The explosion in the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and even more business-aligned Internet sites such as LinkedIn, can have serious impacts on job-seekers and recruitment agencies.
Many individuals seeking employment today are likely to have a Facebook profile. This can be an asset or a major liability, depending on how the individual controls the content within the profile.
Lindi Dickinson, head of Pastel People Placements in Softline Pastel, says job-seekers need to be aware of the fact that their Facebook site and their postings on Twitter are very firmly in the public domain and can be accessed by anyone with an Internet connection.
“Job-seekers or candidates for employment interviews must be very careful with their Internet profiles. Recruitment agencies and the HR staff at companies where an individual may have undergone an interview are becoming more inclined to use the Internet as a source for additional information on the candidate, before making the final employment decision.
“In this environment it is important that jobseekers carefully manage their Internet profiles, are careful about the photographs they post and the friends they accept into their Facebook site. Wild, party animal photographs will not convey the most positive message to a potential employer.”
Facebook in particular is becoming more and more accessible, especially with more people owning smartphones that enable them to do mobile Facebook posts and upload photos. In addition, job-seekers can be 'tagged' in a photo uploaded by their friends, and this will be visible on the job-seeker's Facebook profile.
“The point is that job-seekers would do well to closely monitor their Internet profiles and ensure that their profile content is always positive and impressive,” says Dickinson.
She adds that there is no control over what is posted on Twitter. “Freedom of speech is the democratic right of all but job candidates should take care to ensure that their Tweets will not lead to repercussions in terms of their employment endeavours.
“Many recruitment agents and potential employers will Google a candidate's name and see what the Internet reveals about the person they are trying to place or are about to interview. Often the potential employer will conduct such a search on a person they have interviewed just to obtain a different perspective. What is revealed could impact positively or negatively, and it's up to the candidate to ensure the impact is positive.”
The other side of the coin is that smart job-seekers can also use the Internet and social media sites to their advantage.
“They can thoroughly research a company to get a feel for the ethos of the company, the working environment, the work ethic, the social stance, its values and traditions and get a good idea of what it would be like to be an employee,” says Dickinson.
“Of course employers can also use the Internet and Google the names of potential employees being brought into contact with the company. With that in mind, potential employees could use this to their advantage by posting video CVs on the Web to bring them into contact with specific career opportunities. These videos should display youth, spontaneity, sincerity, work ethic and career orientation and deliver a good vibe.”
Dickinson adds that there is no doubt that job seekers will use the Internet and the social media arena to obtain a good idea of a target company's pedigree, character, achievements and future direction.
“Job-seekers in general are becoming more discerning about who they wish to work for so it is a two-way street with potential employers and employees using online reputation management as a tool to get the best from the process. But the final word for job-seekers still has to be: think before you place information about yourself into the public domain!”
Note to editors:
Pastel People Placements is the Recruitment Division of Softline Pastel (part of the Softline Group and Sage Group). Softline Pastel is one of the leading developers of business software in South Africa, which gives Pastel People Placements a unique and thorough understanding of your business vacancy requirements. Pastel People Placements is a finalist for the Best Recruitment Campaign in the only Annual Global Awards for the Contact Centre Industry. This division provides customers, value added resellers, Accountants' Forum members and the general business community with the highest calibre of candidates, and cater for the following job categories: management, financial, bookkeeping, IT, HR, payroll and admin, to name but a few. With Pastel People Placements you are more than just a number to us.
Web site: http://www.pastelpayroll.co.za
http://www.pastelpeopleplacements.co.za
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