Social Media and Job Hunting

Starting A Job Search: How To Use Social Media To Get A Job

This is a natty little video from Video Jug explaining how to go about using social media when you are job hunting. It explains the process of exploiting social networking/media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find jobs. The tips are all good ones, cleaning up your profile or at least locking them down. No drunken photos of that Stag Do in Prague. Also add some keywords into your profile, job titles, interests and even clients you have worked with. Treat it like an interactive CV. They mention linkedin as well and its importance in building professional networks.

They also talk about using Twitter to look for jobs and build relationships. The core of the issue is building a strong personal online brand. To do this takes some time, effort and creativity on your part but it is worth pursuing. This is a neat article about it here – building your brand online. Get started on building your brand today. You never know if your dream job is just waiting for you!

Social Networking and the Recruitment Process

Can social networking and recruitment really be happy and contented partners? Is there a real synergy between them? The UK is currently lagging behind Europe when using social networking as a tool for the recruitment process.

“The 'Aquent Orange Book 2008-2009' survey found that between 2% and 7% of UK candidates and employers use social networking websites for recruitment purposes.However, 39% of German candidates, 34% of French candidates, 30% of Polish candidates and 23% of candidates from the Netherlands rated social networking sites as a preferred method of job seeking….”

There appears to be some resistance from direct employers and recruitment agencies with the use of social networks to assist in the recruitment process. The appeal of social networking sites to employers is a simple numbers game - the sheer scale of membership of sites like Facebook is viewed as goldmine of potential candidates waiting to be tapped into by recruitment agencies and direct employers. The issue is how to use social networking effectively.

At e-recruitment buddy the focus is always on the job specification and then finding social networks or forums that match the required skills of the role. There is no one size fits all rule for social networking, you want to place the job in front of the right candidates and let them make the decisions about applying. If you attempt to sell into social networks in a traditional sense you risk alienating the very audience you are attempting to attract. You need to create the right network of contacts and be aware of which sites suit which type of role.

E-recruitment buddy can unable you to enter into the social networking/recruitment space without fear of embarrassing slip ups or potential damage to your brand image. We manage the process for you and deliver passive candidates that are not registered with job boards or actively looking for work. The role of social networking sites in the recruitment process is only going to increase. Stay ahead of the curve by using e-recruitment buddy for your online recruitment.

Auditing Your Online Presence - Could Your Facebook account cost you a job?

In these harsh economic times with more and more applications for each and every role it is vitally important that you think about your online digital footprint.

Before you even start an online job search you should “google” yourself in both web results and image searches to see if anything unflattering is returned. If you find anything you wouldn’t want an employer to see then make sure it is taken down. The ability to track a digital footprint does depend on a number of things, if you have a fairly common name and live in a big city then it maybe be harder to find you. However a prospective employer armed with your CV, which normally has current and former places of work and educational details, can make a fairly good stab at finding you.

Many firms and recruitment agencies now employ people to trawl through cyberspace looking for information on potential new employees. Those stag or hen weekend photos on facebook? Are they really something you want your new boss to see? The rather cutting blog post about your old firm won’t do you any favours. You should think about possibly closing down or at least suspending your social networking accounts while you are job hunting or at least making them clean and family friendly – or use a different name! Make sure you tie down your privacy settings so that only friends and family can view your personal content. One of the issues with something like facebook is that you cannot control what your “friends” put on their pages. A prospective employer may have a quick scan through them to get a feel for your social life. Nothing to hide then fine but can any of us really claim that?

This You Tube video nicely sums up my thoughts on the issue.

Michelle Jones - online recruitment ©