Guest post by Peter Osborne, a communications executive at Bank of America.

About six months ago while job hunting, I saw an opening for a senior communications position. I knew the recruiter so I called her. “Two hundred resumes in the first two hours,” she sighed. “Most are qualified.”

Justin Goldsborough posted on Spin Sucks recently that his go-to job interview question is, “What kind of network are you bringing to the table?” With all due respect, if you get that question in this market, it’s a courtesy interview and an internal candidate already has the job.

If you’re a real candidate, the interviewer already knows what kind of network you’re bringing to the table because one of them helped you get the interview. He has already Googled you and read your tweets, your LinkedIn Answers, and your Facebook posts. He’s deciding whether he should take a chance on you instead of someone he knows – because he wants someone remarkable. (more…)