The CV isn’t dead but it is changing
To understand the future of digital job-hunting, Jon Madge asked the company that lived through its past. Monster’s communications supremo, David Henry, talks about how his website is facing up to its challenges, about getting social and why you have to kiss a few frogs.
How has the internet changed job-hunting?
“Obviously the internet has changed the landscape considerably. These days, we tend to cram a lot in. We are resource rich but time poor.
“Online job-searching has enabled people to look much more effectively than they have before, simply because they have all of the resources in one space. Jobseekers can now apply from their home, and to numerous positions at the same time, rather than having to go through the physical effort of gathering together newspapers, magazines, etc.
“It’s a great resource for candidates to research companies too. There’s no excuse now for turning up to an interview and not being able to answer that dreaded question, ‘What do you know about us?’ “
Does that mean graduates can be fully informed about a company and sure they’ll like a job before they even apply to it?
“It’s so important for brands to be authentic because it’s very easy to find something out that the company isn’t telling you. What used to be a conversation between two people in the pub or the students union, talking about a company, could now be happening online, on Facebook, on Twitter or on other social channels. It has enormous reach.
“There are 800 million people using Facebook. It’s huge, bigger than any of the others by a country mile. What recruiters are doing, where possible, is pre-screening candidates by looking at their social media profiles, be it on LinkedIn, BeKnown or Facebook. So it’s as important for candidates to manage their online reputation as it is for employers to manage theirs.
“Monster’s new social media channel BeKnown is an opportunity for young people coming into the job market to start to set up their professional network and separate their personal from their professional profile. It creates a wall between your Facebook account and your professional profile. That way you can represent yourself successfully as an individual.”
Does that mean social networks are changing from genuinely social networks to business networks with a bit of socialising on the side?
“Yeah. That’s where it all starts. When you’re at university you hopefully have a group of friends who are going to go on to great success in their chosen careers. So that network of friends can soon become a very valuable professional network once you’re in the workplace. For a graduate, LinkedIn is a pretty intimidating environment. None of your friends are likely to be on LinkedIn because that’s for more seasoned professionals.”
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