Latest Social Recruiting Survey Results

Sometimes our clients just need some data or statistics to further convince them. This I find true, especially with older clients, when trying to educate them about the importance of using social media as a job search tool. The recent Jobvite's Social Recruiting Survey for 2012, shared some fabulous statistics. They polled more than 1,000 human resource and recruitment professionals regarding their social recruitment activities. Here are some highlights.

-92% of U.S. companies are using social networks and media to recruit talent (up from 78% five years ago)
-LinkedIn is still the most popular recruiting network and is used by 93% of the respondents
-Facebook and Twitter have seen significant growth in the past year
-2/3 of polled companies now use Facebook to recruit
-More than half of polled companies use Twitter to find new talent

As for what employers like to see (or not see).
-Over 75% positively reacted to candidates listing professional organizations and volunteer work
-As could be expected, candidates using profanity in posts and tweets, making reference to drinking and illegal drugs or using poor grammar or misspellings all received negative responses from employers

Recruiters  and HR professionals  say they like social recruiting because it is inexpensive, they receive a better pool of candidates and it takes less time to hire. Interestly, the survey also found that 2/3 of surveyed companies offer referral bonuses to current employees who make a successful referral. In 1/3 of the instances, the reward is more than $1,000.

How Different Generations View and Use Social Media

• Are you feeling anxious about incorporating social media into your job search or work?

Do you think younger workers are at an advantage and feel more comfortable using social media?

Social media has certainly made its mark on each generation. I stumbled upon a recent article (Every Generation Struggles With Social Media by Joshua Waldman) that took a closer look at a 6 step social media acceptance cycle and some of the struggles that each generation (Gen X, Gen Y, and Baby Boomers) face when using social media in their job search. Fortunately, no matter what your generation, for those who are willing to invest in learning new technology, the social media playing field is level.

Building Your Linkedin Profile

Hello everyone!!!

We look forward to seeing our GCDF colleagues who are registered to attend the November 18-19 training in Lexington.  It will be focused on the importance of resume editing and development along with social media tips.  We will study Twitter, LinkedIn and the power each tool provides for you are a career advisor.

For now, we encourage you to build your LinkedIn profile and continue to increase your connections.  A recent poll suggested that 80% of hiring managers (nationally) will "google" potential job candidates.  The stronger your LinkedIn profile is, the more likely you are to have that at the top of your Google search.

http://www.linkedin.com/

Social Influence Scores and Your Future Career Path

AOL recently shared that the next wave of employment and hiring trends may have a lot to do with your social influence rating. If you have a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account, you are already being scored. Companies such as Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader are also beginning to score people in such areas as influence and how many followers or friends they have accumulated. Did you post something that caused others to respond or act?While employers have been using Google for quite some time to conduct background research on possible candidates, social influence ratings are about to take things to a whole new level. The Federal Trade Commission has recently allowed background check company Social Intelligence to start using information on social networking sites as part of routine background checks. Information that is Federally and State protected is excluded from the reports. Perspective employers will be able to obtain a report that has information on your Facebook likes, photos, LinkedIn special groups, tweets, blog comments etc. This could be cause for concern if employers find digital dirt that may reflect poor judgment, illegal activity, or questionable behavior on your part. On the positive side, employers will also have access to information that would be viewed favorably such as professional recognition and involvement.

So use this as a wake up call to review your social media privacy settings and be even more cautious of anything you would not want an employer to find.