Has Technology Made us Lazy Job Seekers?

Photo by: edans

Anyone who reads this blog knows I love technology, gadgets and social media.  But I also believe in the importance of building rapport face-to-face and taking an "old school" approach to the job search.

I have noticed a few interesting trends over the past couple years... trends that lead me to believe many of us are becoming "lazy" job seekers (unintentional or not).  Following are some of my key observations:

Online Postings: I urge you to read my previous post on the ROI of online job postings (or lack thereof).  Job seekers continue to spend the majority of their time on an activity with little ROI.  WHY?!  I assume it's because it's easy and job seekers can check off an imaginary item on their "to do" list.  "I applied to 50 job postings today.  Yeah me!"  Well I recently received an email from a job seeker who had applied to 1,200 jobs over the past two years with no luck.  I don't need that much data to detect a trend.

Email: Gone are the days of the hand-written note.  I actually have no problem with an email thank you note, but far too many people copy/paste generic thank you notes, swap out a name and hit send.  The problem with this is you're missing an opportunity to differentiate yourself.  But, to be honest, a lousy hand-written note isn't great, either.  My take?  It's not the medium, it's the message!  Take the time to write a tailored note (or email) that highlights four or five specific items you discussed.  (Related note:  I can't tell you how many one-word and one-sentence emails I get with no salutation or close but with the tag line "Sent from my BlackBerry."  It is so annoying.)

Google: The Big G.  What would I do without Gmail, Gmail chat, Google Reader, Google News, Google Analytics and, oh yeah, the search engine?  You can easily find so much data, blogs or news about a company or someone you are going to interview with.  Do most people spend an hour or two performing in-depth research leading up to an interview?  No!  Why?  I have no idea... Definitely read this blog post about how one job seeker Googled her way to a job!

Social Media: I think social media has completely changed the way we connect professionally and personally.  I couldn't live without LinkedIn.  I am on LinkedIn five days per week, every week.  I have used it to identify contacts in Brazil, Argentina, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, in addition to North America.  My advice?  Research and follow people on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) for a week or two, but you've got to request a face-to-face informational interview. 

So why do so many people cut corners?  Is it technology, the need for instant gratification, a disdain of hard work or something else?  What do you think?  Before Google, would you have gone to the library and gone through phone book-sized directories to find contacts?  Would you have sent them a letter and followed-up via phone? 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.