The thinking is valid… to a degree.

Here is what they are trying to say, and my take:

Google is the new resume: Why use the boring old two page document that no one likes?  Instead, I should be able to Google you and see how amazing and qualified you are.

Here’s my take: The search results for someone on Google have a long ways to go before they will replace a resume, for many reasons:

• A resume is a succinct document that summarizes your career and qualifications, and should be customized for the industry, job title or company.  Google results are hodgepodge results, thrown together by a search engine, and not controlled by the candidate.
• A resume is accepted by the people making the decision, or weighing in.  The format is common and familiar.  If you have to run someone by 10 people, are you going to forward their Google search results and let people figure out what is good and what to ignore, or are you going to forward their resume?  Everyone knows what a resume is, and how to read it. Not everyone knows how to sift through search results.
• A resume is part of the ingrained (defined: Firmly fixed or established; difficult to change.) hiring process. When has HR even moved fast on anything, much less something as ingrained as the resume?
• Even if a candidate could control the Google search results (see Vizibility if you want to attempt this), many people don’t have anything that will come up when you search for them… which goes to the next point….

If you aren’t on Google (or LinkedIn), you don’t exist: Recruiters and hiring decision makers and influencers look for talent on search engines, mostly Google.  If they search for, for example, a project manager in Seattle who is certified and has 20 years experience in a certain industry, and that matches you exactly, but you don’t have a good Google presence or a LinkedIn profile that comes up, you don’t exist, they wont’ find you, and you will miss out.  In short, you don’t exist.

Here’s my take: Recruiters are not as shallow and simple as this. Many recruiters I know are networkers who spend more time on the phone and hanging at industry events. If they are looking for you, they will ask their network, who are hopefully your colleagues in your company and other companies in your area.  You’ll be harder to find, but that’s the challenge a recruiter accepts.  If everyone was easy to find in a Google or LinkedIn search, the value of a recruiter would be diminished.  Valuable recruiters specialize in finding the hard-to-find talent… whether they are online or not!

Will technology replace the resume?  Perhaps, eventually, but not anytime soon.

One of the most common issues that comes up is discrimination – specifically, age discrimination.

Chris Russell, at Secrets of the Job Hunt, wrote a post titled How to fight age discrimination.  It is a collection of four posts… here are my two favorite:

How to Fight Age Discrimination, from a legal perspective (on eHow).  There are four steps, including have documentation (see the post for what to document), find the EEOC office nearest you, file the complaint in person, and then file the complaint (aka, charge) by mail.

Fight Age Discrimination in Your Job Hunt – Manage Your Digital Footprint, by Keppie Careers.  With regard to social media, Miriam says: “It can help keep you looking young in a job market with a tendency to discriminate against older workers.”  I agree.  Having some kind of activity, or strategy, can make it look like you are current in today’s world.  Check out this post on LinkedIntelligence, about a guy who met someone in marketing who hadn’t heard about LinkedIn… if you are in marketing, you better know what LinkedIn is, don’t you think??

We all face discrimination of some kind … it might be age, it might be race, religion, accent, size, height, hair color, lack of hair… how can we get around discrimination and really show who we are? (hint: there is a way!)

And we do it wrong (or poorly)…. almost all the time.

Can you communicate just a little bit better? Communication in your job search is key.

It’s why job seekers spend hours working on their “elevator pitch.”

It’s why people pay to have a professional resume writer hone their 2 page resume (aka, marketing tool).

It’s why people pay to have an image consultant help them with their body image, clothes, etc.

It’s why people pay to have an interview coach help prepare them nail the interview.

It’s why people tell you to have a better handshake.

It’s why people do mock interviews, record them, and critique them.

Think about it – in your job search, most everything you do is communicating in one form or another.

How’s your communication?  Can it be improved?  I’d suggest looking for marginal improvements, one step-at-a-time.  Communicate better on purpose, and you’ll be a better, more successful job seeker!

• Place
• Position
• Price
• Product

Every marketer can define those four Ps, and they play a significant role in their marketing strategy.

Chris Russell, of Secrets of the Job Hunt, wrote a brilliant post about the Four Ps of the Job Search.  Chris says your four Ps are:

• Personal (who you are, your brand, etc.)
• Positioning
• Promotion
• Persistence

I love the play on the Four Ps… read Chris’s post so you can see how he describes each of the Ps.  And there’s a great story about a 58 year old job seeker, Gina, who landed the job she wanted with those four Ps.  I love it!

It weighs too much, so they can’t pick it up and make a call.  Or, pushing ALL the numbers to dial out is too tiring, so they don’t do the last 1 or 2, and the call doesn’t go through.  Or, there’s a powerful magnet that makes you slam the receiver down before the person answers.

I’m joking, of course, but that’s what it can feel like!

What are we afraid of?  The person saying “Hell0?”  Are we afraid of having a meaningful conversation?  Are we afraid of what they will think of us if we fumble?

Whatever it is, get over it, or work through it, because the phone might be the most powerful job search tool you use.

Networking involves communication… start to master this, enjoy it, and your job search will do a 180.

At least three people asked me about the connection strategy they should have.  Two of them had strong opinions already formed and just wanted to see what I thought.

I explained in my LinkedIn book I have a chapter about connection strategies, where I explain there is a spectrum with open networkers on one side (those who connect with anyone) and closed networkers on another side (those who have very strict requirements before they connect with you).

The bottom line is this: I can’t tell you what is right for you, or anyone else.  You have to decide where on the connection spectrum you feel comfortable.  You might be in the middle, or lean towards open, or lean towards closed… I don’t know what your comfort level is.

I also recognize that your circumstances now might push you towards one strategy, but when the circumstances change, your strategy might change.

What’s right for you? I don’t know.

What’s right for the person next to you?  You might not be the best person to decide what’s right for them (as I see so often!).

I do know this: everyone has different objectives with their networking efforts… choose what’s best for you, for now, and go with that.  Adjust as necessary.

Did you know Career Resumes does LinkedIn Profile makeovers? Click here for more info.

What better place is there?

If you get together with family and friends at Thanksgiving, you have a great opportunity to spend time with people, and help them help you in your job search.

Make it clear what you are looking for, and how they can help you, and ASK FOR HELP.

You should know how to easily communicate what you want, and how they can help you.

YOU MUST NOT APPEAR DESPERATE, or hurt.  Okay, since you are with family, you can be honest.  But realize, before they introduce you to their network, they are going to want to know you are confident, competent and professional, and you won’t appear hurt and wounded to their network.

When you go into the gathering, if someone doesn’t listen or respond the way you want them to, don’t worry about it.  Your family relationships are more important than any poor reaction you might have.

When you get someone’s attention, and it turns to your job search, keep the jargon and cliche out of your talk. You know what all the titles and certifications mean, but many times they don’t.

Go, have fun, be yourself, renew relationships.  And when the time is right, let people know how they can help you.

And then…. FOLLOW-UP!  Follow up Monday or Tuesday… and then continue to follow-up.  Be professional about it, but don’t assume that since they didn’t follow-up that they don’t care.   The follow-up is your responsibility.

What do you do on Monday?

I would open up my email, click on a few interesting links (and keep up on current events), and stuff like that before I tried to do anything hard or serious in my job search.

Before I knew it, it was 11am and I had wasted a few hours doing nothing to help my job search.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to learn from Mark LeBlanc, a small business growth strategist and coach.   I’m now a total believer in Mark’s system.  One thing from his system I want to share with YOU is to “reach out to” someone every single day.

Only one person, each day.  You can do more, but at least do more.

As a job seeker, we are told to network, and we think we need to do more, but that can be overwhelming to the point of doing NOTHING, right?

So today, Monday, pick up the phone, and REACH OUT TO someone.  Even if you don’t reach them, but leave a voice mail, you are successful.

Do this every day of the week… by the end of a year you’ll have about 250 contacts that you’ve renewed relationships with… right?

Sure, you can call 10, or 20, every day.  But at least make sure you call ONE today, and tomorrow, and Wednesday, and why not on Thursday (major U.S. holiday)… just imagine the relationships you can renew and nurture by the end of a year!!

If they are good, shouldn’t they remember who you are??  Isn’t that THEIR JOB?

It might be a part of their job, but if they aren’t doing that part of their job well, is it their FAULT?

Some recruiters will be really good at remembering you.  Especially if there is a reason to remember you.  Sometimes, though, you will be just another number, just another random resume.

Is this an issue? Isabelle Shelby asks if it is okay to take a picture of candidates to help remember them better (and wonders if there are ethical issues with this).  I’m a visual person, so this would definitely help me, but I would feel awkward asking people if I could take their picture… at that link there is a lively discussion about taking pictures of the job seeker to help the recruiter remember who they are.

What can YOU DO to help them remember who you are?

1. Follow-up. Because practically no one really does this, as you follow-up you’ll be more memorable.  You’ve heard the saying “the squeaky wheel gets the oil….”  Be that squeaky wheel (but not annoying).
2. Have a solid story. In a comment on that post one recruiter says “… isn’t it performance, good or bad, that make an employee memorable…”  Is your story, and your performance, making you memorable?  If you have a LIST of things you’ve done, you are as memorable as the 1,000 others who have a LIST.  Tell stories and stand out.
3. Introduce your recruiter to others. When you open up your network to them, you provide them value. The more you do this, the more valuable you become to them.  You’ll be on their mind more often.
4. Follow-up, some more! The follow-up is NOT a one-time thing.  Think about nurturing a long-term relationship – that takes work, and multiple follow-ups.

I don’t object to the picture thing – John Comyn makes a strong case for that.  But YOU can do things, like the four I mentioned above, to give the recruiter (or hiring manager, or HR, or the venture capitalist, etc.) remember you for many months, or years, to come.

Email is a powerful tool.  Just like a knife, it can be used to do good or bad.  Know the power of the tool, know the rules, and you can get value out of it.  Make mistakes and you can ruin opportunities, or even a career.

Here are the four “unforgivable” email grievances that Brazen mentions (click through to see Jessica’s commentary):

1. Be very, very careful when using the “important” flag. I have hardly ever used it, and usually when someone else uses it on me, it is not important.
2. Don’t use read receipts. They were designed to let you know when people got your email.  That is just creepy, by today’s standards.  And how many times have you seen someone recall a receipt… which just makes you more interested in the email in the first place?
3. Be careful how when you use Reply All. It should be used sometimes, and other times it should NOT be used.  Learn when, and stop doing it all the time!
4. Stop the thread back and forth. How many times can you say Thank You, or something else that doesn’t need to be said more than once?  People are busy – send what’s important, and hold off on the rest.

What do you think bad email etiquette is?  What’s missing from the list above?