Finding Work on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
I love a good infographic, and this one created by Jobvite (view full infographic post or view it at full size) is really cool. It shows how Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter help people find work.
This research looks at how people are using social media to look for and find work. Facebook leads the pack, with 44% of job seeking activity followed by LinkedIn at 26%. Are you a ‘super social’—someone who is highly active in social media circles with more than the average number of contacts? Twenty-eight percent of you found their last job through social networking, and 85% of you did so on Facebook.
And my mother thinks you can still find good jobs in the daily newspaper…
This infographic doesn’t just look at the millions of unemployed workers, it also takes into consideration the 61% of Americans (sorry, foreign readers) who are currently employed but are open to a new job.
Some statistics from this infographic I found especially interesting…
- 4 out of 10 job seekers are ‘super social’ and have more than 150 contacts on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
- 1 in 6 job seekers found their last job through an online social network.
- 48% of ‘super social’ job seekers made contact with a recruiter on LinkedIn, as opposed to 9% of all job seekers.
- 65% of males use Twitter in their job search, as opposed to 35% of women.
There is a great story on Forbes about how one man, David T. Stevens, found not one but TWO jobs through LinkedIn. It’s worth a read but I’ll boil it down for you below:
Stevens signed up for LinkedIn in 2008 in the hopes that it would help him organize his sales contacts at the radio stations he worked at in San Jose, California. Seven months later his boss told him he would no longer be earning a salary and benefits—but could work on a commission-only base if he would like. He did not like that idea and left his job. Before he packed up his things at his office he updated his LinkedIn status to say “I’m up for grabs. Who wants me?”
In the car on his way home he got a call from one of his LinkedIn contacts who knew of a job opportunity at a local Chamber of Commerce they thought Stevens would be a good fit for. Stevens scheduled an interview that very same day and landed the job less than two weeks later.
Fast forward two years and Stevens was getting restless in his job and was interested in looking for a new opportunity. He turned to LinkedIn again. He emailed one of his contacts and asked her some questions about her job. In a phone conversation Stevens told this person he was thinking about changing jobs and was told of an opportunity his contact knew about. The next week he sent in his resume for the open position, had two interviews, and within two weeks the company made him an offer.
This story led me to another post on Forbes on what to say on LinkedIn when you’ve been laid off. I liked Stevens’s “I’m up for grabs. Who wants me?” update, and wanted to see if the author of this post (Deborah L. Jacobs) would think it was kosher.
In her blog post, Jacobs interviews a New York-based executive coach named Sandra A. VanGuilder. Here are her tips for updating your LinkedIn page when you are laid off and looking for work.
- Develop a robust, 100% complete LinkedIn profile.
- Be very public about the fact you are looking for work. These days, with the lagging economy, there is absolutely no shame in being laid off.
- Use a generic description of your professional headline. Label yourself what you would like to be, rather than being limited to what your last title was.
- Delete the “Current” heading under “Current Position.” Before you do that, though, cut and paste your previous company and job title into the “Past” section. Then click “edit” and “delete,” and make the “Current” heading disappear.
The same tips can be used for freelancers—even if you haven’t been laid off. Here are some LinkedIn tips for your profile.
- It’s ok to let people know you are looking for new projects. Unless you tell people, they can’t help you with your search.
- Make sure your job description matches what you are looking for. It’s ok to put Freelance Graphic Designer as your professional headline. If that’s the kind of work you are looking for—advertise for it.
- Go for quality over quantity when it comes to your connections. Five great connections is better than 50 perfect strangers. Be picky in who you connect with, and connect with people you have worked for or with. Seek out other freelancers in your market and network. It’s a great way to partner with other freelancers who are looking to outsource for their projects, and vice versa.
The way people look for and find jobs has drastically changed in the past 10 years. Do you have a success story you’d like to share about your social networking job search? We’d love to hear it!
Leave a Comment
Five great connections is better than 50 perfect strangers.
I disagree. Networking means you want a network. A network built on 50 people is a lot bigger and stronger than a network based on 5 people. I have connected with several people in my field who I don’t know personally, and through them I have also connected with people I used to work with and hadn’t spoken to in years. I’ve also had potential clients call me out of the blue and say, “I see you are connected with so and so on LinkedIn, I’ve been friends with her for years and I need someone who does what you do.” Both of these scenarios led to new business.
Excellent advice. I have been on LinkedIn for a while now, and though I have complete profile, it is still a sort of mystery website to me. It is on my list to look there for some new web design clients. Any other thoughts?
I’ve been on LinkedIn for years, and have yet to pick up a single client. And, yes, I’ve answered hundreds of questions in the Q&A forum. And I’ve participated in Groups.
I think the problem is that LinkedIn attracts seekers. As in, seekers of jobs, clients, and customers. It’s awfully hard to sell in such an environment — too many sales people and not enough buyers.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the buyers are elsewhere.
Great advice indeed. There are some tips on here I hadn’t thought about until now. Thanks for providing this information.
Everyone else is using social networking to attempt to find work. Therefore, it is rendered pretty much ineffective. When you do what everyone else does you are competing against everyone else.
Sure, it can’t hurt. But real, solid relationships are always, without exception, founded upon connections made in real life. Online social network connections aren’t real – they are simply reflections of real life connections.
Relying exclusively on social media for jobs (either freelance or full time) is a huge newbie mistake. The illusion being promoted is that a somewhat time consuming, difficult, long term task – building a network – can be rendered as neat, orderly and easy as hopping online and updating your status.
As Martha R. indicated earlier in this thread, LinkedIn attracts a traffic jam of seekers, and that’s a really great phrase to sum it up. I’ve found that even getting traction on their message boards – the usual recommended activity of self promotion on LinkedIn – is very difficult. If the question isn’t outright moronic (IE, is some student trying to get someone to do their home work for them, etc) the question is mobbed with a lot of fairly high quality answers by people preening for job placement.
LinkedIn is a high tech Rolodex.
@martha – I find the same issue. Though I have not been on the boards and answering questions, I get piles of promotions made to me such that I have considered killing the thing.
Very useful information. Everything is relied on social networks nowadays. Nice infographic btw.
So the answer is to exercise your contacts. It’s irrelevant if you do so via Social Networking.
A single tweet, combined with a link to your LinkedIn profile, must be one the best way to drive targeted people to you.
I just do not get it. What is the purpose of or reason for comments that go nowhere and appear to be so insipid as to bewilder the reader, no offence meant at all, I just don’t get it. I am looking for a job as a freelancer, I have not got any published work because I have not tried to find one yet. It’s a minefield and leaves me confused as to where to go next. There is so much on offer all trading their wares with all kinds of sales tech. What happened to the good author got good money for hard work? Nobody really it seems, we have to die penniless to get good reviews. sad but true
Hey Great Article!! Social Media Is The Only Way To Work These Days! : )