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.

Compare to buying ads on job boards, social media provide companies a lower cost alternative, with extensive reach and brand awareness building for the company.  As companies started seeing the benefits of social media recruiting in the past couple of years, today 56% of companies use social media and 20% more plan to do so in the future. Knowing this, what can a job seeker do to take advantage of this social media recruiting trend?  Here are some tips for the most popular social media recruiting channels:

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the most popular social media recruiting tool, it is used by 95% of recruiters. LinkedIn provides you with the tools to easily expand your professional network.  Take control of your image and ensure recruiters are finding the correct profile by optimizing your LinkedIn profile and sharing it on your resume, in your email signature line and in all your job search materials. A well done LinkedIn profile is a respected marketing tool for job seekers.

Facebook: 58% of recruiters also said that they use Facebook. According to SHRM, a quarter of organizations use Facebook to screen candidates. Since you don’t know whether a recruiter will at your profile or not, it is important to keep it clean and professional.

Twitter: 42% of recruiters say that they use Twitter as well. Like Facebook you want to keep your Twitter account professional and clean. There are many ways you can use Twitter to enhance your job search.  You can find tips on Twitter in this blog: Tweet Your Way to a New Job.

The growing importance of the role social media plays in recruiting should not be overlooked.  More and more recruiters are relying on social media to find job candidates. It is up to you to use these tools as an advantage to stand out among other candidates.

Sources:

Wall Street Journal. “Experts Offer Tips on How to Land a Job in a More Demanding Market” by Julie Bennet. 09-26-2011.

Jobvite 2011 Social Recruiting Survey Results.