Job seekers today must keep in mind that things have changed from the way they were years ago. This statement may seem as if it is directed at the older generations of job seekers who did things very differently when they first began looking for work, but it is really a broad statement. Many people, even though they grew up in the age of massive technology, need to learn some important lessons about technology etiquette as well. So, this article is for everyone who is playing the job seeking game so that mistakes can be avoided and success can be found more easily!
1: Contacts
Once upon a time, when we wanted to find someone’s phone number we would pull out the Yellow Pages and see what we could find. Then came the internet where we could type in a name and have the phone number we were looking for pop right up. Finally came the cell phone. It took quite some time, but now we can look up people’s cell phone numbers online just as we used to look up land line numbers. The main reason for this big change was because many people dropped their land lines and started using their cell phones as their home numbers. This is a fantastic way to get in contact with people but it is not always appropriate to do so. Case in point is hiring managers. Even if you track down the cell number of the hiring manager who interviewed you, you should not use it. This will be viewed as a major invasion of privacy and possibly an obsessive action. Even though many people only use cell phones, they are still considered to be private and should be kept that way when it comes to business contacts. So unless a hiring manager has given you their cell number, do not call them on it. The same goes for address information. Never feel that it is okay to show up at their home with your resume in hand. This is unprofessional and a bit stalkerish.
2: Stay Away From Snail Mail
Snail mail is a thing of the past, though there are still some people who embrace it as a more personal way to connect. Even though this may be true, save your traditional letter writing for your Aunt Ethel in Florida. If you contact prospective employers in this way, you may stand out but not in a good way. All other job seekers are using email for contact purposes and there is good reason to follow in their footsteps. Even though you will be noticed for doing things the old-fashioned way, by the time your resume hits the hiring managers desk it will be likely that they will have already hired someone who emailed their resume. Still, there are people who go against this advice stating that emails are easy to overlook or delete without being as much as glanced at. This may be true but it is still not a good reason to use snail mail.
3: Avoid Internet Slang
We have become so familiar with internet slang that many of us find ourselves using it in handwritten correspondence. For example, when writing a letter to a friend, we may throw in an LOL even though that is not proper for hand written letters. This is just habit but kick the habit when sending professional emails. Even I have to watch myself when it comes to internet slang. When I write to my clients I have to be sure to say “you are” instead of “ur”. This is something you should watch out for as well. This means no lol’s, now btw’s, etc. Internet slang is perfectly acceptable when talking to friends or posting on social media, but never for professional purposes.
4: Avoid Using Cell Phones for Professional Communications
Cell phones are wonderful for sending emails and text messages to friends and family. However, they are nowhere near perfect when it comes to spelling and grammar. If you cannot find anything else to use to return a message from a potential employer, then go with the cell phone. However, if it is avoidable then AVOID IT! Typing on a cell phone leave a ton of room for error. The buttons are small and this can cause a lot of misspellings and other grammatical errors. Another thing to keep in mind is to NEVER use voice recognition to send a professional message. I can tell you from experience that this is always a horrible idea. Picture this; I was invited to do a freelancing job by a new contractor. I used voice recognition to reply. The words I spoke into my phone were as follows: “Thank you for inviting me to bed.” Of course what I meant to get across was “Thank you for invited me to BID”! This was the last time I ever used this method of communication and my story should make you think twice about doing it yourself!
Overall, remember that most technology etiquette is common sense. Think before you act and definitely before you hit the send button!
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