Every job search is a strategic endeavor to interact with the most people who can help you find the position you love. It is a question of numbers. It is a question of getting your information out to the most people in the manner that appeals to them most.
Job search tools include resumes, handouts, portfolios, profiles on LinkedIn or other social media, and good old fashioned networking conversations.
Can job search be enhanced by technology? Certainly social media has changed the way we network. Perhaps there are other ways to use technology to get your information out to more people who can be helpful.
QR Codes might be a way to consolidate your search information into one place accessible on the Internet.
What are QR codes
QR means “quick response”. They are little squares with black squiggles developed in 1994 as a way to track car parts in inventory. QR codes are two dimensional and hold about 90 alphanumeric characters compared to one dimensional bar codes capable of holding only 12 numbers.
QR codes often contain a link to often extensive online content. In this way it provides the consumer with an opportunity to engage with the market, accessing more extensive information that what can be written on a sign or ad.
What about QR codes? QR codes are those little squares you see all over with black squiggles on them. These ugly looking boxes store alphanumeric characters in a two dimensional shape, replacing one dimensionally bar codes in some applications.
QR codes have been called a way “to connect something in the physical world to something in the virtual world”.1 QR Codes were introduced in 1994 but we started seeing them all over a few years ago. Some people think QR codes will be replaced by near field communication (NFC) in the next few years but until them, QR codes are a nifty way to share information.
How do they work?
You access the information in QR codes through a mobile phone app downloaded to your phone. When you see a QR code you want to explore, you open the QR code app, hold your camera up to the code so it can scan the code. The app will automatically open an information page describing the product or link you to additional information about the item you scanned. It is pretty easy.
What are they used for and who uses them
People use QR codes to scan for advertisements or to get additional information about a product or service. They are great to contain a lot of otherwise digital data in one place, like an event, or a business card, or info about a person
For example, you can scan your airline boarding pass on your smart phone rather than print a boarding pass Businesses use them to give discounts or to share information.
According to a recent study from digital analyst comScore, about 6 percent of mobile subscribers currently use the technology, mostly male, white and wealthy. According to comScore, 20.1 million mobile phone owners in the U.S. used their devices to scan a QR code in the three-month average period ending October 2011. Most (59.4%) did so from home, while 44% did so from a retail store and 26.6% did so from a grocery store. 21.4% scanned a QR code while at work, while 11.2% did so outside or on public transportation with nearly 10% scanning a QR code while in a restaurant.
Downsides?
Some people think QR codes are a fad.2 Other people think they are inconvenient because in order to take advantage of the QR code and read it, you have to have a special app installed on your cell phone, then you have to go through the hassle of taking a picture and waiting to see where the link goes.3 It can take some time.
You don’t really know where QR codes will open up to. That makes them less secure because you can’t be sure that the site that opens up will be legitimate.
Then consider the question of value. Next generation of information sharing is probably already available through near field communication or NFC. This is technology that allows you to transfer information between devices, like wireless electronic payment systems like Google Wallet. With NFC technology, in the future you could have the data from an advertisement transferred to your phone by placing your phone on a table or against a kiosk.
NFC will gain speed but it will probably take two or more years before that happens. This gives us lots of time to learn and use QR codes in ways that benefit us.
So, how can we use QR codes for personal marketing?
Every aspect of your search should be strategic. You can use QR codes strategically to consolidate all information about yourself into one digital place. You can insert your QR code on your resume, on your business card, in your signature on Email, on your LinkedIn profile, and Facebook page.
Your personal QR code should consolidate in one digital location this kind of information:
- Contact information
- Top 5 Google citations, all in one place, verified so you can be sure the citations reflect you positively. In this way you control to a certain extent what the viewer sees and learns about you.
- Links to your website and other Internet locations that display or reference your work product
- LinkedIn profile, particularly a way to offer the viewer insight into the contacts you have in common
What are the advantages for you as a job seeker?
- Your personal QR code can make you look like a technical wizard, whether you actually are technically oriented or not. You will look like you understand the latest technology, whether you do or not.
- You can control what the viewer sees about you to make sure you show yourself in the best possible light.
- Your personal information is consolidated in one place.
What does QR information look like?
Perhaps you are curious about what someone sees when they click on your QR code. This is a screen print of what shows on a mobile phone when you scan her QR code.
The first information is a picture along with contact information like phone number, email, and texting information. The viewer can download her vCard to his/her own mobile phone.
The Vizibility software will walk you through loading the information you want people to see.
The information to share can include:
- Contact information
- Photo
- Notes and a vCard
- Common Connections™ – all the LinkedIn and Facebook connections you have in common with the person who scanned your QR code
- My Links – all the links you load to social media and blogging
- My Details – more information you choose to share
The QR code puts your contact information into the hands of people who want to connect with you, enhancing networking possibilities which increases the chances to find the job you love.
Your personal QR code notifies you when someone is looking at your profile, giving you feedback about which companies and individuals are interested in you. Then you can follow up. You can see which elements of your job search strategy are most effective.
How to set up a QR code with Vizibility by The Interview Doctor
Contact Katherine Burik or Dan Toussant at The Interview Doctor, Inc. to get started!
Dan Toussant Katherine Burik
[1] http://www.thethinkingstick.com/good–use–of–qr–codes/
[2] http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/qr–codes–fad–opinion/
[3] http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/qr–codes–fad–opinion/
Background Information about QR Codes:
- http://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140805493/few-consumers-are-cracking-the-qr-code
- http://www.good.is/post/the-upside-and-downsides-of-qr-codes/
- http://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140805493/few-consumers-are-cracking-the-qr-code
- http://www.thethinkingstick.com/good-use-of-qr-codes/
- http://mashable.com/2012/01/14/qr-code-marketing/
- http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/12/20-million-americans-scanned-a-qr-code-in-october/?piCId=54755&ns_campaign=comscore_datamine&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=general&ns_fee=0&ns_linkname=datamine_&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=%24%7bdatamine%7d&utm_campaig
- http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/qr-codes-fad-opinion/
- http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/reasons-qr-codes-unquestionably-awesome/
- http://www.good.is/post/the-upside-and-downsides-of-qr-codes/
- http://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140805493/few-consumers-are-cracking-the-qr-code
- http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/articles/pages/qrcoderesumes.aspx
- http://www.prsa.org/jobcenter/career_resources/resource_type/tools_tactics/resume_cover_letter_help/resumes_qr_codes/
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