Technology is bigger, faster and better than it ever has been before. It saves us time, and energy by doing our work for us, right?
You can Google job prospects, develop sophisticated spiders to seek out hidden opportunities, “e-blast” your resume to hundreds of people with a single click – heck, you can even have set it up so that whenever a new position matches your background, your resume and cover letter are automatically submitted for that job.
This technology allows your job search to be far more comprehensive and the actual “looking” for opportunities can take mere minutes. There are some terrific tools that will conveniently email you every day about opportunities that match your key words – and this is a huge time saver!
It’s all great, right? Well, yes and no.
The danger of high-tech job hunting
As I have discussed previously, there is a very important “personal touch” required for today’s job search and technology can get in the way of that. Getting the job is not about being the first or the fastest. It’s about being timely. And most importantly, it’s about being the right fit for the right job.
Automatically sending out a resume based on the keyword results of new job searches might save you time but it is not a good idea. You run the risk of being impersonal, off-base for the needs of the position, or just plain wrong when you apply automatically for a position that is clearly not the right fit for you.
As impersonal as it may feel to submit your resume online, remember that there are people on the back end that track job applicants. It is a major faux pas to submit your resume multiple times to the same company in a short period of time. It sends the message (and we know this because companies tell us this frequently) that you do not know what job you are a fit for. That you just want any job. Then, the ideal position comes up at one of these companies and they no longer take you seriously.
In one incident, a job seeker had their resume set up on an automatic distribution. The resume was sent, unbeknownst to the candidate, to the same company where they were already being considered for an interview – but for a different job. Hiring managers and HR do not take too kindly to people “double dipping” in the application process. It caused quite a stir when they assumed the candidate was looking for any job rather than a specific job.
While this is a mild example, it can happen at any time and during any stage of the process. It is very risky to let your computer (or someone else’s web site) determine when and where you apply. In short, technology in = good, and technology out = bad.
Be smart with the technologies you use during your job search.
