There are certainly pros and cons with social media and how it affects the professional lives of individuals, but I would venture to say that social media can help you more than it can hurt you. Many avenues are available to advertise yourself on the internet such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogger, Diggs and several others. Mashable.com has an article, "7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media", that offers some tips on landing your next career. A few of the tips that caught my interest were being proactive on Twitter, capitalizing on Twitter, and making a video resume for YouTube. According to the article, video resumes are the least used by current job searchers, but can be the most effective. This type of personal advertisement is considered to be the differentiator in many recruiting processes and can be useful in defining the value you could bring to certain companies.
As I said before, the pros of social media generally outweigh the cons. These cons primarily come from the lack of common sense of those associated with the social media process. For example, I have had several friends, who were on the job hunt, be turned down due to their use of social media. Most notably were their mistakes using Facebook. They had uploaded pictures that led recruiters to believe they were immature and not ready for the "real world." Many Facebook users do not understand that 1 out of every 10 recruiters will use this social media path to research job applicants and if they find any content on that applicants page then they will quickly exclude them from the job search procedure.
Overall, social media is a major opportunity to promote oneself to the job industry of their choice. If used correctly, these avenues can lead to fantastic jobs and lifelong careers. It should be noted that sited such as Simplyhired.com and Indeed.com are viable options in finding jobs online, but if you want to truly market yourself and spread the word about your talents then you should definitely consider using the social media sites mentioned earlier in this post.
I also thought that the video resume posting on youtube was interesting. I could see how that could really make an applicant stand out from the masses, that video would show up in a google search and would peak the employers interest. Like you, I kind of feel that the content that people put on facebook should be somewhat common sense but sometimes a friend could post something on your page that might slip under your radar. I think it is always good to do a double check of all of your social media before applying for and jobs.
ReplyDeleteEveryday I get on facebook and see someone put rediculous pitures of themselves and friends. Of course, they are entertaining but then I wonder if these people know that they are risking their professional opprotunities. The youtube video resume you mentioned also caught my attention. I wonder how affective those really are. I am very hestitant about having videos out on the internet, so I can't say for sure if I would post a video or not. Have you or would you?
ReplyDeleteA comment to Jennifer's post. You mentioned the importance of double checking social media sites. I actually have had a few friends go through my facebook from their profiles and tell me if they see anything questionable that I may have missed, so that may be a good way to double check.
No, I haven't posted a resume video to the web, however, I believe that I will do so once I get closer to being in the job market. I think it will be a very useful tool to have on my side, and something that will set myself apart from the rest of the job candidates.
ReplyDeleteI think that getting friends to double check your Facebook profile is a great idea! It is easy to look over something that could be detrimental to you in your search of a career. Getting a second opinion is a great way to make sure you aren't putting any questionable material or information out on the internet.