Research has found that most people are looking for jobs whether or not they are employed. The interesting thing is that as times have changed, experts are finding that the classified ads are not the primary place people are perusing on their job searches. Research shows that social media, with Facebook being a somewhat surprising number one, is where people are looking for new careers.
While LinkedIn certainly plays a large role for both job seekers and recruiters and has become an important site to connect with colleagues and other professionals, Facebook is increasingly becoming the top location for finding new careers, according to the 2013 Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey. In fact, the data results show that 76% of social job seekers have discovered their current position through Facebook.
Jobvite’s survey found employees in most work spots have a serious case of wander-lust. According to Jobvite, “The data underscores that the U.S. workforce is transforming, and the long-term trend of constant job-hopping accelerates each year, with 51% of employed workers reporting they are either actively seeking or open to a new job.”
This attitude has increased the importance of social media sites where job seekers can peruse a number of companies and gauge not only available positions but ascertain the company culture. The research found that the people looking online and in social networks tend to be younger, more highly educated and more likely to be employed full-time.
In addition, the more savvy job-seekers are learning to tone down or even delete social media profiles when hunting for a new career. This fact is interesting as the Jobvite found that 93% of recruiters are likely to look at a candidate’s social profile and as many as 42% of recruiters have based some of their decisions on a candidate based on social profiles, according to Jobvite.
Additional results found that mobile is another platform for many job seekers that is gaining importance and relevance.
The growing influence of online recruiting also highlights the importance of online reputation management for job seekers and employers as the first impression for both will be set by Google rather than by appointment for an in-person interview.