You’re looking for a new job, you’ve updated your résumé – but do you have a social résumé?
A social résumé is simply your online presence and they are set to be the way of the future for most of us.
“A detailed CV will always be required for some positions, such as an academic or medical role,” says Maria Forrest, the head of research for a Sydney ‘head hunter’ firm. “But more and more, the first thing we do – but not the only thing I hasten to add - is just search someone on Google.”
Ms Forrest says the first thing someone should do if in the job market is to conduct an online audit of themselves.
“What is in those top few items on a search about you?
“We generally don’t have time to do much more than two or three pages into an online search per person, so if you want us to notice you or something you’ve done, make sure it’s up the top of a search.
“There are many ways you can do something about your online presence,” she says. “The really obvious one is Linked-In. That is where everyone in the recruitment or search industry will go first.
“My advice is don’t use that as somewhere to park your résumé but include the jobs you’ve held and the highlights of your experience and achievements as well as a summary that is like an ‘elevator talk’ – in other words, what would you say about yourself if you had 20 seconds.”
But she says that, increasingly, there are more ways to ensure an effective social presence.
“I have seen some really good ones. Some people register their own web page in their own name, and just link various items of interest from that page.
“That works well as a site with your name will always come up highly in search engines and that way you can control what is there, such as articles, links to profiles or social media accounts. I’ve seen them with a blog added in which is a good way of showing a recruiter of your writing and presentation skills, your analytical skills and your ability to use technology. You don’t have to tell us about it because we can see it for ourselves.”
Ms Forrest says she recently received a one page résumé that had a QR code at the bottom of the page which, when scanned, linked to an entire website of material about the candidate.
“It worked very well for that candidate.
“At first, I looked at the one page résumé that came through the e-mail and wasn’t impressed, but when I looked at the trouble he had gone to with the website and building the QR code, together with his experience and qualifications, he was immediately in my list of ‘must interview’ candidates.”
Other creative ideas she has seen include an infographic and a video résumé.
“Again, something like a video résumé depends on the industry you’re in and the role you’re going for but if they are kept short, they can be helpful.
“But be careful. Not everyone is comfortable in this environment and unless you are, it may not help you.”
Ms Forrest says not to discount the more social social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
“They can also work for you depending on how you use them. I don’t know a recruiting company that doesn’t have a Facebook page and more and more are using Twitter also. If a person follows us, we follow them back.
“If you’re going to integrate Facebook and Twitter to your social résumé, make sure you use the privacy settings and restrictions appropriately. For example, a potential employer doesn’t want to or need to know if your 3 year old is potty-trained; that information is for friends and family and should be restricted.”
But whatever you do, the basic rules of a social résumé are the same as those of a written résumé. Don’t include:
- profanity
- spelling mistakes or poor grammar
- mentions of your partying or alcohol consumption
- posts about religion, race, ethnicity, gender preference.
Tips for building a social résumé
- Conduct an online audit, eg. via Google, Bing and other search engines
- Make sure your Linked-In profile is up-to-date
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Check out the options for building a social résumé
- Can you write? Do a blog.
- Register a website in your name and link items to it.
- Make your social résumé industry and job relevant. Some possible options include:
visualcv.com
vizify.com
emurse.com
résumésocial.com
ziggs.com
myresumebuilder.com.au
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