As I begin, I would have admit that I have zero experience on this topic. As Dan Schawbel mentioned in his blog, most of us are "content consumers" and not "content producers." I am one of those. I used social networking not as a means to brand and market myself but as a way to enjoy others' content and profiles.
However, I still know how social media/networking is affecting the job market these days. Schawbel mentions how one in five hiring managers use social networking to do background checks on applicants. Also, Anne Fisher says in her blog that according to a survey done by Jobvite, 83% of employers are using Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter for finding new hires. That is an impressive number! So whether you look at it as negative or positive, you can not deny that social networking is playing a large role in the search for employees. On the flip side, this gives us a huge opportunity to use these sites and tools to market ourselves and snag great jobs!!
So, we as potential employees have a job. We need to brand ourselves using social networking in order to find the jobs and careers we want and get hired! All of the material we read gives great insight into how we can use sites like Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to get jobs. A lot of the material says that everyone needs to atleast be active on Linkedin and Twitter. These sites allow you to build profiles and connect with hundreds of people in many different professional settings. The other large area (and argueably the most important) is blogging. Schawbel says that by launching a blog that presents yourself as an expert will bring jobs to your doorstep.
One of the biggest points that all the readings make is that you need to brand yourself. Its great if you are using all of these social networking tools, but you need to make sure that you are using them all as one marketing scheme for yourself. In Schawbel's How To: Leverage Social Media for Career Success, the first two steps in using these tools are focused on determining how you want people (and possible future employers) to perceive you. Focus on your strengths and your expertise. Use your blog and your Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to present a unified message about yourself to the world.
I do not have any personal stories about people being hurt/helped by social media. I also have not been affected myself. However, I can testify that there is great potential in all forms of social networking to connect with hundreds of people, meet potential employers, and find the job of our dreams!!
Great post, Rob! I didn't stress enough in my blog the importance of branding yourself and giving the world a clear picture of who you are, what your strengths are, and your message. I really like how you referenced so many different articles and particularly enjoyed the statistic that 83% of employers are using social media to recruit employees. That's great news for us!
ReplyDeleteRob-I agree with you by saying that we need to use these social sites to great a unified, positive branding for ourselves. I have heard of how posting the wrong things on these sites can backfire for a person and one cannot be too careful. I work at a tween girl's clothing store and here recently our managers spoke with all the employees about not posting anything negative about the company as well as being sure we are using these sites as a positive representation of ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that I didn't understand before the readings the importance of branding ourselves. I knew I needed to monitor my profiles so they looked professional, but I never thought about how proactive I needed to be in order to be competitive in the job market. We brand ourselves everyday in the way we dress, in the organizations we're involved with, in our personalities. Now we need to brand ourselves as able-minded professionals that are ready to enter the work force prepped with the social media know how!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, the assigned articles and the chapters in our book I have realized the importance of branding ourselves. All of my social media sites besides Linkden are set up for my personal use. I have not finished my Linkden account yet, but now I will take more time out to actually think about the information I am using for this account. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about how social networking sites help us find jobs. A friend of mine is a musician in Nashville and he was recently mentioned in one of Miranda Lamberts tweets! This could be a huge break for him in becoming a huge artist, all because of twitter. Social networking sites are an excellent way to get your name out there and get noticed.
ReplyDeleteSocial Media definately has the capability of helping someone if they use Twitter, Facebook, etc. to show what they specialize in and how they would be essential in the work force. Excellent statistics, Robert, it's amazing how rapidly employers have shifted to using Social Media and the stats are increasing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you were honest in your post about not really being familar with this area. I think, being college students, we still have alot of unchartered territory with the links between social media and the job market. A few days ago, I searched for job search engines with twitter accounts. I now follow Monstercareers. They post articles and opprotunities on twitter. Congrats to your buddy that had a celebrity mention him, he'll definately get some recognition. These sites really are relevant and great tools to search and be searched!
ReplyDeleteRob you make some great points, branding yourself is a big deal because it helps unify yourself with an association instead of being on your own. Social media is a big deal in the times we live in you will be able to jump on your computer and see what your friends are up to. Or see how you business is doing with just a click of your mouse. The other great point you bring up is using you strengths and sometimes your weakness’ to your advantage I believe a good business person will use both.
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