We all know the importance of LinkedIn job search. I would say Facebook plays an even bigger role in determining if you get that call from recruiters or not. In the olden "golden" days, it was enough that your resume attracted the attention of the hiring manager. But that is no longer the case now.
Whether the applicant has a LinkedIn profile or not, they have to make sure that they or their friends in Facebook and other social media networks have nothing that can discriminate them in the eyes of the recruiter. A recent article mentions that “Social media ‘stalking’ has become the norm in the hiring and retention process. Before calling in applicants for a job interview, HR will likely snoop around online to make sure there are no virtual red flags. And according to Mary Hladio, the CEO of leadership group Ember Carriers "Beyond typing names into a search engine, companies will also employ sophisticated online monitoring platforms that dig even deeper. If there’s something on the Internet you wouldn’t want your boss to see, it’s probably in your best interest to take it down."
Recruiters are not only using social media to vet the wrong candidates, but they are also using them to find the right candidates. Another article mentions that many use sophisticated boolean techniques to extract candidate profile information from sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Google Profiles, Twitter, etc.
Here is some statics that I found online related to this:
72 percent plan to invest more in recruiting through social networks
80 percent of companies are planning to use social networks to find or attract candidates
LinkedIn use grew from 80 percent in 2008 to 95 percent in 2008
Facebook use grew from 36 percent in 2008 to 59 percent in 2009
Twitter ranked third at 42 percent
Food for thought: Did you know that there are training programs for recruiters to help them use "Social Media" for candidate selection and filter. How many of us are thinking of such diversified career instead of the run of the mill corporate job??
In relation to this post: http://www.socialmediasobrietytest.com/
ReplyDeleteIt's like an extension of the gmail sobriety test feature that makes you do math problems before allowing you to send emails out after a certain hour of the night...
As always, the flip side of this argument:
ReplyDelete- Instead of spending less time on the internet, spend more: Build your own website and control your message
- Any company that doesn't hire me because of my Facebook is a company I don't want to work for