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Modern Yuppie: Finding a job the non-traditional way

Amber Yake - News Editor

It’s the digital age; cell phones, computers, social media and email seem to be ruling the world. Everything is going online; including the traditional way of finding a job.

Picture looking for a job 20 - even 10 - years ago; you go around to businesses in town and drop off your PAPER resume. But is that the way of the past now?

Today, “modern” job seekers are using the advantages of social networking to find jobs. And it seems to be working for them.

Yifei Shang, a college dropout, created his own website called Hey HubSpot (www.heyhubspot.com). The sole purpose of this site? To get the attention of HubSpot so they will hire him.

Jamie Varon, a new college graduate in California, created Twitter Should Hire Me (www.twittershouldhireme.com) last year. She ended the site in April 2009 after landing a lunch meeting at Twitter and being featured on CNN. Obviously, her non-traditional, outright approach worked.

Not everyone is – or can be – that extreme in their job search; especially if they don’t have a particular company that they want to work for nailed down. But, people are using other means more often now.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Brazen Careerist are all becoming popular sites to find jobs on. You can follow job boards on twitter, you can connect with potential employers on Brazen Careerist and LinkedIn, and you can touch base with old classmates and colleagues on Facebook. These tools aren’t just for social networking anymore; they can also be used for career networking.

So, for those of you who are interested in using modern ways to find a job, but aren’t quite ready to go as far as the previous two examples. Here are some tips:

• If using LinkedIn, make sure you have an up-to-date and professional looking profile

• LinkedIn is the most-used social networking tool for recruitment.

• Make sure your Facebook profile is clean and professional. You don’t want potential employers stumbling on pictures of you stumbling drunk at a party – even if they are from two years ago.

• Use Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) to search specific topics and when someone tweets on that topic, you will get a notification. This can keep you up-to-date on the latest happenings in the industry that you’re interested in.

• Create a resume that can be sent by email, posted and searched online. 75 per cent of companies prefer to get an email copy of your resume rather than a paper one.

Have any questions? Send me an email or leave a comment on the website. Have any topics you’d like covered in this weekly column? Let me know. amber.yake@gmail.com