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Guide to Social Media & Job Search
Social media and social networking are the rage right now, in business and in private life. We humans like to connect with each other, and we have just discovered a wonderful new venue to use. Naturally, as with anything social, job search is a large portion of what is happening.
We have so many options for social media and social networking. If you haven't already started, you need to jump in before you get left completely behind.
Why Is Social Media Important to Your Job Search?
Social media is important to your job search because employers and recruiters are using social media more while using job boards less, at least in 2012 it is becoming critical to your job search, as the graph below illustrates.
In mid-2012, Jobvite.com asked over 800 employers if they were using or planning to use social media for their recruiting, and this is the result - 92% of employers said they were!
What Is Social Media?
Social media is at the intersection of technology and human interaction. We are gradually shifting from static, commercial Websites to greater human interaction.
In general, social media is considered to be comprised of:
- LinkedIn -
LinkedIn is a large professional network where members connect with each other, participate in Groups, provide Answers to questions posted by other members, and interact with each other. Jobs are posted, and the site is very popular with employers and recruiters. Linkedin has over 225 million members (2013), and is widely viewed as the most business-like and professional of the social networks. See LinkedIn for Job Search for help leveraging LinkedIn.
- Twitter - according to Wikipedia
Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Twitter has 500 million members (2013).
- Facebook - according to Wikipedia
Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, and school or college. With over 1.1 billion members worldwide (2013), Facebook is the largest social network but it has a long history of issues with member privacy (or lack thereof).
- Google+ - according to Wikipedia
Google+ (also known as "Google Plus" and "G+") was launched by Google in mid-2011 and claimed over 40 million members by October, 2011. Google+ strengthens the impact of Google+ and includes "Circles" (user-defined groups of contacts), "Hangouts" (user-created video chats), "Sparks" (news sharing), and other social functions.
- Blogs - according to the wikipedia
Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.
Many other smaller sites comprise social media, but these are the most popular currently. Who knows what the future will bring. For help leveraging social media and the social networks for your job search, read these articles in our Social Media Center
If you have any questions or anything you want us to cover, send an email to questions at Job-Hunt.org.
And good luck with your job search!
© Copyright, 2011 - 2013, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.
About the author...
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Google+.