Making An Online Resume Visible
By Heather Stone
President of myjobsearch.com

Back in the days of when online services like Compuserve dominated what it meant to be "online," it was fashionable to mention online membership on a business card. There were no .com email addresses back then, just a cryptic reference to something like Compuserve 76,4156.

What that really meant was not always clear to everyone, but the impression it left was unmistakable. Such a person was way cool. They were techno-savvy, computer literate, in-the-know, and on-the-cutting-edge. The novelty of being capable of using technology to promote yourself in this manner proved powerful indeed.

These days, a whole decade later, that novelty is no less attractive, especially when searching for a job or promoting your skills to those that demand it. The ability to use a web page or an online version of your resume is fast, easy, and, in many cases, free.

Lost in the Sea of Online Resumes

Too bad so many know about it now.

It is estimated that by 2002 there will be over 16 million resumes online spread over 1,200 web sites, according to Computer Economics. Wading through that sea of resumes out there can be a real chore. For the job seeker, keeping a resume from sinking in that sea is even more of a challenge.

As the Internet has grown, it has become more and more popular to post a resume online. But as fast as it takes a web page to load, the novelty of online resumes is starting to wane. Many people use the Internet to find jobs. Very few apparently use it to comb through those resumes.

"I felt like I was throwing my resume into a black hole," one job seeker recently wrote to myjobsearch.com. "I would respond to a job posting and nothing happened. Never would I hear what the outcome would be. I would attempt follow up and never did I get a response from that, either. And this is after spending the money to be professionally coached to create a strong resume!"

Almost any large online job board offers resume posting services. Monster.com, one of the biggest on the Internet, has more than 1 million resumes posted. On the surface, one would think any employer in need would naturally turn to this ready resource. But there is a nasty hitch in that theory; it costs money to access those resumes.

In a research study conducted by myjobsearch.com, only 1 out of the top 20 rated career web sites offered free browsing of posted resumes. Costs for an employer to have access to resume postings ranged from $75 to $8,500 dollars per year.

If cost is not the prohibitive factor, the time it takes to find that needle in the resume haystack may be. That encapsulates what is wrong with the novelty of posting a resume online. Who has the time to find you in that mess and why would they pay for it?

For the job seeker, getting a resume attention remains a challenge. To get the online resume attention, it may take some efforts that were once considered extreme or desperate.

Resumes Go Turbo

Books, videos, seminars, and a myriad of other resources have been developed about how to make your resume get attention. Such resources largely deal with traditional rules. New rules in the resume game are being written. Like everything having to do with job seeking these days, technology is revolutionizing an old idea.

Many professionals now have a personal web site. A personal site provides distinct advantages over a traditional resume. Naturally, the "wow" impact of a personal web site still makes a powerful impression. It shows that a potential employee is keen to the spreading influence and use of the Internet in business. It makes a candidate instantly credible. Personal style is more easily communicated. Professional connectivity is promoted and skills can be better showcased through a personal web site. While many web sites can be established for free through a variety of sources, nothing speaks more of your commitment to the use and future of technology than the myname.com approach that many savvy job seekers use these days.

For those without web design skills, there are a variety of resources available over the Internet. For around $200, custom-designed multimedia resumes can be generated in a few days. By simply emailing your current resume text, a company like Avalanche Multi-Media (http://www.avalanche.bc.ca) can return, by email, a 1.5 megabyte file that you can put on CD for distribution as many times as you like. Such resumes are bound to get attention.

Some job seekers are turning to other forms of technology to develop a resume that will get noticed. One unique twist is offered online by videoresumes.com. The use of video as a resume is not a new idea, but integrating video in a web site designed to work with your paper resume is unique.

Videoresumes.com specializes in giving a professional web presence to job seekers. For a fee, a job seeker can record a minute of video and incorporate that into an HTML version of their resume. For six months, the resume is accessed via a password-protected area of videoresumes.com. As a job seeker shops for employment, they provide the password to prospective employers. As an added service, an upgraded version of the video resume provides targeted employer questions that a job seeker can answer. This expanded resume is then distributed to a list of employers contracted with videoresumes.com to find potential new hires in select fields.

Just as there are specialty web sites for finding jobs in certain industries, there are specialty options for creating a video resume or "e-portfolio". For those with creative talents, their work can be highlighted for free on portfolios.com. A photographer, writer, artist, graphic designer, or animator might use this site to contrast their work to competitors. Even a photographer that has his own web site might be advised to use services like portfolios.com. The site draws the attention of companies and agencies seeking to find these resources in one location on the net.

Job Seeker Tips: Developing an Online Resume Strategy

A thorough job hunt takes time to execute. The use of technology and online resources requires a careful strategy if the objective is to find the job you love. Job seekers would be well served if they followed these key steps in developing an online resume:

Research--Explore the web. Find out what tools are out there to deliver the message of you. Seek out hints from companies in your field of expertise. The very things they advertise to their customers are the same attributes they require of an employee. Pick up on the "buzz" words. Before you put anything down on paper or upload something to a web site, know where you are going by thoroughly researching the options.

Develop--Become your own marketing director, design expert, and writer. It is okay to seek professional advice in these areas, but remember that the product is you. Assume total responsibility for anything produced about you. Make sure it has a consistent look and message.

Network--Network is a verb. It requires action and interaction in speech, the written word, and displayed web pages. Make liberal use of Internet connectivity tools such as email signatures, newsletter subscriptions, hypertext links, and cross promotion.

Target--Resist the temptation to paste your resume, your face, and your name all over the place. If you did your research correctly, you will know which potential employers to target. Do not waste your time posting your resume on every career site you can find online. That is like throwing bricks in the Grand Canyon, and it's just about as effective. Go after them to present your resume. Do not expect them to stand in line to see yours.

Follow Through--When you have made a contact or developed a lead, jump on it. The world runs at a different speed on the Internet. Expectations for timely response run high.

The use of the Internet and technology in finding the right job is exciting. It is still the best medium for giving that "wow" impression. The unique possibilities of harnessing technology to promote yourself are becoming the only way to promote the unique possibilities of you.