Are you discounting social media sites as a way to grab a job opportunity? Or, you are completely dependent upon job sites to create your digital footprint? If your answer is yes, then probably you are making a big mistake of your life. If hard numbers are to be believed then almost 69 per cent of employers nowadays dig out social media platforms for potential candidature for relevant openings.

So don’t you think that making your social presence strong would be beneficial for your career change as well as growth? Sometimes we are taken aback by the fact that all of a sudden social media sites have gained invincible power and have almost dethroned job sites and classifieds for employment search. There must be some driving force or reason behind this.

Let us unlock the mystery.

Why there is So Much Hullabaloo over Social Media, All of a Sudden?

When social media was not even in the light, people still used to get jobs. There were newspapers with one section dedicated to job classifieds that used to contain complete job postings and address of the employer etc. Time changed and technology took a move ahead; Internet came into center stage and had in its kitty to offer job sites that had employment listings. With the passage of time, Internet took the center stage and people started building their social brand values to reach out to potential employers.

But what’s that special factor these sites had that helped it to overshadow all the other mediums of job search. There must be some added feature that helped social sites capture the nerve of every businesses round the globe. Let us discuss excerpts from a detailed list of features that has made social media, so popular:

1. It’s all About Networking
   Resume can only show your education and experience but networking with people can be done if and only if you have an online presence. Social media proffers an easy way to meet and network with new people on professional grounds. With the help of such networking, you may get to know updates on the technology or the platform you are working on, information about any openings or even the company itself.
   Moreover, the professional networking sites like Linkedin offers you the chance to contribute your articles and opinions on the discussion forum. This raises your visibility and helps you gather information on a particular topic.
2. Get Recommended Here
   In any interview; it doesn’t matter what grades you have scored or how many awards you have won in your previous employer. If you couldn’t win the heart of the interviewer at that moment, you have lost the game already. What if you can get recommended from your colleagues and recruiters while scanning your profile can actually read those testimonials?
   Yes, it’s possible. Professional social sites like LinkedIn offer the facility to get yourself recommended by people in your connection who know you professionally. These words of appreciation can actually put a lot of positive impact on the online profile that you maintain. This one feature has actually attracted the attention of million users who look out for better opportunities.
3. Technologically Speaking, These sites are User-Friendly..
   These sites are designed in a way that they are easy to navigate and the websites are clutter-free. Moreover, sites like Facebook and Twitter are easy to understand and not much knowledge you require to handle your profile here.

Here were few facts that actually made social networking site a rage amongst job seekers and this fairly gives us a signal that maintaining a profile in online world is of high importance.

If it’s about Social Media Presence; It Has to Be Strong

Experts emphasize that every professional who is looking out for a change or even an aspirant should maintain and be active on social media platforms. The job market is very competitive and having a strong social media presence is a non-negotiable matter here. The idea is very simple; this is the trend how employers are finding you these days and conversely this is how you, a job seeker are connecting to the former, people in the industry or probably your old friends in companies who can help you get a top job anywhere.

The times have changed to such an extent that your LinkedIn profile now overpowers your resume and employers after contacting you personally do check your profile on the former. Moreover, nowadays right after you are hired, company asks for your Facebook profile ID and Twitter IDs to know more about your personality, likes and dislikes

Hence, it is imperative to have a very strong social profile and for that it is essential that you be active on each one of them on a daily basis so that your profile remains updated and appears on searches.

Go through this highly informative video to know how social media can help you in your job search:

A Word of Advice for the Users!
Social media is a powerful tool when it comes to searching for a top job in an employer of your choice. But then every boon has its own share of negative points associated with it. The negative point may not be fully associated with the sites but surely with the way you project yourself on these that can hurt your chances of being professionally highlighted in the online space. Apart from this, there are certain limitations with the platforms as well that may make the job search a little arduous at times. Let us explore the pitfalls now:

Go through the video and know how social media can hurt your professional image if you don’t use it wisely:

There are other points that are worth mentioning here in this context:

1. Revealing Your Real ‘Self’ Regularly visiting or updating your Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin profiles then it is good from a point that profiles on these platforms speaks more than your regular resumes. However, be cautious what you posts or tweet as any inappropriate statement or image can tamper your image and can project you negatively to the outer world.
2. Few Features With Loopholes
   Twitter can hurdle your connection with the potential employer as searching here can be limited by shelf life of posts or even the length of the search query sometimes. Facebook can tell an employer a lot about you but sometimes the users put stringent security locks on their profiles that finding them even with their mail IDs is difficult.
3. It’s Hard To Focus at Times
   Social media is an addiction; this is how the modern world describes the thing. But, if you are a job seeker and want to make a better online image then you may find difficult to concentrate at times as social networking sites is more for relaxation than used for work. If you are on Twitter and you are following a company then stay focused on the tweets you may get from latter. Re-tweeting on other entertainment tweets and posts may zap your time and moreover anything you post may indirectly hurt your professional image. So be alert and focused.

Keeping above things in mind and then do away with your job search using social media platforms; believe it or not this can land you a job of your dreams. This is one platform where employer and job onlooker can be virtually connected to each other and be in the same network, sharing ideas and knowing about each other. This is a wonderful approach towards getting a good candidate and a good job, respectively.

Last Words

From being a medium to share your vacation pics in Goa or Las Vegas to turning out to be a powerful tool for job search; social media has been through a lot of turns. The networking sites have taken the traditional way of connecting with people to a new technological level. You can share ideas, put in opinions on discussion forums, chat with people, follow employers and get updates regarding any event happening or job opening. This is a wonderful tool if used appropriately and can help you get one of the top jobs in the industry.