SPEAKER’S CORNER: Gretchen Gunn – Your Media is Social but is Your Resume?

Speaker's Corner

By Stephanie Jones
Key points of Gretchen Gunn August 2012 presentation to PSGCNJ:
Modern times call for modernizing our approach to the job search. To present yourself as a progressive thinker in your job search, you must use social media including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It is necessary to become tech savvy. Social Media habits embrace what you are doing to stand out in a crowd.
Resumes should be digitized and online.
Paper resumes are no longer enough. The resume is a chronological document of work history and a living, breathing document – but it is only a launching point. Candidates need to tailor their resume to the requirements of the targeted job. Digitizing your resume and having it online is time effective, easily updated, allows for customization, multiplication, and targeted responses. Word Press (free) resume is useful because it allows you to provide more details to match each job description.
Social media develops your brand in the world of the workforce:

  • Skype video interviews will be the wave of the future.
  • Blog information and online research are all part of preparation when identifying opportunities.
  • If you do not have a LinkedIn picture it works against you.
  • Go Daddy (free) allows candidates to set up a web site.
  • Facebook still captures the majority of audience in sheer numbers of people and is trying to figure out how to leverage this for job searches. NASDAQ has reported that Facebook plans to launch job boards along with partnering companies. Businesses want to find out not only what you do but whoyou are. Set up a professional Facebook page. Control Facebook content by segmenting who sees appropriate content by blocking content that is not appropriate.
  • Find a topic someone in your field is talking about in the blogs and blog on it further.  A blog by Gretchen on a topic in her recruiting field was picked up by CNN, giving her enormous exposure. The name of the game is: the more positive exposure you have, the more you become noticed as the “crème de la crème.”
  • “Cross pollination” with social media and your background is a technique you can also use. For example, Pinterest is a new social media avenue that is like a bulletin board and may be especially useful for media persons or product sales people.

The good and evil of social media sites: Manage content. You can position yourself as an expert in your field and build credibility. Negatives can be opinionated rants or an inappropriate picture posted by one of your friends (we assume you would not post one of yourself). Employers are looking for reasons to say “no,” so do not alienate your audience by commenting on the upcoming presidential, senatorial or congressional political campaigns; your audience may hold strongly opposing views.
Social media tips to give yourself the best chance of landing the job you want:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of your profession
  • Rekindle connections
  • Learn about your future employers

Employers aren’t hiring a piece of paper, tell them your story. A good story is both memorable and compelling; social media gives candidates the opportunity to use it to their advantage.

  • 83% percent of employers use social media sites; 58% have hired through social media sites, which further breaks down to 28% Facebook and 14% Twitter
  • LinkedIn is the #1 site for job search with 161 million members

Define your target demographics and use the stats to your advantage within your search strategy:

  • YouTube visitors spend an average of 15 minutes per day on YouTube
  • 60% of bloggers are between 25 to 44 years old
  • Pinterest has 1.3 million visitors per day and drives more referral traffic than YouTube, Google, and LinkedIn combined.
  • The general purpose of branding yourself is to create an online persona. Create an online Webinar by using webinar software like Go To Webinar. Set up yourself on Tweet Deck so you can post one time on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and it will populate on all three spaces, saving time.

Remember that technology is always changing: The processes we use today might be obsolete tomorrow. Don’t be surprised when resumes have audio and video capabilities in the near future. Sound might seem far-fetched today (so did online recruiting and job boards ten years ago) so be ready to be a progressive thinker by digitizing. Modernize your search to include a social media strategy, and leverage the internet to brand yourself with a unique professional persona that sets you apart from the mainstream crowd.
Gretchen Gunn is the Principal of MGD Services Inc., a certified woman owned business. Since joining forces with, and subsequently leading, MGD Services, Gretchen has been instrumental in directing the careers of over 100 highly qualified professionals who have found employment through her organization. Gretchen has consistently been a top performer in staffing management across several industries and has extensive experience in all aspects of developing and maintaining strategic resources for Corporate Information Technology, Marketing, and Project Management Office Departments in the commercial and government sectors. Contact Gretchen at http://www.linkedin.com/in/mgdservices

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