Technology is rewiring our brains, our culture and our habits.
Social media networks are disrupting industries including marketing, sales and knowledge industries. The job search market is also being reinvented as social media platforms provide the tools and information that HR managers had only dreamed about 5 years ago.
LinkedIn provides more than 100 million people with a platform that essentially is an on-line CV with additional networking benefits. Recruiters spend hours a day on LinkedIn researching and finding candidates for their clients.
Social Media’s Curse and Blessing
The reality is that social media is both a curse and a blessing for candidates.
The Upside
There are now free tools available to build a personal brand on-line that makes you stand out from your competitors in the recruitment market and allow you to promote brand “You”.
The Downside
If you post inappropriate messages and photos or are mentioned by others in less than glowing terms then you may find your applications being turned down.
The competition in the USA is fierce for jobs with 6 unemployed people for every job opening. Ensuring that presenting your personal brand on-line in the best possible light will improve your chances of finding a job.
4 Tips to Improve your Chances of that Dream Job Finding You
It will involve some effort and time but very little expense and if you are currently unemployed, plenty of time is one thing you do have.
- Start a blog and fill it with articles and information which displays your knowledge, expertise and passion
- Create a Facebook page for your personal brand (same branding as your blog) which that allows you to extend your blog’s reach
- Use Twitter to segment important people in your industry and start following them to learn and engage with them. It will give you an insight into trends and also provide another touch point into your industry
- Optimise your LinkedIn account by adding and activating inbuilt apps available on LinkedIn for your Blog and Twitter that pull their feeds into your LinkedIn public profile
For further reading on how you can improve your career and job hunting prospects with social media try these articles
- 10 Steps to Promote Brand “You” With Social Media
- 23 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand with Social Media
- Why Social Media is Optimizing the Personal and Corporate Brand
- Blogging for Dummies – An Opportunity for Personal Branding
The Power of Social Media for Job Search
Statistics show from research and surveys reveals the influence that social media exerts on the job market
- 1 in 3 employers rejected a candidate based upon something they found online
- 45% of companies use Twitter to find talent
- 24% of managers found “fit and personality” from a social media profile
So How are Candidates and Recruiters Using Social Media?
Infographic from Career Enlightenment
How have you found a job with social media? Have you heard of anyone being rejected for a job because of their Facebook profile? Look forward to hearing your stories.
More Reading
- 10 Steps to Promote Brand “You” With Social Media
- 23 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand with Social Media
- Why Social Media is Optimizing the Personal and Corporate Brand
- Blogging for Dummies – An Opportunity for Personal Branding
- How do you Use LinkedIn? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Image by Mr. Daniel Ted Feliciano