Microresumes change job applications in China
Have problems fitting a thought into 140 characters? Now try and fit your education and work history into that.
Can’t do it?
Recent university graduates as well as experienced professionals seeking jobs soon might not have much of a choice as China’s highly competitive job search goes online, and Sina weibo is increasingly being used as a personal advertising tool.
- More on CNNGo: Tom Cruise opens a Sina weibo account
The trend has grown from an informal tagging system where people can post “微简历” (micro-resumé) and “微招聘” (micro-recruiting) pitching themselves to employers, to a more formalized approach with Sina weibo’s launch of its online recruiting service, “micro-recruiting” in late March.
"I am from the city of Qingdao and I am looking for a temporary job to help me get by. I will take my post-graduation examinations next year," wrote a graduate student on weibo.com, China's most popular micro-blogging site.
One Xinhua article counted more than 17,000 micro-resumés posted on Sina weibo as of Friday, May 20, less than three months after the weibo system launched.
Ruan Xin, a senior manager with a company in Shenzhen, told China Youth Daily that he recently posted his micro-resumé online and that he saw the system as an efficient way for both job seekers and employers to achieve their goals.
No word on a response to his post.
The idea behind micro-resumés is to use social media to spread the word about new job postings quickly and allow people to respond as efficiently and concisely as possible.
According to China Youth Daily, several companies have begun using micro-blogs as an effective channel for recruitment. One of their major examples is Alipay, China's largest third-party online payment service. A recruiter for the company has been using social media like weibo to post jobs and find candidates since 2009.
- More on CNNGo: 3 top Chinese tech trends for 2011
The recruiter, who goes unnamed in the article, says that although the system wasn’t as efficient when he started using social media, using micro-blogs today can "yield twice the result with half the effort in helping companies to recruit new employees.”
Sina weibo service currently boasts 140 million people, growing to a projected 200 million by the end of 2011.
