Guest Author - Gwendolyn Thompson
The 21st Century is a new world of social media, digital resumes, and electronic research. Computer literacy is a must. Establishing an internet presence and becoming active on social media sites is essential to your job search. Networking and social media contacts are the new era job searching tools.
Past traditional forms of job searching are no longer dependable and can prove to be a waste of time. Previous practices of mailing a resume and waiting to be contacted without making yourself Google friendly will result in frustration and a waste of energy.
A resume is no longer a summary of your work and education history. Don’t bother to list jobs more than 15 years old. Employers are not interested in what you could do way back then, but what you can do now and what you can do for them today and in the future.
In the 21st century it is a must to have a digital resume that is easily uploaded, downloaded and scannable. It should be rich in key words that employers in your field will be searching for with an emphasis on recent accomplishments, certifications and training.
The first thing a potential employer will do is Google you. Your job search responsibility is to make sure that what they find is current information that is career oriented and your current digital resume. Recent and favorable information will be presented first so become active in your career social media sites.
More than ever before it is about who you know and who knows you. Becoming social on your career media sites will increase who you know and who knows you. Finding out the needs that employers have and demonstrating to them that you can fill these needs will increase positive results in your job search.
Become familiar with researching on the Internet and applying on line for jobs. A valid professional sounding e-mail address is also needed for potential employers to contact you. If you do not have the skills necessary to accomplish these tasks then it is essential that you acquire them.
The 21st Century is a new world of social media, digital resumes and Google friendly searching. These skills are easily acquired with guidance and repetition and can be learned with instruction at your local One Stop Workforce Center workshops.
