When you’re recruiting employees, you’re always looking for possible applicants to fill the jobs you need to fill with competent and qualified future employees (or exceptional candidates when possible). Recruiters have the advantage of finding lots of potential employees quickly through social media. 98% of Americans use social media, and LinkedIn is the dominant business social media site and fourth biggest social network in general. You can easily find candidates, if you know how to look.
We’re all aware that social media can play a significant role in the employee hiring process. An HR Representative need only take a brief look at a prospective hire’s Facebook and Twitter pages to see if there are any inappropriate pictures or distasteful language that may indicate a candidate’s lack of good judgment or maturity.
But now, beyond throwing up red flags, social media is an important gauge in determining the best recruit for the job, and the numbers are beginning to back up this trend
With over a decade of Human Resources experience in Fortune 500 organizations, Laurie Ruettimann is an influential speaker, writer and social media expert who now works with The Starr Conspiracy. Meet Laurie right here!
If we want a seat at the table, even if our table is a conservative table, we have to make the move from being transactional to being proactive, analytical and forward-thinking and social media can help us take steps in that direction. We must turn the corner on social media and stop being afraid of it or thinking of it as an ‘evil’ time-waster.
You have a job, so you’re not really worried about your “digital footprint.”
You received so many invitations to join LinkedIn, you finally got yourself a profile. Now, if you could only remember your password. People keep talking about social networking and personal branding, but you are too busy to keep up with all of that; you’re working. Don’t be complacent. A job today is no guarantee of a job tomorrow.
In January, the Wall Street Journal posed the question “Is the Paper Resume Dead?” As it turns out, the answer is “No.” Using information from HR recruiters and managers, as well as tracking sales of high quality paper stock at Staples, the author concluded that a paper resume is still a necessity, especially at places like career fairs.
It’s a confusing time to be in HR and experience the transition from paper resumes to employees who have a social media presence – perhaps even a brand! Employees and job candidates also suffer from the same confusion.
Spend a few days in social media and you are bound to meet people trying to build a very deliberate representation of who they’d like to be perceived as versus who they really are. Are you?