To build an identity for today, you’ll need more than your resume
Fact: You would not be reading this piece if not for Twitter.
Yep, that social platform that always seems to be in hot water with users, developers, and/or shareholders, is so valuable to me that it serves as both the primary motivation for this post, and the fundamental cause for my employment at companies like Nest, Uber, and a digital agency in Washington, D.C. called iStrategyLabs. It’s also how I scored a ticket to attend this week’s Code/Media conference — and meet Walt and Kara.
Why has Twitter proven to be so critical to my professional success?
In a sentence, Twitter allows me to express my ideas, interests, and personality in a capacity that resumes, cover letters, and even letters of recommendation often fail to capture.
It’s omnipresence and extensibility, like so many other social apps, from Snapchat to Slack, facilitate the consistent capture and spread of my perspective which, in aggregate, helps to illustrate a broader, yet more nuanced, portrait of my personality, capabilities, and values. In other words, Twitter allows me to express what’s often “edited out” from my resume, typically for the sake of brevity, formality, or to protect prior loyalties.
In my experience, resumes occupy the lowest common denominator of both personal and professional expression. Their primary function is to provide a template for candidates to aggregate incredibly valuable — sometimes years-long experiences — into a series of often abbreviated, imprecise talking points that strip an individual’s capacity to articulate a comprehensive, yet thoughtful, personal narrative.
Cover letters aren’t all that great either. Oftentimes, that one-page explanation of why one would like to join your company encourages writing to what prospective employers would like to hear, rather than what the candidate actually thinks. This doesn’t help anyone.
With Twitter, I can build and present a more wholistic and informative representation of my identity. A personal narrative that is always up-to-date, more visually unique and stimulating, and typically more accessible than either a resume or cover letter.
No more fishing for hyperbolic adjectives, cutting out the name of company X to paste in company Y, or digging through emails chock full of outdated versions to submit my “best (professional) self.” Just go to my page (from anywhere!) to see who I am, where I’ve been, why I do what I do, and what I’m currently talking about. What’s more, you can’t do this nearly as well on any other social platform.
As a soon-to-be college graduate, who’s pursuing opportunities in marketing and business development, I’m increasingly addressing inquiries regarding my capacity to define and execute upon these professional efforts, whether it be over email or in an interview with a hiring manager.
Questions like, “In your own words, can you explain the significance of the latest trend that’s influencing [our industry],” “What are your thoughts on the latest campaign from [our biggest competitor],” and “How do you envision using this new tool to articulate [our story and values to our customers],” are commonplace in these, and similar, hiring situations, and the exchanges that they foster can be incredibly informative and beneficial.
All too often, however, I observe students preparing exceedingly formal, heavy-handed remarks to address these questions in the interest of appearing professional, but at the expense of being honest and authentic.
In fact, I’m guilty of participating in this behavior, and it turned out to be to the detriment of both parties.
Want the latest, real, unfiltered truth about my perspective? Pop open a new tab and pull up my profile¹— you’ll have all the answers to these questions and more, all of which are absent, of course, from my resume.
¹ I’ve been working to acquire “@kahn” or “@zkahn” — can you help?
Update (Tuesday, 02/23/16): I’d like to call attention to this piece on Fast Company, brought to my attention by my friend Chris Dong. In short, Jobvite, a recruiting software provider, conducted a survey with 1,400 recruiters, and this is one of the insights they garnered from their responses.
From Chief People Officer, Rachel Bitte (emphasis mine):
4. PROVIDE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES
Hiring managers are looking at your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles, whether or not you include the links on your resume, says Bitte. It can be proactive to not only offer a link, but to be vigilant about what you’ve posted on these platforms because they give hiring managers a great deal of insight.
“What’s interesting is that companies aren’t judging your personality from your posts; they’re looking for a culture fit.” “Cover letters used to be the medium to figure that out, but that’s no longer the case. Today, social media can tell a hiring manager a lot more, and they’re using it to find the right fit.”
You can read the full piece on cover letters here.
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