The Internet provides a false sense of security to job searchers as it allows us to think we’re accomplishing something by hiding behind our keyboard and firing off resumes, tweets, Facebook friend requests and using other online tools ad nauseum…and making us feel like we’ve accomplished something.
Firing off dozens of resumes to hiring managers in response to jobs they’ve advertised on major job boards is great…until you realize that it’s just as easy for hundreds or thousands of other people to the same thing!
Tweeting and adding people as friends and thinking that this qualifies as networking is great too…until you realize that of the hundreds or thousands of people you follow and are friends with, you really only pay attention to a small handful of them. How many of those people are ignoring you too?
The easiest way to get in touch with someone and make an impression is in person. In sales, you can reach many more people by calling them on the phone or emailing them but meeting them in person often results in much better results. Having that face to face contact just adds something that a phone call or email can’t.
What do you think is better? Emailing 100 resumes to 100 nameless, faceless email addresses or meeting 10 hiring manager in person?
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, then this certainly applies to the job search process too. Doing the same thing over and over again and padding your Internet stats with more friends and followers is great, but if it’s not getting you closer to a better job or career, what’s the point?
