It came to my attention many months and even years ago that video resumes, web resume portfolios and other online opportunities would start driving the talent market. For a while we have been doing and encouraging people to catalog their talents. We coach our executive clients to capture their training, public and private work. One can’t utilize all that one accumulates when you work for another company but you can be conscious about the digital or online image that you are leaving – whether you work for someone else or not.
Some professions and circumstances may not apply but for the most part YOU NOW MUST BECOME YOUR OWN BEST PR FIRM. I would invite my PR friends and marketing communications friends to comment. Your pictures, written word, video and audio may become a part of your public image. So many people have taken to the web and not set out to destroy their image but have. Like a tattoo this Internet video revolution seems easier to create than wipe away after the You Tube video gets out there.
It’s been fun watching what is taking place. I remember in May sitting down with Liz Harvey, the Consumer Affairs Director at Career Builder (at the CMI national conference), and grilling her on their soon to come announcement regarding video resume service. She was quite adamant about it’s potential value. I agreed. So I interviewed her for an hour on my little Sony recorder. Don’t worry Liz, you said all good things and nothing negative. I haven’t put up excerpts of the podcast level interview yet anyway.
But the bottom-line is that it will be title wave important to develop and produce the movie of your career in bits and bytes. Friends like Kirsten Dixon who wrote Career Distinction do get this and know the big picture. But like Kirsten and her professional co-author William Arruda, they advocate a planned approach to combating digital dirt and developing a highly customized plan for your online and offline career life. Here’s a secret – there’s no one formula for everyone. Sorry, it may be easy to get famous but it’s harder to earn your reputation. It takes time, a sense of humor and a plan.
The other issue I have looked at as I talked to many of my friends and colleagues within the member ranks of SHRM is they are worried about what is called disparate impact.