Networking aside from nepotism has always been the soundest way to secure new employment. What the web or online social networks have done to networking in the past few years far out reaches what a handful of uncles and an overbearing father-in-law could have ever imagined. The number of sites that are concerned with matching employee with employer grows monthly if not by the day. Three sites in particular have seen their participates grow to millions, LinkedIn & Twitter and in one case to billions for Facebook. Each one of these three social sites deviate in their usage by their members and what a prospective employer can gain by each also differs substantially. Each one of theses sites are being courted and creeped by headhunters and corporate recruiters across the country.
LinkedIn is a social networking website for people in professional occupations. Launched in 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. LinkedIn is a networking site where professionals can post resumes, interact with co-workers, and exchange ideas within their respected fields. LinkedIn has more than 250 million professional members, in 20 countries.LinkedIn can be a virtual gold mine when looking for specific types of employees who posses a concise field of contacts. Through LinkedIn you can assess a candidate’s networks and affiliations that will never make it to the official resume. One advantage of using LinkedIn,is an employer can view the professionals and networks that the prospective employee currently associates with. This can be a powerful and effective source in determining a candidate’s professionalism and experience or in some cases the absence of such a marketable network.
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read "tweets", which are text messages limited to 140 characters. Twitter launched in 2006 and is used for creating a text to describe the user or status of the user. Twitter is a personal website but has become a useful tool in the recruiter’s arsenal. In 2013, more than half of all recruiters used Twitter in their recruitment process. Companies have begun usingTwitter to post job openings with the added benefit of increasing their Twitter following, by having employees and possible candidates sign up to follow them. The disadvantages ofTwitter is that it is limited to only 140 characters and is the fastest paced of the three with a life expectancy of a tweet at less than 90 minutes.
Facebook is an online social mega networking service that has 1.27 billion registered users. That is Billion with a capital B, as Facebook has seen the biggest gain in overall usage by recruiters in 2013. Facebook was launched in 2004 and has become a staple of the online social networks for personal and businesses alike. Facebook can leave an HR department with a legion of material depicting your possible candidate in a variety of lights, some flattering and others well…. Facebook is prime for: personal profiles, shared photos, statuses, likes, dislikes, communications with friends, family and co-workers. Facebook profiles provide a variety of personal information that a perspective employer can find very beneficial. Be advised that you may not always find exactly the images on some candidates personal Facebook pages deemed appropriate for business. Pictures of tailgating parties and other activities must be kept in context. After all you are Creeping. The disadvantage of using Facebook is that some accounts are hidden due to privacy reasons by the user.
Social media has become the preferred network for efficient job posting, job hunting and job recruiting. Whether or not you use one of the big three social media sites for recruiting, there is one place you shouldn’t overlook, your own website. There are positive reasons for searching any of the social media giants and some of the other on-line social recruiting services are listed below.
- Beyond
- Craigslist
- Dice
- Simply Hired
- Monster
- Indeed
- Career Builder
- Jobster
