Can You Use Social Media to Advance Your Career?

If you are looking to find a better paying job, make business connections, or even keep your ear open to the job market, social media may be the way to go. These days, more and more recruiters are using social media regularly to headhunt instead of the age-old practice of gathering resumes manually.

You may have guessed by now that Twitter plays a big part in the tools that recruiters use to find new job candidates. One specific Twitter user to follow is TweetaJob, which recruiters can use if they don’t already have a developed Twitter following. This lets anyone interested in the job market look for new jobs that are posted, which also helps recruiters to weed out thousands of candidates that may not be right for the job.

The main benefit to using social media as a recruiter is that it narrows the scope of the job candidates. If a job is posted on a mega website, like Monster.com, it is likely that thousands of candidates could apply. It could take weeks for an HR department to weed through all of the online resumes to find the right person for the job. When recruiters begin to use social media, they can seek out other candidates in their area of interest, and they can also post jobs in a specific niche market to be found by the right person.

Of course, there are social media websites, like Linked In, that cater to business professionals. If you are on the job search or are hoping to make network connections, Linked In is a great place to begin. This will give you the opportunity to join groups, get to know people, and build relationships with potential future colleagues.

The bottom line is that social media is the way of the future, and you don’t only have to be a Facebook addict to use it! More and more, recruiters are relying upon social media to streamline the hiring process and select the best candidate for the position.

source: niceblogger