age of Google, we're getting better at this. The Internet is going to move you faster than ever before into your natural role and position in life - into the job you are most suited for. So, think carefully about what you want that position to be and live your life around that vision.
If you are online, you leave a trail of evidence everywhere you go and employers want to see your tracks. We know job seekers are practicing their answers to the tough questions after reading job search books and articles. And, we employers have been fooled before by big talk. We have hired people who said all the right things, but in real life couldn't do anything right. So, we go online to see the real you.
Seth Godin tells a great story about this-
A friend advertised on Craigslist for a housekeeper. Three interesting resumes came to the top. She googled each person's name. The first search turned up a MySpace page. There was a picture of the applicant, drinking beer from a funnel. Under hobbies, the first entry was, "binge drinking." The second search turned up a personal blog (a good one, actually). The most recent entry said something like, "I am applying for some menial jobs that are below me, and I'm annoyed by it. I'll certainly quit the minute I sell a few paintings." And the third? There were only six matches, and the sixth was from the local police department, indicating that the applicant had been arrested for shoplifting two years earlier.
The moral of the story is not just about covering your tracks. If you are not online, that could be just as damaging in many professions. As I mentioned before, we've been burned in the past by hiring candidates with all the right answers. And so, many employers will be looking online for evidence of real contributions and accomplishments you make in this world. We don't want to take your word for it anymore. We want to read your blog, understand what motivates you, what's important to you, see your circle of influence, know where you've been and where you're going. Seeing is believing.
Fortunately, we want to do this for your benefit as well as ours. What counts in our business as well as in your life is to find a good fit between every hire and the position. In the age of Google, we're getting better at this. The Internet is going to move you faster than ever before into your natural role and position in life - into the job you are most suited for. So, think carefully about what you want that position to be and live your life around that vision.
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© 2009 Created by Eric Shannon on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
