Your Offline Presence: What really matters when looking for a job in a web 2.0 world

I’m making a trip up to Boston again for the second time this month. Why? I’m looking for a job in the area, specifically a job working in social media.

I had a friend ask me, “Why do you have to go all the way up there just to talk to people about potential jobs? Aren’t these dudes like always online? Just send them an email with your resume.”

I wish it were that easy, but it’s not. Yeah “these dudes” aka social media folk are always online, but they’re not as accessible as you think. I’ve found that social media professionals today have networks and InBoxes that are saturated with surface-level connections and far too many friend requests, to the point where they can’t even manage them properly. If you want to get noticed, you need to make yourself recognizable beyond an avatar. In my case, this means sitting on a bus for 5 hours to attend the PopSignal party for the night.

Earlier this month, Bryan Person held one of his Social Media Breakfasts, which was appropriately centered around “hiring and getting hired in the Web 2.0 world.” A summary of what the panelists said that day:

  • “Think of social media as a thin slice way to build a relationship and also to increase your brand and presence. Engage people in the beginning of a conversation (online via social network) and then take it offline to really deepen the relationship.” – Stever Robbins aka Get-It-Done Guy
  • “No resumes. I don’t want to see any paper. I don’t want to see the school you went to…the last 5 jobs…I don’t want you to email me because I know that the people I want to hire live and breath social media (use twitter linkedin, facebook, etc).” – Aaron Strout, VP of New Media at Mzinga
  • “If I don’t already know the person, I question why should I? The people we want to hire are the people we already know…” – Todd Defren, Principal at SHIFT Communications
  • “Use these tools….but the tools don’t get the job, you get the job.” – Chris Brogan

There you go. Straight from the folks who know it best.

In my own words, the best advice for anyone who wants to work in the industry: show up and speak up. Find out what events are taking place and who’s going to be there. Go to the event and then make yourself known as a potential hire.

These days, you need to make the extra effort by establishing a presence both online and offline and engage in conversations beyond blog posts and direct messages.  That was a lesson I learned at the first SMB I ever attended back in February, which focused on “how twitter changed my life.”

Alright, Boston. Here I come!