Social Media Sites Become Key To Finding Job

November 17, 2009 7:50 p.m. EST

West Palm Beach, FL (AHN) - Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are good ways to keep up with friends, but they are increasingly being used to both find a job and to recruit workers.

The sites are now considered "essential " for job seekers, according to John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The company now advises its job-seeking clients to open accounts on LinkedIn.

Many workers are already regular users of social networking sites. According to one estimate, 51 percent of adults on-line use such sites. Only two years, the number was half that. The fastest growing age group on Facebook is persons 35 or older.

More and more businesses are using social media to locate workers. A May survey by Jobvite found that 80 percent of companies use or are planning to use social networking to recruit candidates. The favored site: LinkedIn.

Of companies recruiting through social networks, two-thirds reported that they had successfully hired a candidate.

Social networking sites have several advantages over traditional methods. Job-seekers can search specific companies for possible openings and e-mail people they know who work there. Mass e-mails can be sent to everyone the job seek knows to ask for help or contacts. Companies can check out recommendations of people who've worked with the applicant. If the job seeker has a link to a blog, recruiters can get a sense of their communication skills and insights into their qualifications.

However much job seekers really need a job, they should use discretion in what information they post to such sites. "As these sites become increasingly intertwined, it will becomes easier and easier for potential employers to access the more personal aspects of job seekers' lives," said outplacement consultant Challenger. A survey by Careerbuilder.com found more than a third of recruiters said they eliminated candidate from consideration after spotting social no-nos on the person's page.

"Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the Internet is the permanency and pervasiveness of any and all information that finds its way there," Challenger added. "Comments on a friend's blog, reviews on consumer sites and inside jokes made for a private audience on a social networking site's public group page are all available at the click of a mouse to potential employers."