Here are some tips I provided for an article published by the LA Weekly on how to incorporate social media into a job search.
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First-off Daniel, please identify yourself to our readers: your name and position at San Jose State:
Daniel Newell is the Job Development and Marketing Specialist for San Jose State University, Career Center. Mr. Newell develops job opportunities for all seven colleges that make up SJSU and coordinates the business-to-business social media marketing communications to its 11k+ employers.
So, let’s start with your overview of the place of social networking media in job hunting. Is it useful in this context and, if so, why?
Social media networking can heighten anyone’s job search and can serve as a bridge to the hidden job market. A serious job seeker should be active and engaged with several social media channels such as networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Meetup, etc.) groups, listserves (Yahoo!, Google, etc.) , forums, and so forth. A job seeker is not expected to be active on all channels, but should incorporate a few of these outlets into their job search to help increase their presence and to access job opportunities that may not necessarily be advertised. It is very common for recruiters, HR managers, employment specialists, and job developers to promote available jobs to various online networks in an attempt to identify qualified candidates instead of posting a job and making it available to the general public.
Does the value of social networking media in this context vary widely from candidate-to-candidate and from profession-to-profession? If so, what factors impact this disparity?
No matter the occupation, incorporation of social media into the job search will increase the job seeker’s chance of being made aware of job opportunities as well as increase the probability of being referred by someone you know on/off-line.
Let’s take the service industry for example; a cashier position at a local café may not be highly marketed via social media and due to high foot-traffic, the café may already receive an abundance of applicants. Typically someone may not view social media as helpful in helping them get their foot in the door. However, a job seeker who “follows” their favorite cafes on Twitter or “Likes” them on Facebook will then be privy to tweets and FB status updates that the café may post announcing that they are “now hiring.” Moreover, a “follower” or “Fan” of a business who actively engages with the business’s social media channels by re-tweeting, responding to posts, tagging the company in comments, etc. will make themselves more visible to the company and overtime, may develop contacts who can help them obtain employment.
Now let’s look at a professional position within a major corporation. The value of utilizing social media is the same and can be just as important as the cashier of the local café. A job seeker searching for a professional career position must position themselves wisely in social media and be just as active. This type of job seeker wants to join several LinkedIn groups and engage in various relevant listserves via Yahoo! and Google. Joining LinkedIn groups that are populated by recruiters can help a job seeker in being made aware of job opportunities. Follow the company’s recruiting department on Twitter, join related groups, and participate in online discussions.
For the job-hunter, which social networking websites are the most valuable, and why?
Identifying the most valuable social networking sites is tough because every job posting is different and some sites may be more appropriate than others; at the same time, postings and social media marketing is done by people, and recruiters and hiring managers may have personal preferences of one social media channel versus another not because one is necessarily better, but because they are more active and familiar with a particular site.
If I was to narrow them down, my opinion is that the most effective job search will utilize the following five social media channels in addition to job boards and hiring events: LinkedIn, Yahoo!/Google Groups (listsevres), Twitter, Facebook, and Meetup.com because these channels will help make a job seeker aware of available jobs, engage with hiring representatives, and increase their presence and knowledge of hiring practices within their selected fields.
Are there any statistics supporting the value of social networking sites (either overall and/or individually) to job seekers?
The next generation workforce is Generation Y. This generation is a generation of immediacy, they were raised using the internet, they made friends and stayed connected with family over social networking sites, and they listen to their favorite song or watch their favorite music video at-will. Many employers understand this and are quickly harnessing the power of online social networking to find the right job candidate. A survey released in 2011 by Universum, an employer branding company, compiled the responses from over 70,000 students from 200+ colleges from throughout the United States. The survey showed that employers who use various channels for recruiting, such as social media, are more likely to induce job seekers to engage with and apply for employment with their companies. This generation prefers and requires several channels to employment and appreciates or values the opportunity of access. They are used to having access to most things online; the job search is no different.
And please give our job-seeking readers some pointers on how the major sites – including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest – can be best used in this regard.
LinkedIn: Keep your profile current, join and participate in groups and follow employers of interest. Post professional status updates and begin and respond to conversations within groups. This helps establish your credibility and it keeps you in the attention of your current and potential connections – remember, “out of sight out of mind” holds true to employers and recruiters too.
Twitter: A job seeker should follow their favorite employers to be made aware of job openings and should also search for and follow actual recruiters themselves. Recruiters often Tweet from their personal accounts about job opportunities they are trying to fill. Do a LinkedIn search for recruiters within the companies and industries of interest and see if they have a link on their profiles to their Twitter accounts, if so, follow them.
Facebook: Job seekers should become fans of their favorite employers to keep up with possible job openings, industry trends, and news. A job seeker can develop a presence by responding to comments and engaging the company in a dialogue.
Yahoo!/Google Groups (Listserves): Join recruitment/job lead groups. These are lists that some recruiters and employment professionals such as job develops join to share developed and created jobs with other employment professionals and job seekers. Many of these groups consist of an active job seeker base who share leads among themselves. Participate, if you learn of a job lead that is not of interest to you, share it with the group, someone will appreciate the lead; a job that is not right for you, may prove to be the perfect job for someone else – this is how I learned of the job I have today.
Meetup: Meetup is a great way to identify various groups of interest. Join groups related to your industry of choice. Consider recruiter and various professional networking groups. Meetup should be used to access live events. Through this channel, you should comment on events, engage in conversations and attend meet-ups. Do NOT attend the meet-up with the intent to ask for a job (don’t even bring a resume) – attend the event with the objective of getting to know people to make contacts. Over time, you will develop a professional network and learn of job leads.
And I’m assuming that social media sites should be just some of the many tools used by a job-hunter, rather than the sole focus of their search - correct? How should the use of social media networking intersect with more “traditional” approaches like “actual” networking, online job boards, and “conventional” applications etc.?
Social media job searching compliments traditional job searching. A job seeker should still attend job fairs, look through classifieds, attend mixers, and connect with friends and family to let them know that you are in the job market. To save time, utilize job search engines in addition to job board. Job search engines search countless job boards for open positions. I recommend Simply Hired (www.simplyhired.com) and Indeed (www.indeed.com). For part-time and hourly work, I’ve had the greatest success with Snag A Job (www.snagajob.com). If you’re a college student or alumni, check to see if the college Career Center has a job board. SJSU uses SpartaJobs to help connect students and alumni to employers.
Finally, if someone reading my article is now convinced that social media networking could be invaluable to their job search, what are the crucial “dos” and “don’ts” of using social media sites to this end? How could use of social media make or break your job search?
Dos:
- Be professional
- Engage in conversations
- Post relevant information, resources, and events to forums and groups
- Utilize multiple channels/networks
- Maintain profiles
- Experts/seasoned professionals should consider hosting a blog and posting topics from time to time related to their area of expertise – attach these blogs to your LinkedIn. Doing this will help establish your credibility.
Don’ts:
- Don’t be too personal unless you know the individuals you’re connecting with for correspondence
- Don’t over post – if you over post through some channels, you may come off as a pest. However, some channels are compatible and appropriate for several posts, such as Twitter.
- Learn the culture of the sites you are utilizing. This is very important. The way you conduct yourself on Facebook is not the same way you conduct yourself on LinkedIn. Familiarize yourself with these channels and the culture.
- Don’t forget if you “connect” channels/profiles to one another. For example, I knew a job seeker who forgot that she had connected her personal Twitter account to her LinkedIn profile. She was wondering why no one was contacting her for nursing jobs despite her professional LinkedIn profile. I mentioned to her that it may be because her LinkedIn profile has multiple status updates from her Twitter account commenting on a girl’s thong in the club.
