How to Throw the Resume in the Garbage Can and Use Social Media to Find Job Candidates
Social media tools have fundamentally changed the way we communicate, with platforms like Facebook and Twitter altering the way we keep up with friends and family members and stay current on news and events. Now social media is revolutionizing the way employers and employees connect, and that’s a positive development in an uncertain economic time.
Social media recruiting and job-seeking tools are gaining traction in the marketplace, and with good reason: Social media combines the immediacy of instant communication with a global reach and the ability to target specific audiences. These attributes are ideal for companies that are seeking candidates with specific skills and for jobseekers looking for new opportunities.
How Social Media Recruiting Works for Employers
Despite the fact that millions of people are seeking jobs, many employers have difficulty finding candidates with the right skills. Massive job boards often disperse information instantly, but it can be difficult for recruiters to zero in on candidates with specific skills. And on job boards, the audience generally comprises active jobseekers only, leaving out highly qualified passive candidates who might be interested in new opportunities if they see the right opening.
Social media venues like Facebook and Twitter offer a way to target smaller groups of highly qualified candidates and to reach passive candidates where they congregate online. A social media presences and recruiting strategy also brand companies as modern and forward-thinking. Many major companies are now engaging in highly successful social media recruiting strategies, including J.Crew, Disney and Enterprise-Rent-A-Car.
How Social Media Works for Jobseekers
Social media tools can help jobseekers stand out from the crowd in a way that a traditional paper résumé can’t match. Social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and more offer new opportunities to catch potential employers’ attention and make a positive impression. In fact, an online professional profile on a platform like Facebook or LinkedIn is a great replacement for a static paper résumé since it can be constantly updated, unlike a document filed away in a desk drawer.
Candidates who use social media tools don’t have to confine their job-seeking campaign to an online profile: They can join professional groups on networks like LinkedIn, use social media tools to express their passion for their chosen field and provide thoughts and opinions in online media publications – all of which demonstrate their enthusiasm and knowledge about their work, traits employers find extremely impressive.
Making Connections
At its core, social media is all about connecting people. Job searches are about connecting too – finding the right candidate for the right job at the right time. Because social media tools offer jobseekers and prospective employers alike a fast, affordable way to get their message in front of the audience they seek, it is changing the very nature of the job search. That’s good news at a time when companies and jobseekers can use some encouragement.
About the Author
Jindrich Liska is CEO of jobmagic.com, the leader in social media recruiting. Jobmagic helps companies reach the best talent on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and 300 other social networks.
