Social networks & job seekers
Is it absolutely crucial that a job hunter make use of social networks in their job hunt in this technologically advance times? No. However, given the economic climate of the world, particularly the USA, one might say that you should try everything conceivable to get your application abroad and expand your network in order to get to all prospective employers. It is not at all mandatory though that one use a social network to find a job, as though it be the answer to all their employment mistakes. It is as worthwhile and unproductive as a job fair or addressing your resume to everyone you know. The only need? to enroll in social networking sites like LinkedIn, which position themselves as the “hip” social networks for their individual niche market in social networking, may be to you dodge being ostracized by your friends for not being a member of it. But then you’re only folding to peer-pressure and not really answering the requirements of economic or job-market constraints.
Having said that, there are several advantages to employing social networking sites in your employment search. To begin with, why wouldn’t you try to call attention to your resume everywhere imaginable? Why wouldn’t you attend a job-fair if it meant raising your chances for a job even in the least? And why wouldn’t you circulate your resume to everyone you knew, in order to see who might be hiring? In the same way, why wouldn’t you join a social network and use it to publicize your resume and advertise the fact that you are on the lookout for a job? There isn’t really any downside, as long as you are able to assertively brand yourself on that network. In the business world it’s all about “who you know”, and thanks to social networking sites, you can be connected to to everyone imaginable in the business world. The list of people in your (network expands greatly by joining such networks, and the successes speak for themselves as job hopefuls continue to credit their employment to domains concentrating in business and job finding such as LinkedIn, Facebook and other Facebook clones. And besides, even the recruiters who still run conventional websites that promote your resume are now using social network sites to couple employers to future job seekers who match their needs. If the professionals can see some use in it, then you probably should be able to as well.