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Why Your Social Media Profile Is the New Resume
When was the last time you updated your résumé? If it was less than a year ago, you're in the minority: According to recent research by recruitment firm HiringSolved, just a quarter of Americans refresh their résumé more than once a year, and nearly 40 percent say they never update it. That's because they probably don't need to.
"Gone are the days of feverishly updating your résumé and applying to job after job," said Shon Burton, CEO of HiringSolved. "Today's top candidates are much more passive. They are willing to wait for the right job to land in their lap and almost expect recruiters and hiring managers to contact them. In 2014, we expect more companies to ditch the traditional résumé in favor of new, unconventional hiring methods that better reveal a candidate's true talents and long-term hire favorability."
What are these "unconventional hiring methods?" HiringSolved's 2014 Recruitment Forecast report indicates that companies are seeking out candidates based on their social media profiles, and frequently search for applicants during the hiring process. [What Social Media Can (Really) Tell You About Job Applicants]
"Using a social media profile as a résumé will be the new normal for hiring in 2014," Burton said. "Social profiles often have more accurate, updated information about a person’s expertise, providing a more complete picture than a résumé alone."
Despite expectations for hiring managers to contact them, the majority of job seekers aren't making it easy to be found. Seventy-one percent of survey respondents with social media accounts don't include their current job information or professional work expertise on their profiles, making them far less searchable by potential employers. Additionally, 40 percent said they would not change their social media profiles if they were searching for a new job, with just 1 in 5 Americans saying they would clean up their profiles.
"While the hiring manager's job becomes more difficult as the pool of available candidates shrinks, there have never been more opportunities to find actionable intelligence through social media on potential candidates," Burton said. "To that end, Americans who are looking for a new job or are on the fence about a new position should include their professional expertise, current position and interests on their social media profiles."
Searching for yourself on Google, frequently reviewing privacy settings, and showcasing your talents on your profiles are just a few tactics to polish your social media accounts during a job search. For more tips, continue reading this BusinessNewsDaily article.
Originally published on BusinessNewsDaily.
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