Maybe Cee Lo Green & Adam Levine had a point with their show the voice. Making a decision to bring someone on your team based solely on their work product. You get the concept of the show. Contestants do a 90 second audition to potentially be selected by one of four judges based solely on quality of their voice. No judgments based on physical appearance. Just the impression made from the work product. Now once selected, you aren’t necessarily ‘hired’. You are on that judge’s team. They then mentor the contestant and help them improve themselves for competition (ok, I am now thinking it may be more “Hunger Games” but the voice only kills your self esteem).
Anyway, there is a growing trend among progressive employers to make hiring decisions based on an applicants social feed. More and more people are being hired based on the online persona they create via their tweets and blogs. Phrases like “the 140 character resume” are gaining traction. In a related article in USA Today, its mentioned that “the very best talent isn’t even looking for work. They are mobile and socially connected and too busy changing the world”.
If you are what you tweet, it’s important to be genuine. It is also important to be relevant, professional and thought provoking. You are likely not a celebrity, so don’t tweet like one. Is it interesting that Russell Brand ate cheerios’ for breakfast? (cliché perhaps). Maybe if you are into Russell Brand, but to catch the attention of potential employers, social media output needs to be a few key things, none of which are a good source of fiber:
- Consistent – Show that you are committed to your craft. If you tweet on the weekend, then tweet every weekend. If you do it daily, build a repository to keep it daily.
- Concise – (140 characters is pretty concise) – This shows your follows that your thought process can be refined to pinpoint accuracy of an idea.
- Relevant – Timely and helpful to show you are paying attention to what is current
- Personally Branded – Your stamp. What makes your take on the topic uniquely yours and stands out among others in your space
- Followers – The amount of people following you, the chatter it creates.
While unlikely that high level hiring decisions will be made in this medium is unlikely, companies are getting a great feel for online personality. And if that is the target they are after, it is a very pure way to approach the process.