What role is Technology playing in your job search?

Over the past decade, the emergence of specific technologies and social media platforms have changed the way that we search for jobs and engage with companies and recruiters alike.

Your Personal Branding

The ability to utilise social media effectively, can have a huge impact on your job search and help promote a consistent ‘own brand’ to employers and staffing agencies. For example, on LinkedIn, all you need is a name and you can access the skills and professional background of a potential employee or candidate, without seeing a CV.

According to JobVite, 93% of hiring managers will review a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision and 73% of recruiters have hired a candidate through social media. So it is imperative that you have a distinct ‘personal brand’ or ‘own brand’, that displays your professional experience and skill set to recruiters and to potential employers. No matter what social media platform you are on, make sure that you have a complete, up to date profile. As it has been proven that we more likely to engage with someone on LinkedIn, Twitter and/or Facebook, when they have a complete, up to date profile with a professional picture. An incomplete profile is a “no no”, if you are actively seeking a new job opportunity. There is no excuse for not signing up to these platforms, especially, as they are all free and have specific help centres that can assist you in creating your profile.

The Devil is in the Detail

Having a complete profile on social media platforms isn’t enough if the content and photo are not professional. Statistics show that 55% of hiring managers have reconsidered a candidate based on their social media profiles. 61% of these reconsiderations are for negative reasons, for example, inappropriate picture; spelling mistakes and/or profanities. If you’re interested in testing the theory of spelling mistakes; simply search for “Mangers” on LinkedIn and you will be very surprised with the amount of “Managers” who have spelt their own title wrong; so make sure this isn’t you.

Smart Apps

The majority of us have smart phones and most of us are glued to them, all you have to do is look around on your daily commute. It shouldn’t surprise you that 45% of job seekers now use their mobile device specifically to search for jobs at least once a day. My advice, is to create an easy to download PDF CV, or put up a copy of your CV on Google Drive. This will make applying for those positions as simple as possible, and help save you time.

Video Killed the Radio Star

The use of Skype, Google Hangouts and FaceTime in the recruitment and interview process has allowed, employers and recruiters to quickly and easily have “virtual face to face conversation” with potential candidates. The increase in the use of these platforms has been driven in part by time constraints, but more specifically location constraints. With increased workforce mobility across Europe and the World, we have witnessed the importance a Video interview can play in the recruitment process; and this can be seen by the growth of tech companies in this space like Sonru and Talview. For both, our clients and candidates, it has helped to decrease costs associated with face to face interview such as travel, days off, time to hire etc. At Wallace Myers we have seen the benefits of having candidate registrations via Skype/Hangouts and using Video interviews as part of the recruitment process with clients.

Technology can often fail us when we need it most, my advice to all of my candidates and clients, is to download the software in advance of meeting/interviews and to have a trial run with a friend, colleague or family member. This process will also help get you more comfortable; as it can feel like an unnatural process at first.

Network to Get Work

There are two main ways we network, the traditional way of attending events, and the new way of engaging with online networks and groups. Both ways have their merits, but for the sake of this blog I will focus on the online aspect. The main Business Networking sites in use are LinkedIn and Xing. In such a small market as Ireland you never know who knows who, and might be surprised, with how much you can leverage your network to get you that next dream job. Recommendations are also a great addition to all social media sites, as they help build credibility, around your experience and skill set. My advice is “Network to Get Work”, utilise the network that you have built up, as these are professionals that you know and who can verify your skills and experience.

Getting Started

There are a lot of social media sites available and this can be overwhelming at times. If you are new to these sites and unsure where to start, I would recommend LinkedIn as your first port of call, despite the fact we use Facebook more, LinkedIn is better aligned with getting a job and being a platform for professionals. You can find more information on how to create a killer profile by clicking here. If you’re in the process of interviewing, LinkedIn is also a great tool for looking a prospective interviewer’s credentials and background. You can also use it to check out the recruiter that you are dealing with and to see some of their recommendations.
The process of searching for a job is continually evolving, so it’s important that you are utilising all of the avenues available to you because you’re competition will be.

#social media recruitment