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Finding a new job is getting more and more social—and bizarre. A social media strategist posted an ad on Facebook and received "multiple offers." Ian Greenleigh , author of The Social Side Door: How Social Media Has Rewritten the Rules of Access and Influence , tried a second experiment. Billing himself as a "Future Googler," he targeted current Google employees for his next Facebook ad. Forty-eight clicked on the link. One in six job seekers say that social media helped them get their current job. "Social resumes" today go beyond having a LinkedIn profile. Rather, they represent your entire online presence. On the other hand, creative tactics don't have to involve technology. One inventive marketing professional distributed resume chocolate bars to potential employers. Facebook ad image source . Resumebar image source . Discussion Starters: Which of these ideas might you try? What are the risks of each? What other creative approaches have you taken to search for a job?

How would you like to get a 3,000-word rejection letter with a "42-point plan to help job seekers"? If you were one of 900 applicants for a writing job at Salon.com, you may have received it. Sean Gunther, the author of the rejection letter, thought he was being helpful, but the letter is long and confusing. For starters, it's unclear whether the receiver was rejected. It isn't until the end of the second paragraph that readers are told (sort-of) where they stand: "Those of you who are passed into the second round of consideration will be hearing from us soon, if you haven't been contacted by us already." In an article, "Here’s How to Condescend to 900 Job Applicants With a 3,000-Word Rejection Letter, " Gawker blasted the email as "arrogant" and called the writer worse names. Gunther responsed to Gawker's criticism by saying that some applicants appreciated his advice. He quotes the following from one of the applicants: "I read your email this morning, and to be honest, I was a little irritated at first. I didn’t particularly want to know that there were 900+ applicants for the position. The email looked lengthy, and I wasn’t sure where you were going to go with it. For sure, it didn’t say that I was hired. "I gradually realized that this is the sort of advice that every writer looking for work should read. I don’t think I made many of the mistakes that it mentioned, but I do I wish I had read it years ago. It’s also a rare thing that people applying for work should get anything out of it at all, especially something so useful." Gunther defends his letter compared to other rejection letters: 'Applicants learn nothing about their approach when the only response they receive is 'Thanks for applying, but the position has been filled.'" Discussion Starters: What do you think of Gunther's approach? How do you think you would feel if you received the letter? Read the entire letter, including his suggestions. Which are useful, and which are not? Considering that the letter caused some hard feelings, what could have been a better approach, if Gunther sincerely wanted to help job applicants?

Failing to hire and retain enough full-time employees, several technology companies are hiring more interns . Dropbox, for example, will hire three times as many interns this summer as last, and interns will make up one-third of the company's engineering team. Google will hire more than a thousand interns this summer, while Facebook plans to hire 625. According to a Wall Street Journal article , with the "try before you buy" philosophy, many companies are stepping up their intern programs and offering $10,000 for the summer—not a bad cushion for the upcoming fall semester. As a new strategy, venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is now recruiting Engineering Fellows for its clients. The encouraging news about increased intern hiring, as most students know, is the increased probability of a full-time offer. As a representative of Google says, most of its interns receive full-time offers. ( Image source: WSJ , "Tom Greany, 23, a full-time software engineer at Bump Technologies, was originally a summer intern at the company.") Discussion Starters: How are you approaching your intern search? What has worked successfully for you, and where do you need help improving your prospects? What are the possible disadvantages of accepting a full-time offer with a company where you interned after junior year?

Although many social media policies are available online , until yesterday, Apple's was not. Last month, an Apple employee was fired ("sacked" to the British) for Facebook posts that the company claimed violated its social media policy. Now, that internal policy has mysteriously been leaked. One analysis of Apple's policy compliments the conclusion, which is sound advice for anyone: In sum, use your best judgment. Remember there may be consequences to what you post or publish online including discipline if you engage in conduct that Apple deems inappropriate or violates any Apple policies. If you’re about to post something and you are concerned whether you are following these guidelines or any Apple policy, please discuss it with your Leader or HR before posting. But the attorney takes issue with what the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may call the right to concerted activity: Respect the privacy of your coworkers. Blogs, wikis, social networks and other tools should not be used for internal communications among fellow employees. It is fine for Apple employees to disagree, but please don’t use your external blog or other online social media to air your differences. Recent cases brought by the NLRB have criticized employers for terminating employees who may be engaging in protected concerted activity (or the right to organize). Read about an NLRB case. Image source. Discussion Starters: Read Apple's social media policy (scroll down). What seems reasonable and, perhaps, unreasonable to you? Compare Apple's policy to another available online . What differences do you notice, and how do you account for them? What was the policy where you worked recently? Did you find that people generally followed the policy or worked around it in some way?

Among the many online letters to the editor of Penn State's Daily Collegian is a sharp backlash from a potential employer. Some worry that Penn State students may have difficulty finding jobs because of the recent sexual abuse scandal and riots. In an open letter on Penn State's website, the senior director of career services provides guidance to students during the job search and encourages employers to keep an open mind. Discussion Starters: Do you agree with employers who may resist hiring Penn State students? Why or why not? What is the best way for Penn State students to address questions from prospective employers? Do you find Jeff Garvis's advice in the letter helpful? In Garvis's letter, which arguments do you find most and least convincing for employers? If you look closely at Garvis's letter, you see what look like font changes within the paragraph that starts "Students may acknowledge." [ Download ] If these are editorial changes, why do you think they were made? Do they improve the message?

Some employees like to go out in style -- and embarrass their employees while doing it. Fed up with his job at a Marriott Hotel, Joey DeFrancesco brought a marching band with him to tell his boss that he quit. Why waste time writing a boring resignation letter to just one manager when a " Joey Quits " video can be viewed by over 2 million people within 10 days? According to Joey, "The working conditions in the hotel are horrendous." He had more to say to CBS News . Apparently, some of the YouTube comments were getting annoying, so he added this note, "I have another, better job already. So stop talking about that and worry about your own jobs." A Marriott spokesperson confirmed that Joey had worked at the Marriott Renaissance in Rhode Island for three years and made this statement: "You know that we take employee satisfaction very seriously as a company - creating a sense of community and pride within our hotels is a top priority. The Renaissance Providence actually has a number of employee programs in place that encourage health, wellness and employee satisfaction. While this is an unfortunate way for an employee to resign, we are confident that hotel management works closely with staff to continue to find ways to make the hotel a rewarding place to work for everyone." Discussion Starters: After watching the video and reading the background information , do you sympathize more with Joey or with the hotel? Why? How credible do you find Joey? How do you assess his credibility? Evaluate the Marriott spokesperson's response. What is effective and ineffective?

The New York Times published an article yesterday, " Is Anyone There ?" voicing the frustration that many of us feel when our emails go unanswered. There are no guarantees, but here are a few ideas for getting a response to your email: Use a catchy, specific subject line. These can be full sentences, for example, "Can you come to the meeting on Friday?" Consider including your entire message in the subject line and adding "[EOM]," meaning "end of message." This saves people having to open your message. (See SEND by Shipley and Schwable.) Make responding easy. Ask specific, easy questions that don't require a lot of reading or a complex answer. If you need more, schedule a meeting -- there's just so much email can do. Put your main point in the first sentence. Don't ramble with two paragraphs of background information before you ask for what you need. Focus on the reader. Consider what's important to the receiver -- why should he or she respond? "Please let me know whether I can contact Maryann directly. I want to save you the trouble, but I don't want to overstep either." Give a time frame for a response. "ASAP" means within 5 minutes to me, but may mean a week and a half to you. Try, "Will you please let me know by Tuesday, 7/16 , whether this outline is on track, so I can finish the report by Friday?" Use short paragraphs and write concisely. Edit ruthlessly. Consider different colors and fonts to make your email skimmable -- within reason. Pick up the phone. Either as follow-up or {gasp!} in lieu of an email, trying calling someone instead. Email is the default medium for most business communication, but it's not the only choice. Send an IM instead. For quick questions, try for a quick answer. Here are some more ideas, but reserve these for when you don't care too much about maintaining a relationship with the receiver: Send emails with a receipt. This is sure to annoy anyone into either responding or never opening another email from you. Send "Second Request" in the subject line. Truly overwhelmed emailers may appreciate this, but others will consider it an insult (particularly if sent 3 hours after the original email). Copy someone important. This may inspire someone to jump in your behalf but also may embarrass someone into further non-response. Sometimes, a non-answer is, in fact, an answer. If you don't hear back after an interview, yes, the recruiter is rude, but after a week or so, you probably have your response. Discussion Starters: Have you sent email that didn't get a response? In retrospect, what could you have done differently? Have you ever ignored email sent to you? Do you consider it rude? Why or why not?