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August 16, 2006

Blogging + Recruitment

I'm really enjoying Spherion's new blog and Don Boone's post about blogging caught my eye because he's writing about the same thing I've been thinking about for a while - the different ways in which technology is changing recruitment, and therefore job search. As Don says:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that blogging may just change the very way we look for job seekers. I've never seen a tool with such potential power for candidates seeking career advancement and for recruiters to not only find qualified candidates, but learn more about them before ever speaking to them.

I agree, and it's not just blogs that are changing the way things work and opening up the possibilities for job seekers. I have been guest blogging recently on various recruitment blogs, and I've written several posts on where technology is taking us. I am fascinated by the impact of blogging, as well as sites such as MySpace, Squidoo and LinkedIn because this new transparency offers incredible opportunity (and also carries incredible risk). On Jim Stroud 2.0, I talked about the uncertainty all this brings for job seekers and people in my profession:

The first wave of job boards, which simply moved our existing processes onto the Internet, is already on the way out. We're at the very beginning of a huge sea change in the world of recruitment and HR management, and while those changes are being discussed on some blogs (like this one) and by some industry leaders, for the most part they're happening around us while we carry on the way we've always done things.

And on Job Syntax, I explaned what I think all this means for job seekers:

I do think that the days of controlling your own image are disappearing fast. With all this information online, it’s just not going to be possible to neatly package and present yourself with a well-written resume or a nicely designed web portfolio. Because employers know they have access to unfiltered information about you, and they will assume that unfiltered information is more accurate than the pre-packaged stuff you gave them.

In the end, more openness benefits one group of people – those who don’t need to spin their background because they’re doing a fabulous job. If you love what you do, and write a blog about it, or create a Squidoo lens, or answer questions on forums, or write articles, or play a key role on high profile projects, or speak at conferences, or take a leadership role in a professional group, or do any of the things that make you a leader in your field, you will be less likely than ever to lose out to someone less qualified just because they wrote a better resume. But if you don’t take an active role in promoting your self every day, a great resume alone won’t protect you for much longer.

Posted by Louise at August 16, 2006 12:34 PM