In the good old days we would have seen a vacancy in a newspaper or a magazine; hand-written or typed our CV; got it checked by a family member; posted it first class and held our breath… If we were to receive a phone call from either a recruitment consultant handling the job in question or directly from a client we would be over the moon.
How things have changed since then! We are now faced with a plethora of choices online; we’ll email our CV to a number of jobs advertised on the web (usually found on the big job boards) and wait for a positive response (we count on at least 1 to 5 calls from recruitment consultants! We know we’re worth it and would be very surprised if they didn’t call!). Nowadays a click of the mouse stands between us and a dream job. We are all used to being headhunted. Especially with a new/old phenomenon called “Social Media Recruiting”.
It seems we no longer need a CV to apply for jobs. Instead we need a “Profile”. One social networking site in particular resonates well with UK job seekers and having a well-crafted profile, coupled with few recommendations from former employers or clients is a must. Why? Because it gets you noticed by everyone, clients & recruitment consultants alike!
No recruitment consultant worth their reputation will just sit and wait for a candidate to answer a job advert (even if online). Likewise, every in-house HR Resourcer (that’s what they are known as nowadays; gone is the era of “Personnel”) gets stuck in with social networking sites to attract the right talent. We are in the digital information revolution age when recruiters can find enough information on potential candidates without even seeing their CVs or talking to them!!! Social Media Recruiting made it even easier for us to get headhunted but there are some drawbacks too …
Recruiters also use your “personal” social networking site to find further information about you. Often we forget that a well-thought “professional” profile is often just one part of a winning strategy. Recruiters are a curious breed by nature and will now and again look at your personal page on another social media site to check your image, interests etc. “Big Brother” will see what they are not supposed to if your privacy settings are not set properly and unfortunately it can be detrimental to getting the job of your dreams!
My word of advice is: make sure that your image is controlled at all times! Please don’t forget to have appropriate privacy settings on sites you want to keep “personal” (we all have the right to a personal life!). Make your photos private too; otherwise everyone can see you in a certain Royal sister’s merrymaking image of white knickers & a bottle of scotch.
Above all, remember that Social Networking is good for you as you are able to control the information you want others to know about you! It is your own PR tool & if managed properly will get you where you want career-wise. Just check your privacy settings now …
by Joanna Byerley
A really helpfull post – Thank you very much I hope you dont mind me blogging about this post on my website I will also leave a linkback Thank you.