Facebook. MySpace. Twitter. YouTube. Thanks to social media and social networking, it is easier than ever to meet new people and stay in touch with friends and family. But social networking is not just personal anymore. Nowadays, it has become an essential tool for effective job hunting—and can give you the edge you need to get the position that you want.
The benefits of incorporating social networking into your job search can be exponential, says Kevin Nichols, President and CEO of KLN Publishing.
“Your reach is a lot greater using social networking because back in the day, you used to pick up a newspaper or go to a career center to find out about jobs and opportunities,” he said. “But here in a virtual world, you can search Web sites to pull up a number of different opportunities that you probably wouldn’t have even heard of or expected to know about. Then being able to use social networking to actually get a resume in front of a hiring manager—as opposed to a cold, unsolicited cover letter and resume—increases your chances of landing a job.”
In fact, during the hiring process, companies often prefer candidates with a social media presence—and not having one can put them at a disadvantage. Employers are looking for candidates that are comfortable with the Internet and other technologies, but if they don’t see you participating in online media, they may assume that you are behind the times and not well-trained on these communicative tools—especially if you are between the ages of 20 and 40.
Unfortunately, a byproduct of this expectation is the dwindling line between our public and private lives. Now that a potential employer can Google job hunters and find out the details of their non-professional lives, it should give everyone pause about what they are broadcasting to the world. So, if you went to Mardi Gras on vacation, you may not want to post certain photos of your trip on your Facebook page because the wrong choice may come back to haunt you later.
“If you go to Mardi Gras and you have a great time, what happens in Mardi Gras should stay in Mardi Gras,” said Nichols. “If you’re taking pictures of yourself bent over a garbage can and putting them on your Facebook page, that’s not a very wise decision and won’t create the most favorable impression of you.”
Part Two: How Facebook can help job seekers find employment
Part Three: How to use LinkedIn during your job search
Part Four: Tweet, tweet: How to incorporate Twitter into your job search
Poll: Which social networking tool is most useful for job hunting?
More Workplace Communication:
The importance of nonverbal communication during job interviews
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Characteristics of e-mail communication
Why texting and job hunting don’t mix
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