The old fashioned resume has gone the way of Willy Loman and is no longer a viable tool when sales people are looking for jobs. As a recruiter, I tend to search LinkedIn as a first cut trying to find candidates for my clients. Once my search results in a person of interest and depending on the type of sales position I am looking to fill, I will then do a full Internet / social media search. If you don’t have a social presence in a place such as LinkedIn or Twitter, your chances of being noticed by me are slim to none. Not having a “social resume” is a death card dealt to you without you ever knowing it. So what is the difference in a social resume and a traditional resume? In short, a social resume is more about who you ARE and a traditional resume is about WHAT you did. As a recruiter, I want to know how you will “fit” into my client’s company culture. Therefore what you tweet about, blog about, post pictures of, and share are the contents of your social resume. Of course you need to have the background that my Client needs and certain criteria they have requested, but overall you need to be where I can find you. The traditional resume can only offer a one dimensional view of your career which limits you to listing accomplishments, company names, years of tenure, and your education. Online sites like LinkedIn offer the ability to list your accomplishments, post videos, obtain and display recommendations and endorsements, full company descriptions, and even attachments for download. Hiring managers and recruiters like myself can see other people you are connected with and what groups you belong to as well. All of this information tells me in a split second WHO you are in addition than WHAT you’ve done. A social media resume allows you to reverse the recruiting process and in some ways take back control of your job search. Instead of submitting your resume through traditional means, it becomes a spotlight or billboard that can be searched on, shared, and distributed easily to hiring managers and recruiters. You are no longer subject to being weeded out by a computer program simply because one criteria was not acceptable. It is a place to tell your story, including what type of job and company you want to work for. Now a word about blogging and videos and how they affect your social resume. When you write a blog you show your expertise or knowledge of a certain subject, and it also allows you to convey to others a sense about your style. When you post (and share) a video on a source like YouTube, you show your attitude and actual presence to not only recruiters and hiring managers, but to other professionals that you might want to work with. Linking all of these different tools together creates your social resume. I know I’m not the biggest “social butterfly” like my boss Jim Keenan who Forbes recently said is one of the top 30 social salespeople in the world, but I’m getting there. We at A Sales Guy look for “A” talent not just resumes. It’s time to get social people……don’t be Willy Loman!
Death of a Salesman’s Resume
