Recently I prepared a presentation for a career fair to provide tips for job seekers and employers on using social networks, such as facebook, myspace, twitter, and linkedin for recruitment. I discovered that while just a few years ago only about 10% of employers were heavily using web-based recruiting methods, as of 2007 over 75% of companies were recruiting online. Based on the trends, that number has only increased in the last two years. Especially with companies being very financially cautious these days, online recruiting costs are much lower than many other methods.
So, to get to the tips for job seekers and employers. My advice to employers is to have a great web presence that positions your company brand in such a way as to attract the top talent you need. This may mean that instead of expecting job seekers to use only your corporate website and the major online job boards in their job search, you may need to establish a company presence on the social networks where your future employees meet. If your potential employees are from specific professions or trades, look for blogs, bulletin boards and networking sites that cater to these professions or are sponsored by the trade associations. If your potential employees congregate on facebook and myspace, your company needs to set up a group or a company page on those social networking site. Once their, you may want to post photos or a video clip that will catch the attention of even passive job seekers and will drive them to your corporate website for more information or to submit and application.
My advice to job seekers - network both in person and online. Let everyone know you are looking for a job and what type of job you'd like. You never know where you might get a great lead on a perfect position. And, since most employers are online, set a good first impression by cleaning up your image on facebook, myspace, or where ever you have personal web pages. Employers may be checking out your online profile and you want to show that you are a responsible person with a great network of friends, family and colleagues. What you don't want to show that prospective employer is the photos from that drunken binge or the latest stories about your legal entanglements. So, take a look at your web pages and just delete any of those old photos or stories that might not leave the best first impression of you.
Above all, the world is changing rapidly based on expanding technology and both employers and job seekers can and should use all tools possible to find a great fit with a fulfilling work relationship. Happy Job Hunting!
