The New Job Application: No E-mail or Résumé
What's a job application without a résumé? What's a job posting that doesn't ask for one? Ask Aaron Strout. He's vice president of new media at Burlington, Mass.-based Mzinga, a firm that creates social networks and online communities for businesses.
He's looking for a PR director and a social media marketing manager, and these are his rules:
1. No resumes. At least not the kind written in MS Word.
2. If you want to get me your background, do it in the "community way." Either blog about why we should hire you or get me to your profile on LinkedIn (or your preferred social network.)
3. DON'T e-mail me. If you are a community-centric person, connect with me on Twitter or Facebook—you can DM me on Twitter or email me through Facebook.
Is this the future of job applications? The information and requirements are announced on Strout's Mzinga blog. He includes links (and shout-outs) to other bloggers he's referring to in the post. He links to his own social network profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn, and to his personal blog.
"Given the fact that we are a company focused on building community for other businesses, the thought occurred to me that I might start practicing what we preach in the world of recruiting," Strout writes. He also hopes this method will give him better insight into candidates than a résumé would. It obviously weeds out applicants who think Twitter is the sound that birds make in the spring. Strout knows this:
For people that aren't on social networks and don't blog, my new approach probably may not work. But the people we're looking for really need to be doing both.
Tags: careers | hiring | social networking
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Reader Comments
Separation of Work and Tweet
Sure this makes sense for social media type positions, but what about those who use social media for the *social* aspect? I do alot of hiring, and I'd rather not have unsolicited application requests come through on [for instance] twitter. It would make that outlet seem more like work.
LinkedIn as a Recruiting Tool
LinkedIn has quickly become a predominate recruiting tool for the staffing world. I use it every day in my role as a senior recruiter for a major corporation.
The Linkedin profile is a great marketing tool previously unavailable to the individual unless they were able to make a significant investment in the hiring of an "agent" or "image maker". It can greatly support and enhance the recruiting process.
As a professional, I would be remiss if I didn't have a resume on hand while evaluating a candidate as this is a foundational document in the building of a potentially long term relationship with an employer. The LinkedIn profile cannot replace it; however, combined, they are excellent tools from which to work and I greatly appreciate having both.
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web 2.0 hiring
Finding a new hire is hard enough. Why not make it easier for both parties to find and hire the right person. Great thoughts Aaron!
Mar 26, 2008 12:47:58 PM [permalink] [report comment]