social networking and the job search

SOCIAL

NETWORKING AND

THE JOB SEARCH

© July 2010

David Swinney, Social Media Specialist

WHO IS DAVID

SWINNEY?

30-year veteran of Texas Instruments, with 15 years experience in Information Technology

Technologist

Project Manager

Web Content and Communications Manager

Software Provisioning Manager

Customer Support Specialist

Vendor Relationship Manager

Social Media Enthusiast

Currently seeking opportunities to educate, train, and support businesses in their efforts to leverage the power of social media

WHAT IS SOCIAL

NETWORKING?

“Social networking is a

new means of

communicating and

sharing information

between two or more

individuals on an online

community.”

Source: Whatis.com

An umbrella term which defines the various activities that

integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of

words and pictures.

Examples

any website or web service that utilizes a 'social' philosophy;

includes blogs, social networks, social news, etc.

media designed to be disseminated through social

interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable

publishing techniques.

a work of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia

published and shared in a social environment, (e.g., blog).

any form of online publication or presence that allows end

users to engage in multidirectional conversations in or

around the content on the website.

WHAT IS SOCIAL

MEDIA?

THE BIG 3 OF SOCIAL MEDIA

• 500 million users • Primarily for

personal use • Increasingly used

for professional networking, business and marketing

• 200+ million users

• Personal,

business,

information

sharing, and

networking

• 75+ million users

• Professional

networking

• Information

sharing

• Job postings

THE BIG 5 OF SOCIAL MEDIA

WHY SOCIAL NETWORKING MUST

BE PART OF YOUR JOB SEARCH

STRATEGY

Give visibility

Unlimited access to professionals in your target audience

Provide transparency

Being open and honest allows you to connect with others on common ground

Help you “give to get”

Ask for help only after offering help to others the majority of the time

Allow “nobodies” to become somebody

Create and cultivate your personal brand

SOCIAL NETWORKS …

RECRUITERS USE SOCIAL

NETWORKS

Which social networks do

recruiters use?

LinkedIn – 78%

Facebook – 55% (up

15% over 2009)

Twitter – 45% (+32%)

Blogs – 19%

YouTube – 14%

Source: Jobvite.com 2010 Social Recruiting Survey

HOW RECRUITERS USE SOCIAL

NETWORKS


EMPLOYERS USE SOCIAL

NETWORKS

Social networks lead all

other recruiting channels

for planned investment by

employers

46% of respondents

plan to spend more on

social recruiting in

2010 than 2009

36% will spend less on

job boards

38% will spend less on

third party recruiters

and search firms


EMPLOYERS USE SOCIAL

NETWORKS

Among companies actively hiring in 2010

92% of companies currently use or

plan to recruit using social networks

Of this group, 86% use LinkedIn, 60%

use Facebook and 50% use Twitter

for recruiting

In addition, 50% of hiring companies

plan to invest more in social recruiting

36% will spend less on job boards

while only 17% will spend more on job

boards


58% of respondents

have successfully hired

through a social network

LinkedIn is by far the

most critical social

network for job seekers

Facebook and Twitter

are becoming more

important each year

WHERE SHOULD JOB SEEKERS

FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION?


HOW TO USE LINKEDIN IN YOUR

JOB SEARCH

Create a detailed profile, including employment (current and past), education, industry, photo (headshot) and websites.

Include all your resume keywords and skills in your profile to make it easier to find you.

Connect with people you know and trust or have a business relationship with and build your network. More connections equals more opportunities.

HOW TO USE LINKEDIN IN YOUR

JOB SEARCH

Get recommendations from people you have worked with.

Use the Job Search section to find job listings.

Follow your target companies.

Increase your visibility in LinkedIn Answers. Respond to questions, and ask a question if you need information or assistance.

HOW TO USE FACEBOOK IN YOUR

JOB SEARCH

Make a decision – keep Facebook social

or expand your use

Create a simple profile (or clean up with

your existing one) with minimal graphics

and widgets.

Create a Facebook Fan Page for your

professional brand

Clean up your Facebook presence if

using it for professional networking

HOW TO USE FACEBOOK IN YOUR

JOB SEARCH

Adjust your privacy settings as

appropriate and be careful what you post

Share the details of your job search with

your Facebook friends

Post content relevant to your job search

or career.

Become a fan of (“Like”) job site pages, job

groups, and company pages

Install job search applications to assist

you

HOW TO USE TWITTER IN

YOUR JOB SEARCH

Build, enhance, promote your personal brand

Put your elevator pitch in your bio

Have a custom background giving more detail about your qualifications.

Have a link to your online resume (tools like VisualCV can help).

Follow known experts in your industry on Twitter.

Tools like Twellow.com can help identify them.

Establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

Use your status updates to tweet about industry topics, tips, advice.

You don’t have to create all the content.

You just need to be viewed as someone “in the know”.

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/resumes/a/visualcv.htm

HOW TO USE TWITTER IN

YOUR JOB SEARCH

Explore TweetMyJobs.com and subscribe

to relevant job channels

Check out TwitJobSearch.com

(aggregator similar to Indeed.com)

Search for recruiters in your area using

Tweepsearch.com and Twellow.com

Let your followers know you’re searching

and what kind of job you’re looking for –

regularly

SOCIAL NETWORKING –

THE BOTTOM LINE

Recruiters are promoting jobs and

looking for candidates on social networks

Employers are looking for candidates

(and hiring!)

A lack of social network presence may

hurt your credibility and will negatively

impact your visibility to employers

Candidates are vetted according to their

social media profiles and content they

produce

Participate, but be careful what you say

THANK YOU!

David Swinney, Social Media Specialist

[email protected]

214-233-5678

http://davidswinney.com

http://twitter.com/davidswinney

http://linkedin.com/in/davidswinney

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