Be Connected, Proactive and Prepared!
Be Connected, Proactive and Prepared!
Work on developing your network of contacts. Proactive Career Managers Have Larger Online Networks Than Active Seekers Referrals are STILL the best way to find your next opportunity!
The astronomical growth of social networks has created a new way for companies and candidates to connect online.
Nielsen calculates social network traffic grew by 43% from June 2009 to June 2010, and social network activity is now the single largest activity online, dwarfing online games, email and search. And Americans are now turning to their social networks to find jobs.
“A large group of job seekers believe they have a better chance to land a job if they are connected, proactive and prepared – and rightly so. These are some of the very qualities employers look for when hiring, and social networks are emerging as the meeting ground for likeminded innovative employers and prospective employees.” Dan Finnigan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jobvite.com
Highlights of Study:
• 44% of all job seekers cited referrals and/or social networks as the source of their most recent job, compared to 32% for job boards (note, respondents could select multiple options).
• 18% of respondents ages and their Þ18-24 and 19% of respondents ages 25-34 used social networks to current job, compared to 9% of those 35-44, 4% of those 45-54 , and 1% of those 55+.
• Extrapolated to the national adult population, approximately 14.4 million American job seekers would credit online social networks for their current/most recent job.
• Of those job seekers who used social networks to find their last job, a higher percentage of them are younger, more educated, high-earning adults than those that found their last job through an Internet job board. 73% Age 18-34, and 40% income greater than 75K.
Referrals Secure the Plurality of American Jobs with Internet Listings a Close Second. Men were more likely than women to use online social networks (14% vs. 8%), company careers sites (20% vs. 16%), recruiters (15% vs. 9%), internal job listings (18% vs. 11%), career fairs (16% vs. 9%), and alumni networks (8% vs. 5%) to secure their current or most recent positions. In all of the answer categories listed, those with children in the household were significantly more apt than those without kids to have used that resource, with the exception of a referral from professional or personal contacts.
Members of high income households were more likely to have found their past or previous position though an online social network (19%), company carteers site (20%), recruiter (16%), internal job listing (20%), career fair (19%), alumni network (16%), or a referral (36%), while those making less than $50K annually were more likely than wealthier adults to use Internet job boards (31%, <$25K; 29%, $25-$50K) and the newspaper (28%, $25-$50K).
Younger cohorts were more inclined than their older counterparts to attribute their past or present jobs with the listed resources, with the exception of a “referral from professional or personal contacts”.
More Talented Job Seekers (those job seekers who earn an annual household income of $75K+ and have completed at least some post graduate work) found their most recent job through referrals more than any other group, followed by the Proactive Career Manager; referrals also topped the list of job resources for those Employed, Not Seeking. Online social networks also played a significant role for both Talent Job Seekers and Proactive Career Managers.
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Pamela Day