Is This Social Media Job Search Really Worth My Time?

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that if you’re reading this you at least have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or some social media account that you use. Well just in case you haven’t heard the word on the street, I’ll repeat it for you: these avenues are rumored to be great resources for job seekers.

If you’re anything like me, however, you’re skeptical about how a Facebook account could land a job. Is it really worth the effort to polish my profile, update my career section, and even create that LinkedIn account I said I would create two months ago?

According to a survey by Jobvite, this social media job hunting really is worth the time and effort! The survey results found that one in every six job seekers in the United States landed their most recent position through an online social network. Of those who did so, 78% used Facebook as their online social network of choice.

This is great news to those of us in a job-searching funk, but there’s also a downside to consider. Employers actively utilize these same social media outlets to pre-screen their candidates before selecting them for interviews. Of the 34% of employers who do engage in this pre-screening strategy, 37% have found information via social media that has caused them to not hire a job candidate.

Check out this infographic compiled by Rasmussen College (on your right) for complete details on the findings of this survey.

So how can you best utilize this information? First, be sure to clean up your social media profiles and make them employer-appropriate. Update your career section and add as many details as you can about your professional life and interests. Be sure to keep this information updated as your job or internship experiences change. Once your profiles are polished and ready, start making connections with professional contacts and others in your industry.

Utilizing social media outlets is great, but it obviously can’t take the place of employment websites in your job search. Jobma is unique among job search platforms in that it offers all the benefits of a standard employment website and, additionally, encourages job seekers to share their profiles and video resumes on their social media accounts. Job seekers can even upload their LinkedIn profiles into their Jobma profiles, send employers e-mails with links to their profiles, and create Tweets or Facebook posts about their updated video resumes right from their tablet or smartphone.

If you’re interested in taking advantage of your social networks within your job search, create a free Jobma video resume and use Jobma’s unique sharing features to start professionally utilizing your social media accounts today!