Notes from the Other Side

When you’re looking for a job, it can be hard to know how your resume or application looks from the other side. Two recent posts by people who make hiring decisions give some good insights. First, Glenn Kelman, President and CEO of Redfin, gives his take on what makes a good resume. The whole thing is worth a read, so I won’t quote selectively from it. I’ll just say go read it and then look at your own resume again.

Then Robert Scoble of Fast Company offers advice on how to use social media tools and good old-fashioned networking to find your next job. I love his list although I’m a little unsure about this one:

Your blog is your resume. You need one and it needs to have 100 posts on it about what you want to be known for.

I do love the idea of blogging for a career. In fact, I think it’s a much more valuable sales pitch than a resume when done right. But that’s my concern … not doing it right. Not all of us are cut out to write. You may be brilliant at your job but not gifted as a writer. If people are judged on whether or not they have a blog, that’s measuring an entirely different skillset than the skillset needed to do the job. Still, Scoble’s advice is valuable and mostly spot on.

Knowing how recruiters and hiring managers think is crucial for a successful job search. I’ll post articles like these when I come across them, but I recommend that you also do searches to find similar posts. It’s also a good idea to subscribe to recruiting blogs as these will often reveal the techniques and technologies recruiters are using to source candidates.

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