Resumes vs. Social Networking Sites

It’s not a competition. And, job seekers, even “future” job seekers … including Senior Finance Executives … need both!

What I’ve heard from my clients over the past 45 days, which includes the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, is that recruiter contacts were, and presently are, up significantly – 2 to 3 per week – and ALL of those contacts were coming through their Linked In profiles. When you do get contacted, you need to follow up with a resume that contains an equally compelling value proposition.

CFO.com did a great job in its article, “Do Social Networks Trump Resumes?”. Here are my thoughts on importance of having both: an executive resume that conveys ROI and a strong solid digital footprint.

Why you still need a resume …

Resumes, particularly at the CFO level, aren’t going away, but they have changed dramatically from as little as 5 years ago. Smartphones, Twitter, and even the Internet are driving messaging today, which means communication is short, sweet, and to the point. That works well for those of us who are a high D in the DISC and prefer to get “just the facts, please”!

Not to be lost in that succinct communication is value. You didn’t get to the CFO chair by being good at responsibilities. You got there by impacting and contributing, taking away a company’s pain or resolving it’s problems, and getting the organization unstuck so it could move to the next level. That is the essence of a compelling resume and marketing message! And it must transcend your resume and flow right into your digital footprint.

Why you must have a digital footprint …

Visibility. Credibility. Positioning. You can be the greatest finance executive in the history of the world, but if no one knows about the impacts you’ve made OUTSIDE your company, does it matter? In all likelihood, not to your career!

There is no question that recruiters, good recruiters anyway, can find you even if you aren’t making it easy for them to do so. But they can also find your talented and accomplished competitors, and much quicker.

CFOs are notoriously bad networkers. Either they don’t enjoy networking or simply don’t have time to engage in networking. A mere 15 minutes a day of proactive social networking can make a huge difference in gaining visibility among your target audience.

That visibility is backed by credibility – you are who you say you are – and can lead to high-value subject matter positioning. With a strong, visible presence, you can stand out from everyone else, rather than blending in with everyone else. Think “Purple Cow.”

An up-to-date resume and a solid digital footprint are both foundational for savvy career management.

The one thing the CFO.com article didn’t cover was the benefit of proactive reputation management, which is a huge benefit of social networking. I’ll touch on that in my next blog post.