Professional social media platforms like LinkedIn are routinely used by recruiters and employing companies to find the best and most suitable talent for job openings. LinkedIn has some excellent tools, both for job seekers, as well as head hunters, to help them find the right match. Other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are also used by companies and organisations to find the right talent.
LinkedIn has a huge global membership and it allows members to search for jobs on its database as well as search for relevant companies and organisations and contact them directly. This means that job seekers can now take the initiative and reach potential employers or collaborators directly over a social media platform. At the same time, it allows recruiters to search for potential candidates and contact them.
There are various tools that job seekers use in their LinkedIn profile to make it more ‘findable’ by recruiters. This includes using the right keywords in your summary, making your profile complete and up-to-date, and even showcasing your other interests and activities, as you would in a CV, only better.
In this age of social media, the power of networks has increased exponentially. Social media tools like endorsing, recommending and following have gained enormous importance as more and more recruiters and job seekers use social media for recruitment. Job seekers are now looking to strengthen their social media profile by growing and strengthening their networks. One of the benefits of this is that your network of peers and colleagues can vouch for you in the professional context.
The flip side is that the professional trail you leave behind cannot really remain hidden from potential employers. This works both ways, though, and it’s not just job seekers who leave a trail of public opinion and image. Employers and companies, too, create a digital footprint of opinions. Job seekers can use this information to know what it may be like working with a particular employer and make a more informed decision about the companies or employers they may be more suited to.
Social media has also changed the way job advertising works, and job seekers as well as employers are increasingly using social media platforms to advertise their needs. Employers are increasingly putting out vacancies via existing employees, as well as official social media profiles. This means that employees often advertise existing vacancies through their own social networks. Job seekers can therefore find jobs in the unlikeliest of places, not just in the classifieds section of a local newspaper! Gone are the days when looking for a job simply meant looking in one or two places. Today, a suitable professional opportunity can arise from any quarter, through friends, social contacts, colleagues, and even directly from an employer.
On the other hand, someone looking for a job or a new professional opportunity can now use social media to get the message out, and to reach and connect with the right people. Whether it is an employee in a company they are interested in working with, or a recruiter from the company, social media has made everything and everybody much more accessible, and this can be used by job seekers as well as head-hunters to their advantage.
For both employers and job seekers , social media increases the chances of finding the best professional match.
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