How Recruiters Use Social Media to Find Talent Hire Online - Workology

How Recruiters Use Social Media to Find Talent Hire Online - Workology For Job Seekers: Online Job Search Tips Advice For Job Seekers: Online Job Search Tips Advice According to a study done in 2011 by Jobvite, 95% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find new talent. But unless you understand the recruiting industry as it is set up today, that statistic doesn’t mean much. Recruiting has two functions; sourcing and screening. In some organizations these two activities are done by the same people. In larger companies, these are separated out. The sourcing recruiter, or researcher, performs advanced searches on Google, LinkedIn and other resume depositories, in order to build a list. Next, the screening recruiter takes the best of that list through a procedure, usually starting with a phone call to determine interest. In many cases, if you simply show up online in all the right places with all the right content, you will be found. The old way of thinking about finding a job was actually quite simple. Wait for a job opening, then submit a resume. These days, organizations are looking for candidates long before jobs open up. Talent Communities as a Corporate Recruiting Social Media Tool In fact, many organizations are starting “talent communities” which is a database of candidates who’ve shown interest in their company, but are not attached to a specific job yet. In talent communities organizations have a chance to start building a relationship with you. And you are given an opportunity to disclose more about who you are and what you’re interested in. Then when jobs do open up, they simply look at their talent community and send emails out to their top prospects. Jobs don’t need to be posted on job boards anymore. So if you are sitting around waiting for openings, you’re missing the boat. Talent communities are starting to be built through social media channels as well. Very often you can join a talent community by linking a Facebook or LinkedIn account. At VMware, they build talent communities by engaging in dialogue over Twitter and Facebook. Candidates who talk to them the most over these channels tend to have first opportunity to apply to actual jobs. Furthermore, companies like Price Waterhouse Cooper, have integrating Google-searching candidates as part of their standard operating procedure in order to determine fit. And in case you are wondering, yes, this is all completely legal. In 2011, the FTC set a precedent by approving social media’s use in employment background checks. So if you are sitting around waiting for job openings, you are probably missing 80% of the real opportunities out there. Instead of trolling job boards, start building relationships with your target organizations online. Online Job Search Strategy Starts with All Social Media Channels While the use of social media as part of the corporate background check coupled with internet sourcing and social media talent communities, job seekers can begin by building an online presence going beyond LinkedIn building a professional profile on social media.    Sites like Google+ but also by demonstrating their areas of expertise through a blog or publishing content and thought leadership on online communities, industry blogs, and more traditional news outlets.  The key is to start small because building an online job search strategy takes time, fortitude and patience.  Afterall, its a marathon not a race to the job search finish line. Joshua Waldman is a guest blogger at Blogging4Jobs and is an author of Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies, is a career advancement specialist helping people use social media to go from good jobs to great careers.  He’s blogging on  CareerEnlightenment.com  or working out at the gym. Check him out on Twitter  @joshuawaldman.