Social media started as a way to share photos and experiences with friends. Now, websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest share news updates, press releases, company advertising and job postings through user connections. If you don't have any profiles out there, job seeking becomes much more difficult.
Not having a social media presence sends the wrong message to future employers, notes FlexJobs. Employers who try to find your online persona but fail to do so tend to think you lack several key aspects that can win over human resources managers.
An employer may think you're hiding something by not having social media profiles. Maybe you deleted your accounts after some racy pictures showed up from your bachelor/bachelorette party. Perhaps you befriended too many distasteful people. Whatever the reason, employers point to an absence of social media profiles as dishonest. If you try to hide something from everyone, what could you be hiding from your employer? Lack of honesty destroys your job prospects before they even happen.
If you don't have an online presence, an employer may believe you're not tech savvy. A prospective manager may even think you're older than you claim to be. When searching for candidates, agencies compare your paper resume to what you have in a social media profile. Without an online base to start from, HR managers may be turned off to someone who doesn't know how to use or refuses to take advantage of basic websites. Creating an online version of yourself proves you have what it takes to find things on the Internet.
Without a social media page, employers may think you simply don't care. Your resume, cover letter, application and references should match what you say online. If a recruiter thinks you simply don't want to put forth effort to polish your online presence to match what's on paper, what makes a potential boss think you'll go the extra mile at the office?
An online page for yourself shows you personalize your job search and cater to the needs of a particular industry or company. A survey released in January 2015 shows 22 percent of unemployed persons, versus those with jobs, are more likely to utilize social websites to find employment. There's only so much information you can place on a one-page resume and cover letter, but a LinkedIn profile can be as complete, comprehensive or exhaustive as it needs to be.
Job seeking skills include having something to offer a firm who wants to hire you. Lack of a Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+ page shows you may not have what it takes. Yes, it may be true that your past supervisors can vouch for your work abilities. But in some small way, you need to show you can take the time to work on projects independently of other people. Making a snazzy profile highlights your willingness and commitment to complete a task on your own and without any prodding from other people.
Social media websites are here to stay, whether you like them or not. Join others who already use such websites to find work and create a dynamic page that gets noticed by recruiters and companies.
Photo courtesy of Automotive Social at Flickr.com
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