A recent study conducted by Jobvite claims that social media has become the new, hip thing in recruiting potential employees. 90% of companies are planning to use social networking to find job candidates – an increase of 7% from last year. Two-thirds reported that they had been successful in filling in vacancies by using social networking websites.
I previously talked about how social media is changing the journalistic landscape. It’s natural that its influence also extends to how human resources and headhunters function. Places like LinkedIn – a website that claims to be the largest professional social network – now makes the process of locating qualified individuals for a position faster and more efficient.
The statistics can’t be lying, so you people out there may want to become more proactive. Here are a few tips on how to effectively create an online profile optimized for employment, and make social media work for you.
The first thing you need to understand is that Facebook isn’t the leading network these companies are looking at when they conduct their background check. Creating a LinkedIn profile is a good start, because it’s less personal than Facebook is. LinkedIn is more legit, in other words. If you manage to get connected to the right circle, and you may become one step closer to getting that dream job. The business-focused social networking website claims to have members from all 500 of the Fortune 500 companies, who are all using it to expand their own business contacts. Luck out and you may be able to snag a referral, or hear about a recent job opening.
The second thing you need to understand is that you might want to keep those post-party photos to yourself and your nearest and dearest friends, anyway. I can’t stress the importance of keeping a pristine online reputation enough. With companies now checking into Facebook profiles of people they’re looking to hire, it can only do one well to utilize those nifty Privacy settings that Facebook is always ramping up on. If you must have a public profile, try to censor your comments, especially when you’re on the lookout for a new place of employment. Yes, I said it: even the comments. Inappropriate content can not only make you lose your shot at a job that you could’ve sunk just as easily, they can also cost you the job you have now.
The third thing you need to understand is to network, network, network. It’s called social networking, right? Keep in touch with former supervisors and co-workers. They already know your niche, what you’re good at, what you’re capable of. Build a large enough network and you can place yourself in a prime position that can help you land a job in a good company with good company. Maintain this network even after you find yourself employed, too, just in case you find yourself out of work again in the future – then it’ll be easy to get right into the thick of things and find yourself a new job, pronto.
Or you could try and get lucky. Author Adam Christopher found that using Twitter to befriend publisher Angry Robot resulted in them offering the guy a job, after struggling for many years. Social networking is changing the recruitment scene, so it’s time to wise up, cuz’ns.
Until then,
Andy
