Changing one’s employment can be worse than buying changing technology:
You think you know what you are getting into, but more often than not—you don’t.
The box may arrive without instructions.
Before Amazon’s Fire phone hit
the market, I preordered one. The phone is not like anything Alexander Bell envisioned,
any more than what folks think job hunting and résumés should be.
The younger generation comes with
built-in apps, while the retrofit crowd searches for instructions. The new Fire
phone has more technology than anyone can use. And wouldn't you know it, the technology
arrives with minimal instructions. You are expected to figure things out on the
fly.
The same applies to job hunting. The
moment you open the job-search box, you discover there are minimal
instructions. You are expected to hit the ground at virtual operating speed, as
well as if you came equipped with a Firefly
button.
When it comes to changing
employment—especially for those who have enjoyed a prolonged job-hunting hiatus—the
evolutions that have transpired will astound you. The following are a few innovations
that have occurred in less than five years.
1.
Employment screening is done paperless, online.
(If your résumé/vita presentation is not 100% Internet friendly, you’re in
trouble.)
2.
Résumé/vita must be relevant and concise. (Off-topic page fillers are viewed as time-consuming
worthless apps.)
3.
Time as you once thought it to be has collapsed.
(The employment process is becoming a virtual
process and employers do not have time to study your message. Ergo, the message
has to connect on first read.)
4.
Selected candidates are based on fit,
qualifications and liking. (Come up short
in one of those categories, and you will be passed over.)
5.
Vetting is done electronically. (If serious red flags in your background
exist, they will be discovered. Interviewers no longer take your word for things.)
6.
Video interviewing has become commonplace. (Be prepared to respond on short notice.)
7.
Your next position of substance will be most
likely appear on LinkedIn—not the newspaper. (If LinkedIn is not part of your strategy, you are not where the action
is.)
In days of old, job hunting was
about as easy as operating a pushbutton phone. Show up on time, present an
acceptable image and a smooth line of blarney, and your odds were relatively decent.
Today, those methods amount to growing cobwebs waiting for the landline to
ring.
Not only will you be required to
jump through interviewing hoops, you will be required to demonstrate a with-it-ness résumé image, a knowledge
of the company, and an enthusiastic desire for the position. Show up with
less, and your efforts are as good as outdated technology.
Copyrighted © 2014 by Robert James