November 27
Social networks & job seekers
Is it completely crucial that an employment seeker make use of social networks in their job quest in this technologically advance times? No. Nevertheless, granted the financial climate of the world, specifically the USA, one might say that you should give it a shot to everything conceivable to get your application out there and expand your network in order to get to all prospective employers. It is hardly obligatory though that one use a social network to find a job, as though it be the answer to all their employment mistakes. It is as productive and unproductive as a job fair or addressing your resume to all people you know. The only essential? to join social networking sites such as LinkedIn, which position itself as the ‘in’ social networks for their specific slot in the market in social networking, may be to sidestep being left out by your peers for not being a member of it. But then you’re only succumbing to peer-pressure and not really answering the needs of pecuniary or job-market constraints.
Having said that, there are plenty of advantages to employing social networking sites in your employment search. First and foremost, why wouldn’t you try to post your resume in all places possible? Why wouldn’t you call on a job-fair if it meant improving your odds for a job even in the slightest? And why wouldn’t you circulate your resume to everyone you knew, in order to see who might be employing? In the same way, why wouldn’t you sign up for a social network and use it to publicize your resume and advertise the fact that you are on the lookout for a job? There isn’t really any disadvantage, as long as you are able to strongly sell yourself on that network. In the business world it’s all about “who you know”, and thanks to social networking sites, you can be in touch with to everyone conceivable in the business world. The list of contacts in your (network balloons exponentially by joining such networks, and the results speak for themselves as job hopefuls continue to credit their employment to sites specializing in business and job finding such as LinkedIn, Facebook and other Facebook clones. And besides, even the head hunters who still run conventional websites that put out your resume are now using social network sites to couple employers to potential job seekers who match their requirements. If the professionals can see some utility in it, then you probably should be able to as well.