Amari's Sustainability Blog: August 2012

Social Networking & Communication Strategies

Video Statement Assignment

"A personal blog provides an opportunity to showcase your knowledge, personality, writing skills, researching skills, and communication skills to future potential employers. "

- Amari Roskelly

After researching the impact of social media on not only job seekers, but on employers as well, I believe a potential employee’s personal blog can indeed assist in securing a position within a company. As we move into the digital age, companies are beginning to utilize social media to not only find potential employees, but gain a perspective of candidate’s skills, knowledge, and even personality. LinkedIn has become one of the most well-known media platforms for finding new employees.

Research shows that, “Employers are using social media to find candidates (94%) of the time, target a specific job level (54%), increase the company’s brand (60%), and target a specific set of skills (52%). (CommPR)”. A resume only represents a candidate’s personal, work, and educational accomplishments with stated facts and a limited portrayal of their personality. With the use of a personal blog, a job candidate can accurately demonstrate their knowledge base of a specific topic and their ability to apply their knowledge in a practical way.

However, while a well written blog has the ability to enhance one’s resume and credentials; it also has the possibility to inaccurately represent a candidate if there is a lack of attention to detail. Simple misspellings or even posted inaccurate information can drastically impact potential employer’s opinion of candidate and whether or not to hire them. Experts warn all job seekers to pay close attention to all personal profiles such as Twitter and Facebook, and remind each of them that companies often rely on those media platforms to selectively eliminate prospective employees. Research states, “69% of companies have used social media to screen people out. (Dublin and Lee)”. Therefore, I encourage job seekers to assume there is constant transparency through all platforms of social media and they should represent themselves as such. Utilize the digital media era to their advantage and allow it to showcase your knowledge and skills to potential employers, and limit the risk of inaccurate portrayals across the web.

To research this topic in more detail, please feel free to view the resource videos below for further information:

How to use Social Media to get a Job

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iyzZoYBzNU