Making an online campaign of your job search process

Early in March this year, I had blogged about a girl’s job search approach and had termed it job search, version 3.0. If that was 3.0, here’s an another interesting approach that could be well be 4.0.

A former (since he’s on the lookout for a job) ad. agency guy, Manoj Kandhaswamy has made his job search into a campaign of sorts, online! Called ‘My Next Boss’, it is an interesting way to seek contacts and connect with relevant people in an industry that Manoj seems to be interested in.

In a blog post, Manoj explains the idea:

After 4.8 yrs. I am perfectly bundled with learnings from my advertising career and great exposure to mobile marketing and social media. Having realized that I believe that I can be a value-add for any communication outfit where there is a need for brand communication with the consumers, I am open to explore opportunities in advertising, digital communication, brand management etc.

So now: My next boss. Is it you? Or the one you know?

Unlike Ankita Satija (of my job search 3.0 fame!), Manoj has all the goods ready.

* A prezi link to explain what he learnt in his past jobs. But yes, in slide 3, it is odd that the word ’successive’ is used in the possible assumption that it means ’successful’.
* A detailed blog post about the whole process which has LinkedIn profiles to some of his ex-bosses – an interesting way to dish out referrals, I guess!
* A resume posted on Scribd
* Contextual call-outs on Twitter where Manoj seeks help to spread the word around, all collated with a hashtag #mynextboss, which, on last count has reached 34,000+ people via 31 tweets, as per Tweetreach!
* Manoj’s Twitter profile links to a card.ly URL that holds all his online profiles, including his LinkedIn page and his blog, Paperwork.

mynextbossIf the main issue with Ankita’s approach was the complete lack of any context beyond a big idea – of using Twitter to reach relevant people within organizations where she seems to be interested to work – Manoj’s approach seems more like a 360 degree campaign for a brand. Considering I’ve an email too, from him, this indeed seems like a 360 degree approach, online.

Where it does look odd is the fact that it all seems a bit gimmicky. But again, are such campaigns appropriate only for brands? And, should they not work equally well for individuals seeking an employment?

There is an opinion in India that if you add your profile/CV on job sites (Naukri, Monster, Dice, Jobstreet and the likes), it means you are desperate and hence, good employers/HR managers may not take you seriously. I personally do not subscribe to this opinion – having a profile on a job site isn’t very different from having a Facebook profile or a LinkedIn page these days, even if the intent is specifically different in each case. At least in case of LinkedIn, the content would be exactly similar to the profile on a Monster, for instance.

Also, a profile on a job site is intended to give a person visibility from a professional perspective – on what he/she says is the body of knowledge gained in previous/current roles. How different would that be from…say, a blog of the same person, on a topic related to his/her current/previous roles? The blog would be a showcase of his/her knowledge too, without the explicit call-out that the blog owner is up for a change of job.

Given such blurring lines online between personal and professional profiles/networks, the idea that having your CV on a job site makes you desperate seems outdated. It is all about exposure…contextual exposure at that. If a job site profile, along with your personal blog helps in giving you that exposure, so be it! From this perspective, I suppose Manoj’s campaign approach is a quite a well thought-out and intelligent idea.

A could of other friends with whom I discussed this felt that he may be selling himself too aggressively and hence, seems desperate. I’m not sure about that – I see whatever Manoj is doing within the context of seeking a job in the social media space. What better way to achieve that than by making an online campaign of that search process itself?

Original Article