Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 1
Chapter 13 LECTURE NOTES
The Job Search and Résumés in the Digital Age
Chapter Synopsis
In Chapter 13 students learn to prepare for employment, create a customized résumé along
with a cover message, and negotiate today’s increasingly common online resources for job
seekers. The chapter takes students through the necessary career communication steps, from
self-assessment and electronic job searching to current résumé conventions.
The chapter presents the two main types of résumés: chronological (traditional) and
functional. It also provides guidelines on how to organize, format, and produce a compelling
résumé. To meet the needs of the digital workplace, students learn to optimize their résumés
for today’s technologies, including techniques for preparing a scannable résumé, an e-
portfolio, and a video résumé.
Learning Objectives
1. Prepare to search for a job in the digital age by understanding the changing job market,
identifying your interests, assessing your qualifications, and exploring career opportunities.
2. Develop savvy search strategies by recognizing job sources and using digital tools to
explore the open job market.
What’s New in This Chapter?
The authors made the following changes and improvements:
• For one of the most important chapters in the book, researched hundreds of current articles
centered on the latest trends, tools, and practices affecting the job search and résumés in
this digital age.
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 2
• Emphasized effective networking techniques, including a 3-step plan, so that students
recognize how important it is to build a personal network, as most jobs are found on the
hidden market through personal referrals.
• Explained how to use LinkedIn, the No. 1 professional social media site, to build a profile
and make connections.
Lecture Outline
I. Job Searching in the Digital Age (p. 426)
Although the Internet has fundamentally changed the way we search for jobs, personal
networking and referrals continue to be the primary route to hiring. In order to stand
out from your competition, you need to know how to locate available positions and
how to prepare persuasive résumés and cover messages. This chapter presents cutting-
edge digital and personal networking strategies to help you land a job.
A. Understanding the Changing Job Market
• Employers are most interested in how a candidate will add value to their
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 3
Figure 13.1 Job Searching in the Digital Age
B. Beginning Your Job Search With Self-Analysis
• What are you passionate about? Can you turn this passion into a career?
• Do you enjoy working with people, data, or things?
• Would you like to work for someone else or be your own boss?
C. Assessing Your Qualifications
• What technology skills can you offer?
• Do you communicate well in speech and in writing? How can you verify these
talents?
D. Exploring Career Opportunities
• Visit your campus career center.
• Search the Web.
• Use your library.
II. Developing a Job-Search Strategy Focused on the Open Job Market (p.
429)
Figure 13.2 Trends in Sources of New Jobs
A. Exploring the Big Boards
• CareerBuilder
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 4
• Monster
• CollegeGrad
• Indeed
B. Exploring Company Websites
• A company’s website is the first place to go if you have a specific employer in
mind.
C. Checking Niche Sites
• Niche sites help you locate a job in a specialized field.
• Niche sites help job seekers with special backgrounds or needs (disabled
workers or older workers).
D. Using LinkedIn and Social Networking Sites
E. Checking Newspapers
Figure 13.3 Protecting Yourself When Posting at Online Job Boards
III. Pursuing the Hidden Job Market With Networking (p. 431)
A. Building a Personal Network
• Develop a contact list.
Figure 13.4 Whom to Contact in Networking
B. Using Social Media to Network
• Online networks provide additional paths for developing referrals.
C. Enlisting Other Social Networks in Job Hunting
• Make sure your social networking accounts represent you professionally.
• If using Facebook, examine your profile and decide what you want prospective
employers to see.
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 5
D. Building Your Personal Brand
• Decide what makes you special and desirable in the job market.
Figure 13.5 Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn
Figure 13.6 Branding YOU
IV. Creating a Customized Résumé (p. 435)
Constructing a customized résumé is an important activity in the job search. You will
be expected to have copies of your résumé available to give to employers when
searching for a job and during job interviews. Today’s résumés should be tailored to
match specific positions.
A. Choosing a Résumé Style
• Chronological: Focuses on job history with most recent positions listed first
B. Deciding on Length
• Make your résumé as long as needed to sell your skills to recruiters and hiring
managers.
C. Organizing Your Information Into Effective Résumé Categories
• Main Heading
List your name, address, phone, and e-mail address.
• Career Objective
Include a career objective for a targeted job.
Ideally, name job title, area of specialization, and type of company.
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 6
Figure 13.7 Action Verbs for Powerful Résumés
• Capabilities and Skills
Emphasize your proficiency with the Internet, software programs, office
equipment, and communication technology tools.
• Awards, Honors, Activities
If you have three or more awards or honors, highlight them by listing them
• Personal Data
Employers are legally barred from asking personal data, such as birth date,
• References
Listing references directly on your résumé takes up valuable space.
Figure 13.8 Sample Reference List
D. Online Résumé Reading Patterns
• Smart applicants will arrange the most important information in the top section
of the résumé.
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 7
E. Polishing Your Résumé and Keeping It Honest
• Condense information into as few headings as possible.
• Consider graphic highlighting to improve readability.
F. Proofreading Your Résumé
Proofread for errors in spelling, grammar, mechanics, content, and format.
Figures 13.9 – Figure 13.13 Résumé Gallery
V. Optimizing Your Job Search with Today’s Digital Tools (p. 448)
A. Getting Your Résumé Selected: Maximizing Keyword Hits
• Include specific keywords or keyword phrases.
B. Showcasing Your Qualifications in a Career E-Portfolio
• An e-portfolio provides readers with a snapshot of your talents,
accomplishments, and technical skills.
Figure 13.14 Making a Career E-Portfolio
C. Expanding Your Employment Chances with a Video Résumé
• Video résumés enable job candidates to present their experience,
qualifications, and interests in video form.
D. Wowing Them with an Infographic Résumé
• Infographic résumés are often used in the field of graphic design or journalism.
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E. How Many Résumés and What Format?
• Print-based résumé
• Plain-text résumé for digital submission
F. Submitting Your Résumé
• Word document
Figure 13.15 Infographics: A Novel Way to Show Education, Experience,
and Skills
Figure 13.16 Portions of Plain-Text Résumé
VI. Creating Customized Cover Messages (p. 454)
Although most job listings don’t specifically mention a cover letter, a well-written,
persuasive cover letter should accompany every résumé you send out. Without it, your
résumé may never be read.
A. Gaining Attention in the Opening
• Address the message to an individual by name.
Figure 13.17 Solicited Cover Letter
Figure 13.18 Unsolicited Cover Letter
B. Promoting Your Strengths in the Message Body
• Demonstrate that your background and training meet the job requirements.
C. Motivating Action in the Closing
• Ask for an interview. Consider hooking the request to a statement reviewing
your strongest points.
D. Sending Your Résumé and Cover Message
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 9
Figure 13.19 E-Mail Cover Message
E. Final Tips for Successful Cover Messages
• Avoid starting an excessive number of sentences with “I.” Make activities and
outcomes, not yourself, the subjects of sentences.
Critical Thinking Discussion Guide
11. How has job searching for candidates and job placement for hiring managers
changed in the digital age? In your opinion, have the changes had a positive or a
negative effect? Why? (Obj. 1)
Job searching and hiring for candidates and hiring managers have changed dramatically in
the digital age. In the distant past, candidates checked classified ads primarily in
12. The authors of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters claim that every year 50 million
U.S. jobs are filled, almost all without a job posting. Why do you think businesses
avoid advertising job openings? If jobs are unlisted, how can a candidate locate
them? (Obj. 3)
Jobs that are unlisted often develop in one of three ways: (a) a growing company creates a
new job; (b) an employee quits leaving an open position; or (c) an employee is fired from
an existing job. Companies avoid advertising because doing so brings a flood of
applications, many of which are from people who do not meet the qualifications. In
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 10
13. Some employment authors claim that the paper résumé is dead or dying. What’s
behind this assertion, and how should current job candidates respond? (Obj. 4)
In this digital age, the résumé is evolving, but the paper résumé is not disappearing.
Although applicants may not send their résumés by U.S. mail, the “job search is not going
paperless,” says Wall Street Journal online columnist Rachel L. Ensign [Is the paper
14. Why might it be more effective to apply for unsolicited jobs than for advertised jobs?
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of letters that “prospect” for jobs. (Obj. 6)
The advantage of unsolicited prospect letters is reduced competition. Many people apply
15. Some jobs are advertised even when a leading candidate has the position nailed
down. The candidate could be an internal applicant or someone else with an inside
track. Although not required by law, management policies and human resources
departments at many companies demand that hiring managers list all openings on
job boards or career sites. Often, hiring managers have already selected candidates
for these “phantom” jobs. Do you believe it is ethical to advertise jobs that are not
really available?
From a job candidate’s view, it seems reasonable and fair that all jobs be advertised. From
a company’s view, such a requirement seems unnecessary, restrictive, and unproductive.
Human resources specialists point out that advertising jobs results in a broader, richer pool
of applicants and may produce superior candidates. Hiring managers, however, often
Chapter 13 Lecture Notes ● 11
COMMUNICATION WORKSHOP: Ethics
Fudging the Facts on Résumés: Worth the Risk?
No job seeker wants to be in the unhappy position of explaining résumé errors or defending
misrepresentation. Avoiding the following actions can keep you off the hot seat:
• Enhancing education, grades, or honors
• Altering employment dates
Career Application. Student responses will vary, of course. The important thing is for them
to recognize that a person who has fibbed on a résumé has at least four options. Students
should discuss the pros and cons of each of the options presented.
Workplace in Focus
Page 434 to come
In writing your LinkedIn career summary, use keywords and phrases that might appear in job
descriptions. Also use words that describe what you do and who you are. In addition, be sure
Page 454 to come
Effective cover messages include the following characteristics: (1) refers to the name of a
person within the company; (2) refers to the source of your information precisely; (3) refers to