Google may play a more important role in your pre-employment screening than you realize. Your background check might come back clean, but that’s not the only kind of “background check” employers are doing these days. It’s increasingly common for hiring managers to Google prospective hires. It’s important for job seekers to not only be aware of what employers will find, but to make sure the results of a Google search will positively represent you. Read More
Cleaning up Facebook for Your Job Search
An article published in HR Magazine (the most widely read and respected human resources publication in the world) told the story of a physician who didn’t get a job at a small mid-west town hospital because she liked books on witchcraft on her Facebook page. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Facebook content resulting in lost job opportunities. In today’s age of social media, looking up future employees is the common trend for hiring managers, and as the article in HR Magazine stated, “There is nothing that screams more accurately who you are than a Facebook page.” So how can you clean up your Facebook so it’s appropriate? Read More
Social Media and Your Career: Two Simple Rules
Today our guest blogger is Matt Youngquist. Matt is the President of Career Horizons, serving Northwest individuals and organizations dealing with the unique challenges of job hunting and employment transition. Matt is a recognized expert in the field of career coaching, job hunting, and professional employment counseling. You can follow him on Twitter @mattyoungquist.
So have we reached the tipping point yet? Have we arrived at the juncture where ALL professionals need to fully embrace social media and start using it, actively, if they hope to stay competitive in today’s employment marketplace?
5 Ways to Tweet Your Way to a New Job
Twitter can be a powerful and useful tool during your job search. With the recent social media recruiting trend showing that 45% of companies use Twitter to find talent in 2011, it shouldn’t be overlooked. Reaching 100 million active users this September, Twitter gives you a channel to make connections with people and companies that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. Read More
Why Social Media Matters
Job boards may soon become a thing of the past. According to a recent report published by The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), only a third of companies used social media to locate passive candidates in 2008, compared to 56% in 2011. In addition, 63% recruiters have successfully hired candidates via social media. So, instead of using job boards, where are companies looking for talents? The answer is social media channels, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Read More
What Job Seekers Can Learn From Lady Gaga
Don’t let the eccentric makeup and extreme fashion fool you. Lady Gaga is not another pop star using shock value to stay in the spotlight. She is actually a brilliant entrepreneur. Her enterprise? The Lady Gaga brand. There’s a reason Forbes chose her as 2011’s Most Powerful Celebrity – over Oprah. A recent Wall Street Journal blog highlighted what aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from Lady Gaga’s career, and we saw some important lessons for job seekers, too. Read More
Twitter and Your Next Job
Twitter is very hot these days, and it can be a very powerful tool in your job search. Last week we shared the mysteries of Twitter . This week, we go in depth on what Twitter can do for you. For the uninitiated, Twitter is a social networking service for people to stay connected. Twitter is different than the other sites for a couple of reasons.
What are Twitter Hashtags, and What Can They Do For You?
Twitter can be a very powerful tool for your job search. Not only do many companies now post job leads on Twitter, but it’s also a good place to find and interact with recruiters.
Finding jobs on Twitter is easy if you know how to do it. The most popular way to find jobs (or any other topic) is through the use of a hashtag (#). What is a hashtag? Hashtags are a way for people to categorize information in tweets to make it easily searchable. Hashtags are like keywords marked with a (#). For instance, do a hashtag search for #career, and you’ll come up with a list of people tweeting about career topics.
Social Media 101 for Job Seekers
Many job seekers, especially mature workers, struggle to understand the role social media can play in a successful job search. Back in the day, resumes were printed and sent by mail and jobs were found in the local paper. Today it’s Twitter, LinkedIn and more. Ignoring these “new fangled” methods can greatly hinder a job search. So, for those of us born before 1970 (and some of you born after) here’s a quick rundown of the most important social media channels for your job search.
Jobs In Social Media
Social media is a very hot topic right now. It seems these days you can’t go online without reading something about social media. With the evolution of sites like Facebook and Twitter and their applications as marketing tools, the number of job positions in social media is rising at an exponential pace as companies try to keep their name in front of consumers.