Recently, we’ve all been hearing how difficult the employment situation is in Europe. In fact, France’s unemployment rate is currently standing at 10.9%, averagely amongst other European countries¹. So with tighter budgets and less time, how are recruiters searching for the right candidate? The answer is social networking sites. In fact, according to SlideShare, over 90% of organisations say that are using some form of social media in their recruitment process and that it’s giving them positive results².
Employers are increasingly using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ to attract and recruit candidates. We’ve all heard about that certain someone who’s managed to make connections and land an internship or even a full-time job, but how do they do it?
A huge recent trend is Facebook Professional Networking. Now you may think that Facebook is generally viewed as a personal site, but now most companies have their own Facebook page to create awareness and recruit. During the recruitment process, it’s likely that someone will eventually look your profile up to see what kind of person you are and at that point, you either have to hope you’ve got rid of all those weird photos or that you’ve sorted out your privacy settings.
Now, let’s take a look at LinkedIn – “the professional social networking site”. Create a profile, keep it updated, add people with whom you’ve networked, participate in discussions and most importantly, get recommendations. Not only do employers actively recruit from LinkedIn but once you find groups you are interested in, you can join discussions and receive regular notifications of job adverts which fit your profile. You connect to people in specific industries and more often than not, they upload articles with relevant interview skills, tips and tricks plus the latest financial news. An appropriate professional photo here is a must and ideally, your CV should match your summary.
Last but not least, the growing phenomenon – Twitter. It has now become a way for corporations to make personal connections with followers by retweeting. To get noticed, follow company updates on Twitter, retweet and most importantly, tweet at them! This is perhaps a way to get more information and latest news about the company, which will support you at the interview stage.
Three quick tips to help you along the path of professional social networking – 1) Make sure you check your privacy settings and the photos that are publicly visible 2) Be active on LinkedIn and get recommendations 3) Be careful what you tweet. Good luck!
Do any of you use social media to find jobs? Or is it for personal use only?
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