Landed That Big Job Interview? Read This first.

Advice from Richard N. Bolles

There is a new résumé in town, and if you’ve been at all active on the Internet—if you’ve been on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, or if you have your own website or webcasts or photo album or blog or tweets—then there’s hardly any limit to what employers can learn about you. They have only to “Google” your name and see what turns up. And there you are revealed (or will be) in all your hidden glory.

What will they see? Those impressive achievements you’ve made, where you far exceeded people’s expectations—they’re there; but so are those playful photos you’ve allowed your friends to post on your page, that make you look like an idiot. They’re there, too. And more.

All these things, together, comprise your New Resume, a richer body of data about You than your old Resume ever hoped to be. And from this, now, prospective employers can better guess what kind of person you are and what kind of employee you’d be.

Or at least they will think they can, even if personally you feel the Internet is only offering a distorted, ‘fun house mirror’ picture of you.

So, the answer to the question “will employers need a resume from you,” is: actually, they’ve already got one—if you’ve been at all active on the Internet. It’s The New Resume—all there is about you on the Internet—courtesy of Google. And at least one out of every five employers, at this writing, goes looking for this New Resume before they hire you, or anyone else. That number will only increase as time moves on.

So, what can I do about this New Resume, when heaven knows what they’ll find?

Actually, you’re not as helpless or as vulnerable here, as you might at first suppose. There are actions you can take, and four things you can do—edit, add, fill in, and expand—to improve the way you look on the Internet.

For more tips on job hunting, check out THE JOB HUNTER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE and visit the Job Hunter’s Resource Center.

Copyright © 2009 by Richard N. Bolles. From the book THE JOB HUNTER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE published by Ten Speed Press, a division of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

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