Wondering how much recruiters are using social media to source and vet candidates? Thinking you need to get more active in social networking to grow your career?
These findings from Jobvite's 2013 Social Media Recruiting Survey will give you insight into how much social media has influenced today's hiring practices:
- 94% across industries have adopted or plan to adopt social recruiting
- 78% of social recruiters have made a hire using social recruiting
- In order of preference: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter are the networks of choice
- Of the multi-channel strategy recruiters use, the channels that have grown the most are social networks, referrals, and corporate career sites
- 93% of recruiters are likely to look at someone's social media profile
Other findings are important for job seekers to know. Here are some kinds of content that create strong negative responses in recruiters:
- Illegal drug mentions
- Overtly sexual content
- Profanity
- References to guns
- Pictures of alcohol consumption
- Spelling/grammar mistakes
Strong positives are found for:
- Volunteering & donations to charity
Neutrals are found for mention of politics and religion, interestingly enough, although I recommend you avoid being to fanatical about either.
Other sites recruiters may check are:
- Google+
- Blogs
- Others
So, take note of the recruiter preferences above when you start to build out your online presence. We've coverered how to build your LinkedIn presence and use Twitter in other posts. We've also written about how to get hired using social media.
Don't lag behind this recruitment trend by ignoring social media in your job search strategy. Online identity can make or break a candidacy. Make sure yours is positive, continually expanding and on brand to grow your career. Good luck!
