Posts Tagged ‘social networking’

Here’s an article that should help set the record straight. Social networking seldom gets new grads hired is a post about how most recruiters actually use your social networking information.

As it turns out, this information is most often used as a supplement to the recruiting process. Most of the real advantages have come from doing things the “old fashioned” way.

About 90 percent of graduates get a leg up by connecting with firms during campus recruiting efforts and proactive job searching, while only about 10 percent have an advantage because of social networking.

This doesn’t mean that you have to cut out your social networking altogether, it just means that you need to be aware that there is more to the job hunt than Twitter and Facebook.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below.

This is a really tough question. I was recently reading a post on Brazen Careerist called Does Your Twitter Handle Belong in Your Resume? which tackled that very issue.

Here the author suggests that your Twitter handle (and other information such as blogs, etc.) belongs on your resume:

In my opinion, yes. I put my twitter handle in my resume. Where you decide to put your social media information is personal preference, but I decided to make my twitter handle very noticeable and included an entire section under “skills” where I include which social networks in which I am active.

While I don’t disagree, I want to add a big, fat caveat to this. You should include your social media profile ONLY IF you are extremely careful and professional about what you post. Writing insightful, meaningful content will help you land a job. Bragging about the great kegger last week will not (especially if you include pictures).

I’m open for debate on this one, but I would strongly caution you to sanitize your profiles before sending them to a potential employer.

I was reading an amusing piece today called A Blog is Your Home. Twitter is Happy Hour. And How You Can Make Friends With Authors. While it seems to bill itself as an article on the various layers of social networking, it’s really about building and maintaining relationships.

I don’t want to spend too much time re-hashing what the author has already written, but I think that it would serve to reiterate two important points about networking.

1. There is more than one way to network online
2. Regardless of what method(s) you use, you need to keep in contact with the people in your network.

This all ties back to my recent article The Three Best Ways To Contact Your Contacts and why it is important to work towards maintaining your relationships.

Feel free to share any thoughts/comments on the comment board below!

Lots of excitement today about the launch of the new Brazen Careerist social network for Generation Y job seekers. Sounds like they are trying to throw down the gauntlet in a “Brazen” challenge to two separate social networking juggernauts: Facebook and LinkedIn.

I could describe the mission of the new site, but maybe it’s best to let Penelope describe it in her own words:

Starting today, we are calling Brazen Careerist the career management tool for next-generation professionals. In the online career space where experienced professionals win, we’ve created a network that will help young professionals level the playing field. Instead of just a traditional résumé, at the core of the new Brazen Careerist profile is an idea-based feed that showcases your knowledge, opinions and thoughts. In other words: Your potential. We all know there are pools of new talent coming into the market, but no career site showcases the most critical thing that talent should be sharing: Ideas.

Very interesting stuff. Will the Brazen Careerist succeed in reaching its goals? Only time will tell. But I wouldn’t bet against them. At first glance, the site looks pretty slick.

So my plan is to take the new site for a spin and see what all of the hype is about. Once I’ve had a chance to become acquainted with the new service, I’ll put together a site review and go over all of my thoughts in detail.

For now, check out the new Brazen Careerist and let me know what you think!