Social Networking for Business, and can we please bury the Resume and Cold Interview?

There are a variety of tools and methods available for folks to connect for business, prospects, and new jobs. It’s really up to individuals to find the right tools and methods

Quality over Quantity
I decline most of the LinkedIn invites that I get to my account. I try to know folks, as for the 95% of the folks that are added to me, I want to be able to say good things about them. The other 5%, I have a hard time remembering, or when I added them I wasn’t thinking. Keeping one’s network quality is important. I see some folks with a crazy amount of contacts and friends, we all know they don’t really know them all personally, but it’s a way to sell themselves as someone connected. I’ve seen some Sales Rep resumes that proudly boast they have 400 contacts on LinkedIn.

Other Social Networking sites
Mario is providing some analysis on Xing and LinkedIn (including the paid premium service), be sure to read Damon’s comments in the post, he echos the quality over quantity theory.

At one time I explored Marketing Ladders, it was a job site for Marketing Directors. It was mainly aimed at Corporate type jobs, with titles of Director, VP, and CMO, so it wasn’t quite the right Social Media mix I was looking for. Seems like a targeted site, but I wasn’t willing to pay for it going forward.

Resumes are for people that don’t know each other. Now, with Social Media, folks in passion groups are getting to know each other, a new type of friendlier, faster, and effective hiring process will emerge.

Is the Resume and Cold Interview dead?
A cold interview is a meeting where neither parties know each other at all. Mark is a talented Web Professional that I’ve worked with in the past, he questions the resume and interview process (some of his experiences sound awkward at least) as not being efficient for those who are skilled. I agree. Now with the easy ways to connect with folks online, you can demonstrate your skills and thoughts, share with others. I predict and hope that people will use social media to connect online, a growing percentage of interviews will happen due to online interactions!

Enter the Warm interview
I interviewed at a handful of companies before accepting at Podtech, most did not use the traditional Resume (being in startup world, it’s about what have you done and what can you do for me?). When I handed CEO John Furrier my acceptance papers, I told him that I turned down better paying jobs as a large stable web/software company and offers from other startups. I really believe in what is going on here at Podtech, and I knew and respected quite a few of the folks. The interview process was smooth, having known John for a while, he made the right introductions, it was warm: he knew me, I knew him, Podtech folks. Most of the interviews I got were because of attending events I was passionate about, and my blog, you can do the same.

The best way to Network is still in First Life
Speaking of Social Networking (in real life) I’ll be at the I’ll be at the Guba Networking party tonight at the restaurant called Roe tonight. Meet me there if you’re in the area. Or just leave a comment or email me if you want to talk! Find hundreds of other passion groups assembling using Upcoming or Zvents.

We connect faster and closer
In closing, due to Social Media, niche groups coming together in real life (sometimes because of Social Media), humans in passion groups are able to connect, learn from each other, and build real communities. Whether you connect with the folks you want by attending events, social networking sites, or using blogs, let’s bury the old ways.

Death to the cold one-off resume!

Death to the cold interview!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 30th, 2006 at 5:18 am and is filed under Social Media, Word of Mouth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.