The astounding growth in social media has revolutionized the way that people are connecting with each other, and forced companies to rethink how to find quality candidates. Industry specific stories, press releases, or infographics appear week in and week out claiming that social recruiting has arrived as the golden standard, and that companies not fully embracing social will lose talent to their innovative competitors. At TweetMyJobs, we believed an honest evaluation of the industry was necessary to determine whether or not job seekers and employers are “buying in” to the hype. So we went straight to the source.
We decided to listen to what job seekers and employers think about using social media during their job search. After surveying over 2,000 job seekers and 400 company representatives, we transformed that data into a brief video to evaluate the state of social recruiting in 2012 and pose the question: “Is Social Recruiting Real?”
The survey provided many interesting statistics, but a few caught our eye:
LinkedIn is a very powerful SUV.
I get in it for a road trip.
I turn it on, take it to the car wash.
Then I realize that I have no idea where I want to go.
The maps in the back seat pile up and spill over, leaving me in limbo.
Where do I go now?
Relying on technology to make career decisions is probably the biggest mistake any job seeker could make.
In the 1970s, British economist E.F. Schumacher wrote that the downfall of our economic system will, in part, be rooted in our misconstrued belief that technology will solve our problems. 1970s!
This year, we still hold this harmful belief and I see it harming job seekers who begin to use social media with no strategy, no map or direction. Relying solely on some automated function built into the technology by some network engineer at midnight 5 years ago.
LinkedIn is just a tool, YOU are the artist
When you log in to LinkedIn, the first thing you see is a list of folks who you “might” know. Whoopie!
Learning new things is just great for your self-esteem and confidence, let alone your employability. That’s why I’m a huge proponent of life-long learning. I recently interviewed Stephanie Carter, from G5 Leadership, to discuss how G5 is democratizing, otherwise expensive, leadership training.
I’ve been watching and following this training since late 2011 and I love it. The video quality is excellent and the speakers are top rate authors and experts.
The age of the private exhibitionist blog is over. Today, blogging has become the single most powerful platform on the internet for the individual, the professional, and the thought-leader.
When I graduated from college in 2000, there were no blogs. I’d had email for only about two years by then. But even then, the principles that make blogging so powerful still applied.
Our graduation keynote speech told the story. I went to Brown University, and if you know about Brown, then you know about its open curriculum. This meant for four years, I didn’t have to take science or math classes.
In fact, at Brown, as long as you fulfilled your concentration requirements, you could take anything you wanted. The school assumes that the student will choose classes they are truly interested in and therefore will work harder to succeed.
As you can imagine, this stance is still quite controversial in academic circles. That summer of 2000, sitting in my graduation gown, wondering if I’d been duped out of a real education by not taking math classes, the dean said something I will always remember.
“There are only two skills you need to have to be successful in life,” he said. “The ability to think critically. And the ability and willingness to communicate your thoughts through effective writing.”
Watch This Video to Find Out What Steps Kathy Took to Get her Job
Kathy has been a subscriber to Career Enlightenment for a few months. Recently, she leveraged what she learned about social media job seeking to get a very nice offer. She starts next week.
So I thought I would interview Kathy and find out exactly how it went down.
Watch our interview here:
Kathy’s Method for Finding a Job
Let’s summarize exactly how Kathy got her job
She stayed current and watched her daily LinkedIn network updates
Dallas is probably one of the hottest places to find work right now, but you might not find evidence for that on the job boards.
Even though it’s the fourth most populated metropolitan area in the country, the unemployment rate is only about 7 percent, two points below the national average. According to Simply-Hired’s Nov 2011 Job Outlook, Dallas has experienced 17 percent year-over-year job growth.
Even better, there are only three unemployed people for every one open job. That’s an extremely low rate of competition. With these economic figures, you should be sliding into new cubicles in weeks, not months. So what’s the problem?
Why are people like Pamela Rogers in the Telcom space saying, “There’s supposed to be more openings. I look at the news, and that’s what it says, but I haven’t seen it.”
After all, communications is one of the top employing industries in Metroplex! She should be seeing it. Right?
Social media is now central to every savvy job seeker’s armour, and recruiters are also switched on to using it to source great candidates.
For the former, it’s a source of information. It allows you to get the word out about your search, collate recommendations and connections into an online CV - and build a good reputation in the process.
As a recuiter, the same applies, but in the reverse.
To many marketers, this is fairly standard – but how do consumers feel about this? Are they using social media in their job search?
To answer that question, Jobvite commissioned a study of 2,049 adults aged over 18 across the US, asking them for their opinions on using social media when finding a job.
It discovered that though almost all of those surveyed seemed to be socially active, just 16% used social networks solely to find their most recent job – but a massive 54% have used Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn in some way.
Other key findings from the study were that:
45% of those employed were open to a new job
86% of active and passive job seekers have a social profile
Video is the new Black. Right? I mean when you see that “play button” triangle, aren’t you just compelled to click it?
Video is the highest online activity, according to Pew International’s recent report. No wonder we are seeing so many video résumés these days.
In fact, I did a search for “video résumé” on Youtube and got 14,600 results!
Most of them SUCK!
Let’s think about this for a second. If a résumé does a horrible job communicating personality, why would you think reading your résumé on camera would be any better?
Most video résumés are bland, and have no narrative quality, no drama, and zero entertainment factor.
The sad part is, all the tutorials on how to do an online résumé want you to read your paper résumé looking at the camera, with a suit and tie in monotone voice.
It’s like we forgot what makes good film interesting; factors like drama, narrative, characters and visual effects. The film industry has it down to a formula — haven’t you noticed that most of the movies that came out last year were all identical? (just kidding, there were actually some really great films this year … but still.)
Why do we think being professional means having no personality?
The following are the top 3 mistakes video résumés make and what you can do differently.
Video Résumé Mistake 1: Read Your Résumé to the Camera
Besides just Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, there are actually hundreds of social networks out there that can be used to beef up your career connections, find jobs, or just expand your circle of professional colleagues. With more and more employers and clients taking to the Internet to find deals, develop business relationships, and network with entrepreneurs, it’s more important than ever to be aware of what’s out there in your particular field.
If you’re just looking for a job, there are general career networks like Climber.com, which advertises itself as an inside channel to connect directly with over 70k recruiters who are posting the latest jobs on the market. Or, you could be looking for a more niche community that can help you interface with more specific employers. For years now artists and creatives have flocked to Deviant Art, a social network for artists of all flavors, as a place to interact with illustrators, digital artists, photographers, etc. Thousands of freelance artists have launched careers here. Etsy.com has done the same for independent craft-makers and jewelers, facilitating an environment in which DIY makers of all sorts of products can create a marketplace for their specialties.
Social networks for musicians have blossomed in the last decade, not only offering vibrant communities for musicians to share their latest tracks but ways for them to network with licensers and labels. In today’s fragile, some would even argue decimated or non-existent music industry, it’s increasingly important for young musicians to make these connections. Audimated, Gogoyoko, MOG, ReverbNation, SoundCloud, and of course Last.fm have all arisen as social media sites amenable to independent or mainstream musicians. Companies may scour these online destinations looking for music to license for commercials or movies.
There are also many flourishing social networks for business people and entrepreneurs. Elixio, Presently, Qapacity, Ryze, EntrepeneurConnect, PartnerUp, and Biznik all offer innovative ways for people in varying fields of business and entrepreneurship to network with past, present, and future clients and investors while searching for and comparing a variety of resources and vendors. There is also the location-based network Foursquare, which is an excellent way for small businesses to make names for themselves in their communities.
Other rising professionals need connections too. If you’re working in the academics industry, you can check out Academia.edu and Fledgewing. Of if you’re an open source developer, check out Diaspora and Identi.ca, two cutting edge networks for ambitious, license free software.
Like apps, whatever your field is—there’s a network for that. Don’t limit yourself to just the big three, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You’re doing yourself a great disservice by being conservative with your exposure to social media.
Last Tuesday I presented at a networking event for local job seekers. There were 3 other career coach-types (technically I’m not a coach, but hey…let’s just call them coaches for this article to make things simple) talking to groups of 2 to 5 people at a time for about 15 minutes.
One was doing resume reviews, the other was talking about working with recruiters, and I was teaching about personal branding.
Every 15 minutes, the people at each table would migrate over to the next coach. It was kind of like speed dating, but for job seekers.
During one of my conversations, I was asked this question:
There are so many career coaches and job search programs out there, how do I know which one to hire? Is it even worth it?
“Before your training, I hadn't had an interview in six months. Then I used your suggestion about LinkedIn and 17 people responded to my profile right away!”
–Jeff Smith, VP of Public Relations
“Within seconds of the webinar finishing, I had sent him an email asking if he wanted to present for our MBA Program. His presentation was clear, his information and antecdotes were fun and relevant. He's clearly passionate about his work and it's a delight to "watch" someone having fun with what they do.”
–Lesley Adams, Dir. MBA Career Services
“I spent hours in research and attended a number of webinars and in-person seminars. By far the best presentation was Joshua's. I learned so much, I would have liked to have gone through it again. That seminar was worth twice the price. I would highly recommend him as a speaker.”
–Becky Washington, Dir. Career Services PCC
“I would like to thank you for creating a new spark in my job search efforts! I have felt slightly at a loss for a new approach and skeptical of some of the social networking tools. After watching your video, I feel new life breathed into my search. Tonight will be busy with creating new profiles and polishing my online image. Thank you for creating this video and blogging daily, dedicating your career to helping people like me.”
–Jennifer Sutton, Highschool Teacher
“Joshua was one of the catalysts for me to change how I performed my job search. I stopped watching craigslist and DICE, and poured my time and energy into social media. His knowledge and experience helped me focus my efforts and ultimately get a great job.
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–John Goalby, Principle Consultant
“Your training has jump started a new approach to my job search. I received an email lead with a follow-up call within barely 24 hours of connecting with you.
I am learning how to apply the tips, and look forward to your new book when it hits the market! Your voice tone, presentation, and easy to apply content makes the difference. Kudos! ”
–T. Williams, Active Job Seeker
“Thank you! You are truly a treasure! Based on your training I found my job. And now it is over a year later and I have gotten 2 raises since I started! My company said that they only wish every candidate was so well prepared.”
–Carmen Campbell, Biotech
“Joshua's personable nature as well as his great ability to teach, not just inform, was essential in our recent webinar for students. He made LinkedIn approachable for all, by engaging attendees with well-researched data, a creative tool, and a demonstration on how to use it. An excellent session with great learning for all.”
–Kirsten Gauthier Newbury, Dir. Career Services
“Thank you for the free webinar offered this morning, "LinkedIn for Getting Interviews". Joshua did an excellent job and the content was very valuable. I've added both of your sites to my "favorites" and will visit them regularly.”
–Lynn Dodson, Project Manager
“Joshua's presentation was entertaining, inspiring and enlightening. He covered the basics as well as touching on the psychology of marketing with these tools -- the subtle nuances and strategies to consider.”
–Laurie Daven, Financial Advisor
“Great presentation! As a transitioning Program Manager and Product Director, I found this presentation refreshing and highly informative. Thanks again.”
–Steve Heck, Marylhurst University
“I thoroughly enjoyed the class. Joshua shared some great information on resources, tools, etc. out there for us to use in our job search. Actually, I am still processing what was shared. It's great!. Joshua is a wonderful presenter.”
–Lisa Fureigh, Oregon Unemployment Department
“I have just been reading your blog - absolutly brilliant! I have been looking for a website that I can send applicants to when they ask me about finding a job on the internet.”
–Lis Wilson, Online Recruitment Specialist
“Using your approach, I successfully introduced myself to the person who ended up generating interest in me and who ultimately became my supervisor!”
–Donovan Chandler, FileMaker Developer
“Joshua is extremely knowledgeable helping people build their personal brands through social media tools. He's helped me make several improvements, which have immediately increased my social network interactions. Results!”
–Grant Menefee, Marketing Analyst and Product Marketer
“Hearing Josh's talk about using Social Networking in a job search, I learned some great ways to get better connected. What an eye-opener!”
–Glenn Denison, President at JamHound Inc.
“I was the eLearning Manager for Intel's college of Engineering, and did lots of virtual elearning sessions. This [webinar] was very good today. Held my attention. Right to the point.”
–Julie Thomas, eLearning Professional
“Joshua did an exceptional job explaining the intricacies of social networking to a group of unemployed professionals who now recognize the need to have a web presence for their job search. His knowledge and ability to communicate well with the group made his presentation very enjoyable”
–Dr. Sarah J. Stebbins, Director at Career Circle
LinkedIn is a very powerful SUV.
The age of the private exhibitionist blog is over. Today, blogging has become the single most powerful platform on the internet for the individual, the professional, and the thought-leader.
Video is the new Black. Right? I mean when you see that “play button” triangle, aren’t you just compelled to click it?
Besides just Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, there are actually hundreds of social networks out there that can be used to beef up your career connections, find jobs, or just expand your circle of professional colleagues. With more and more employers and clients taking to the Internet to find deals, develop business relationships, and 
