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Searching for a job in the digital age

Handheld devices are changing the way both candidates and recruiters need to communicate. Here’s how to make effective use of them. As regional managing director for Canada for executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, Toronto-based Jeff Rosin spends about a third of his time on the road, meeting with clients and job candidates around the world.

In airports, cabs and hotels, Mr. Rosin’s BlackBerry is his constant companion, and he uses the handheld device in every spare moment to scan some of the 80 e-mails he receives every day.

When Kirsten Clarke was searching for a job, the real estate sales rep didn’t sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring.

Instead, she returned e-mails and scheduled interviews from wherever she was in Toronto, using her BlackBerry as a virtual home office.

“It makes you so much more mobile and your responses are immediate,” says Ms. Clarke who, after a two-month search, recently landed a position with Toronto-based Goudy Real Estate Corp.

“It keeps your job search organized and responsive.”

The ubiquitous handheld devices strapped to the hips and inside the bags of more and more professionals are changing the way job candidates and job recruiters need to communicate.

With their constant presence and smaller screens and keyboards, personal digital assistants, or PDAs, demand a more immediate and shorter kind of communication than other types of technological tools.

So those both on the job hiring and hunting fronts need to learn how to make effective use of them.

How best to communicate in the portable digital age? Here’s some advice from the pros:

Say it quickly

Mr. Rosin can read just 10 lines at a time on his PDA, so a long missive won’t be reviewed until he’s back in the office, sitting in front of his computer.

Moreover, “you have to hook me in 20 seconds,” he says, before he moves on to the next message.

Do this by writing a concise one- to two-paragraph note stating who you are, two key accomplishments and your objective, he advises.

He also suggests visualizing how your e-mail will look on a small PDA screen. This will help keep your message brief.

Sell yourself in the subject line

This will grab the recruiter’s attention as he or scrolls through a long list of messages on a PDA.

Always state your name in the subject line, advises Paula Rankin, Toronto-based director of human resources for the Americas for Plano, Tex.-based MetaSolv Software Inc..

Putting your name in the subject line allows recruiters to scroll through e-mails quickly in search of your application, she says.

As well, specify your sector and title, Mr. Rosin adds. For example, “CFO of industrial public company is ideal,” he says. It could pay off in moving an application along: if Mr. Rosin is on the road when he sees that, he can forward the application to the appropriate person.

It’s also always worth stating if someone has referred you, he says. “A power referral carries more weight. I will definitely read on.”

Get to the point

Don’t blather on unnecessarily about yourself, boasting about all of your life’s accomplishments, the pros say.

“I’m a very concise person,” Ms. Rankin observes. “I don’t like unnecessary verbiage.”

To hook her, you must get to the point of your e-mail quickly, she says.

Experience has taught her that HR pros need to know why you are contacting them,” says Ms. Clarke, who always tries to convey “What can I do for you?” in her missives.

Avoid buzz words

Vague, jargony terms such as “intellectual capital,” “core competencies” and “strategic fit” are overused, Mr. Rosin says.

More to the point, buzz words clutter a PDA screen without saying anything substantive about a job candidate, he says. Better to stick to meaningful words.

Not too much, not too little

“Find the right balance between too little and too much information,” advises David Pask, a senior principal with Rouse Resources Inc., an executive search firm in Toronto.

You should state a couple of key work experiences, but stay away from excess detail like why you left your last job, he says.

That’s too much information for an initial pitch.

Relax your writing style

Stay away from the stiff, proper language of a cover letter.

“It would seem that everything you have ever learned about writing letters or corresponding is lost when communicating with a PDA,” Mr. Pask says.

PDA communication is more relaxed, Ms. Clarke agrees. “It’s not Dear So-and-So any more,” she says. Instead, she will open her e-mail with “Good afternoon” or “Hi.”

Steer away from flowery prose, Mr. Pask advises. Say what you have to say in a few succinct sentences.

But all that doesn’t mean straying from the Queen’s English, the pros say.

Spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure still count; being sloppy with them or using the acronyms of text messaging take the more relaxed nature of PDA communication too far.

Proofread your message

Predictive texting is a dangerous feature, with PDAs filling in words once you type in a few letters. Proofread carefully before you hit send.

“No one proofs their BlackBerry messages. It’s all about speed,” Mr. Rosin says. “You have to be careful.”

Respond immediately

BlackBerries have created a 24/7 world, says Mr. Rosin, and people are expected to always be connected.

That makes it imperative to be on the ball when a message comes in.

Ms. Clarke’s BlackBerry lets her know the moment a company has contacted her, and she replies instantly.

“I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything when I’m out and about,” she says.

“You can respond to a message as soon as it comes in. It’s right in your hand.”

If she doesn’t have an answer to a question, Ms. Clarke says that she will still respond and say she’s looking into it and will get back to the person soon.

Keep conversation flowing

Sending short, quick messages back and forth tends to be the best method of communication, Mr. Pask says.

This way, people can address each question individually and move on, rather than trying to sift through several queries in one lengthy e-mail. This also keeps the conversation flowing.

Don’t jump to conclusions

A lot can be said in a few lines But the short, terse style of communicating and the fact that PDAs are used on the fly means that messages can be terse and misconstrued.

Don’t assume that a search consultant is being rude, for instance, Mr. Pask says. They might simply be direct in their questioning.

And when replying, pay attention to what your fingers are typing. Never fire off a hasty response that you might regret, Mr. Rosin says.

“What’s gone is gone,” he warns. “And there could be far-reaching implications.”