A blow to my online self-confidence

Let me start this off by stating that I put a link to this blog on my resume. That's right, I actively advertise my "deep," random, and often biased thoughts to those I hope will hire me. When I started this blog, I truly believed that nobody out there really cared about what I had to say. Turns out, potential employers do - I've heard more than once that my interviewer/contact has checked out my blog. Since I know that some employers might see this post, I feel the need to preface the fact that my rant is not directed towards anyone in particular. It's just a general feeling that I've had brewing inside me since day one of my job search.

I think that it's a good thing that I put myself out there for anyone to see; our precious little world is rapidly becoming one filled with Tweeters, Flickr (-ers?), and bloggers. In particular, as I hope to become involved in the creative online industry, it's oh-so-important that I appear to somewhat know what I'm doing with that kind of stuff. Hopefully, that kind of competence is what my minute audience sees when they browse this site.

What I don't understand, though, is the lack of effective communication that I've experienced within this supposedly "2.0" web world. I could probably count on several hands the number of non-responses I have received after various e-mails and LinkedIn messages. When asking for a little advice about a specific job listing, or even just requesting the name of an HR contact from a UM alum, apparently, a short message in return is too lofty an expectation.

The best (read: worst) part about this is that I know these people are out there at their computers. When I get in touch with someone, I do my research. I Google them, check their Twitter feed, and mini-stalk them for a few minutes. So, if these people put themselves out there expecting to be heard and responded to, why not return the favor? It's the 21st century, and the Internet has enabled us to do amazing things when it comes to maintaining contact; it takes me a total of two minutes - tops - to send an e-mail from my BlackBerry. And then there's that feeling in the pit of my stomach that I get after the second go-around in messaging attempts: Is he/she not interested in me? Did he/she forget about me? Usually, I can't decide which outcome is worse.

I understand that, as a prospective entry-level employee, and sometimes a stranger, my needy e-mails are not necessarily high on the totem pole of to-do items for these people. I'm not that important, I get it. I just have a hard time believing that these people weren't once sitting in my chair, hoping for the miracle that is post-graduate employment, in a crappy economy to boot.

This has happened to me after initial, wonderful chats about setting up a phone interview or even a face-to-face interview. The contact relationship begins to bloom, I get excited, and then it dies a sudden death - and I look crazy after sending a third message ("just wanted to know if you were still interested in talking..."). What gives? Get with it, people.