To Score The Perfect Job, HR Professionals Suggest Geeking Out Online

The Black Hole. The Fortress. The Bottomless Pit (of despair). When recounting their last job search, friends and colleagues in the creative professions are prone to using terms like this to describe their most desired employers' HR departments. Most of us can probably recall a time when we felt the same way; as if every studio and firm we really wanted to get into had an army of technicians cleverly sealing off every point of access, and perhaps enfolding all the good jobs in a cloaking field of some sort. There are ads out there, of course, encouraging us to spend weeks tuning our portfolios and resumes, and so we hop through the HR hoops, then fling everything into that hole, never to be heard from again.

And a nagging voice inside says "You know nobody really gets a good job this way, right? You need a network."

And the nagging voice is right, especially about the creative professions. Creative careers, more than just about any others except for maybe acting and politics, are all about maintaining a professional network: while you're in school, looking for work, while employed, looking for work again. 80% of career-building jobs are found through means other than listings, so networking isn't just a corollary task, it's central to your professional livelihood.

One crucial way in which the networking process is changing is with the growing importance of internet communities, and social networking sites in particular. No longer just ways to keep in touch with that DJ you met at Burning Man, these sites have matured a great deal in the past couple of years. They are, among other things, serious business tools. BusinessWeek writes about them incessantly, the Wall Street Journal just added a FaceBook widget, and the monetary value of MySpace appears to have no upper limit.

As networking aids, they have a lot to recommend them:

-They're well organized.
-They offer a level of preparation that makes keeping in touch less daunting for the socially awkward.
-They allow you to show your best side to people while maintaining a calm detachment.
-They're searchable.

Design, architecture, and illustration are technologically nimble fields, and their inhabitants are expected to exhibit similar dexterity. Many of the characteristics of social networking sites are concrete representations of common design ideals: the application of technology on an approachable human scale, the ability to be simultaneously hip and useful, the endless modifiability and personalization. It's reasonable for top employers to expect that desirable applicants be active and competent in navigating online communities, and the web in general.

And they do, to the point that many creative HR professionals are disappointed by applicants that make contact only through traditional avenues. Lindsay Wolff Logsdon has been recruiting designers since 2004, first for Ziba and XPLANE, and more recently at Frog Design's offices in Austin--and she generally expects an applicant contacting her to know some of that information. "My contact info isn't exactly buried treasure," she points out, "and a savvy applicant will probably be able to find out about me."

The sources are rich, varied, and growing. In addition to just Googling a company or person (which has been standard practice since Friendster was a big deal), there are professional organization websites (AIGA, IxDA, AIA, IDSA, etc.), design-oriented websites with active discussion boards, portfolio sites (like this one), technical user groups, and of course, the mighty trinity of MySpace, FaceBook and LinkedIn. It's getting to the point that buying a cup of coffee is almost enough to get you noticed somewhere online.

What's proliferating due to all this increased connectivity is the number of parallel paths for finding information and making contacts. Until recently, a creative worker seeking the elusive dream job would've only had a few, direct ways to get a hold of the right person: the "front door" tactics of calling the front desk, answering an ad, or sending a "Dear Human Resources Director" letter. Online search and networking capabilities are opening multiple back doors and side entrances, and their abundance and degree of social remove is rapidly making them a standard part of the modern job search. With diligence and attention, the smart job-seeker can circumvent some of the obstacles that might have once left a great portfolio languishing, unviewed, in someone's hard drive or inbox.

The means of exploiting these avenues are many: sending a gentle indicator of interest directly to a decision-maker; learning the professional and educational backgrounds of the existing creative team, and tailoring a cover letter to fit; finding friends or colleagues with personal contacts in the target firm.

Don't think for a moment this means the end of traditional networking methods. The mistake creative professionals often make when using their network is placing too much faith in the back door, online or not. There are plenty of stories to be told about the well-connected illustrator or architect who scored an enviable job simply by chatting to the right folks at the right moments. But the far more common scenario is one of multiple channels, where an applicant does all of the above and more, building a personal presence in the minds of those doing the hiring.

The old advertiser's adage about needing to make 14 different impressions on someone before they remember what you're selling (or was it more?) is surprisingly applicable to job searching. Web connectivity is a blade that cuts both ways in this respect: while it makes it easier for an individual to contact a company, it also means companies are inundated with one-offs. Effective job searching means making an impression on an employer in as many different ways as possible, without being invasive.

Going through the front door is still a necessary first step: larger companies, especially, have sophisticated applicant management systems to keep all of those resumes, portfolios and cover letters organized, and bypassing them is terrible idea. Once completed, though, the applications that stick are those that can be linked with other information. Notes Logsden, "If you just click Send, then yes, it's a big black hole. If you take the time, though--if you're really geeking out, writing in your blog, online networking--someone will eventually notice."

This is more than just network-building; it's brand-building, in a nearly commercial sense. Every piece of online information is fair game to a hiring director or recruiter, and the smart professional makes sure that information works in their favor. This is what "geeking out" means from an HR perspective: participating in online communities and generating online content that demonstrates knowledge, connectivity, and passion.

It helps to be prolific. It also helps to be smart. Online communities and content streams take many forms, and are appropriate for different uses. The most crucial distinction might be between the various social networking sites. It's common practice for hiring professionals to scour MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and other venues for additional background on candidates--but that doesn't make them equally well-suited to job searching.

"I got contacted through MySpace by a job-seeker once, on my account," recalls Logsden, "and I have to say it felt inappropriate. It's just not the right setting. It's like if I was out at a bar in Austin and someone I didn't know were to approach me about an open position."

The reputation MySpace has developed as a repository for unsigned bands and frisky teens makes it decidedly less suited to career-building than, say, LinkedIn, which has made its name on being what other social networking sites are not: calm, serious, businesslike. Even compared to Facebook, she notes, "LinkedIn is definitely a better avenue [for career building] because it's more professional -- nobody's Super-Poking you while you're working on your resume."

What we're really talking about here is a two-way process, unlike the one-way "siege" that once characterized the job search. Even while the job-seeker is finding ever more ways of contacting employers and finding opportunities, those employers are discovering more ways of finding out about their applicants. It's no exaggeration to say that diligent management of an online presence will soon be as crucial as real-life networking, though it will certainly never replace it. The New York Times even ran an article last month examining the psychological aspects of internet "impression management," indicating its emergence from the realm of the cloistered wonks into everyday professional and social life.

For the creative professional, this kind of management adds another layer to the already complex structure of career building. It's building a good portfolio, interviewing well, and writing a compelling cover letter. It's also blogging, making YouTube videos and joining discussion groups. And it's also handing out business cards and keeping in touch with art school friends. It's all of those things, and more besides; a multidisciplinary job. Possibly, the sort of job for which the modern creative professional is perfectly suited.