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
Using Social
Media as part of your job search
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62y1pmjk8CE
The Job Hunting
Perils of Social Media
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3UCu_mKDys
Resources
Using Social
Media to Search for Potential Employees
http://www.socialmediadelivered.com/2012/06/27/using-social-media-to-search-for-potential-employees/
How to find a
job on LinkedIn
The Power of
Social Media
How to use
Social Media for employee referrals
Blogs being
used to supplement resume
Social Media
in Job Hunting
Maximize Your Social Media Job Search: Four Ways to Win
PepsiCo has an amazing new campaign called Social Vending that allows customers to purchase drinks via Pepsi's online vending machine. This has boosted business by promoting customers to interact with each other socially while promoting the sale of Pepsi.
ReplyDelete"PepsiCo Social Vending
Soft drink vending machines have not changed in nature for some time now but Pepsi decided to release a new social vending machine recently which allowed users to interact and gift drinks to their friends."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJaEVEoEETA
I agree that finding a job is getting more difficult. I also agree that social media can assist you in finding a position or can keep you from getting a position. People must be mindful of what is on there personal profile so if a recruiter looks them up for a position, there is not anything that will prevent the person from getting the position!
ReplyDeleteLinkedIn is a great resource for job searching. Recruiters are using the site more and more to fill positions. I agree that increasing you employeability is important for recrtuiters to see. Users should build a professional profile and add recommendations!
Social media has made it a whole lot easier for employers to research who you are i.e. more than professional background, so it is very important that you get out there and see what your social media profiles and presence looks like through a recruiters eyes.
ReplyDeleteFor those who are new to social media Crating a Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, Slideshare and Linkedin profile enables you to reach a variety of people. One should create the profiles carefully and choose the people you want to connect.
I just came across a wonderful presentation on how a person found job within 2 weeks of being laid off from the job.
http://www.slideshare.net/warrenss/tweet-your-way-to-a-new-job-1974286
Whether on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, let your friends and followers know that you are looking for a job. Even better, tell them what type of job you are looking for. They may not know of any openings right now, but if they know you are available, they will think of you when a position opens up.
Any advice on what NOT to do if you are using SM to job search?
ReplyDeleteThank you! As for what not to do when utilizing social media to job search, there are a few key rules that experts say you should remember. They all have different ideas of how to protect yourself online, and represent yourself in the best light possible to perspective employers. Here are some of those rules of thumb to follow when using social media to find a job:
1. Don’t share too much information online – use a “public filter” when posting status messages, pictures and videos. Imagine the entire world can see our profile, and how would you want others to view you online.
2. Don’t friend everyone – experts warn that friending those old party buddies can be dangerous and possibly hurt your image. Secondly, don’t friend all your co-workers, past and present, this only leads to the risk of undesirable information being leaked out into the digital world.
3. Don’t create a SM account and not utilizing it – it’s important to have a certain level of presence on various social media platforms. If you’re going to create an account or profile, use it, not doing so can indicate a lack of commitment and even a possibility of having something to hide.
4. Don’t forget to set those privacy settings on each profile you have – Facebook and other platforms offer privacy settings, and should be managed accordingly. This will allow you to enjoy the social media experience with your friends while protecting you from others forming biased views of you and certain aspects of your private life.
5. Don’t use social media while on the clock at work – While it may be ok to check your Facebook page while on your lunch break, a definite no-no would be to use social media to job search while at work! Employers often monitor your internet usage and searching for a job while at work can put you at great risk if doing so. Therefore, experts encourage you to job search in the privacy of your own home, on your own computer to reduce your risk of losing your current job.