As job seekers, should you use your social media accounts to land that dream job?
Let’s face it. Your dream job is hard to come by these days. The world of work is evolving, and so are the hiring priorities of many companies and hiring managers. You need to stay above the fray and not let your resume sink into a pile of paperwork from other job seekers.
So how do you ensure your resume truly stands out?
Social Media As Resume
Job seekers are using their social media accounts as a substitute for their resumes. In a world where everything is migrating to digital, job candidates feel that the traditional resume is no longer enough to showcase themselves to potential employers.
Candidates let their social media profiles on LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, or Instagram showcase their skills, qualifications, and credentials to a hiring manager.
Looking at the data that’s out there, this does make a lot of sense.
Furthermore, a whopping 74 percent of the 94 percent of hiring managers who use social media in their hiring process managed to hire a suitable candidate through a social media platform.
Given the ubiquity of social media as a vital platform in the hiring process, job candidates still fail to maximise the potential of their social media profile in their job search.
As a job seeker, what should your social media content entail? What social media account or platform is most suitable for your career? What appropriate social media links should you provide? How do you showcase your work experience to a potential employer? What kind of social media presence must you strive to maintain? What is social media profile attractive to a prospective employer?
Furthermore, does the resume still play a vital role in today’s job market?
Advantages Of Using A Social Media Account In Your Job Search
Utilising social media sites in your job search increases your visibility in the job market. Because your social media profile can be seen publicly, this allows you to network with professionals coming from various sectors – including CEOs and hiring managers. Other advantages of using a social media account in your job search are;
Networking: Social media platforms can help you connect with people in your industry, including hiring managers and recruiters. This can help you learn about job openings before they are publicly advertised.
Personal Branding: Social media can be a great tool for building a personal brand. You can use it to showcase your expertise in a particular field and demonstrate your thought leadership.
Research: Social media can help you research potential employers and learn about the company culture, values, and mission.
Recruiting: Some employers use social media to actively recruit candidates. They may post job openings on their company page, or look for potential hires on platforms like LinkedIn.
It’s important to keep in mind that social media can also be a double-edged sword, so it’s crucial to be mindful of what you post and ensure that your profile is professional and appropriate.
Aside from these, using social media to reach out to potential employers is increases your accessibility. You can apply for advertised jobs quickly and much more efficiently.
Disadvantages Of Using Social Media In Your Job Search
Whether via LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook, or Instagram, utilising your social media channels in looking for a job has disadvantages.
Privacy concerns: Social media platforms collect a lot of personal information, and not all of it is relevant to your job search. This can raise concerns about privacy and security.
Discrimination: Some employers may use information found on social media to discriminate against candidates based on factors such as age, race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Unprofessional content: Social media can be a double-edged sword. Posting unprofessional content or making negative comments about previous employers can harm your chances of getting a job.
Outdated information: Social media profiles can quickly become outdated. It’s important to regularly update your profile to ensure that the information is accurate and relevant.
Distraction: Social media can be a major distraction, especially during a job search. It’s important to use social media strategically and not let it consume too much of your time.
Dependence on social media: Relying too heavily on social media can limit the job search to only those jobs that are posted on social media platforms and not on other job portals.
It’s important to remember that not all employers will check your social media profiles, but if they do, it’s important to make sure that your profiles are professional, up-to-date, and appropriate for a job search.
Getting That Dream Job Through Social Media
Are you looking into maximising your social media channels to land that dream job? Here are some marketing strategies that could help you reach that goal:
Showcase your communication skills – Keep in mind that first impressions do last. Very much like the traditional resume, your social media accounts must be clear and concise, yet must be very informative. It should showcase the best version of you!
Have a professional profile picture – One of the best career advices you can ever receive is to ensure that you always look like the best version of yourself when looking for a job. It all starts with how your picture looks in your social media profile and your resume.
Have an attractive headline – Similar to the traditional resume, identify a concise social media/resume objective. It is also highly recommended to be more creative in telling a potential employer what you are looking for and the job description you want.
Describe your work experience – This is part and parcel of showcasing your communication skills. Even before the interview, make your social media profile speak volumes to a prospective employer or recruiter. Let them know clearly what you have done and what you can contribute to the company – even before any formal interview.
Be active on your social media platforms – A recruiter can easily see if your social media profile is updated or stale. Hence, be active on your social media platform by joining groups, getting updated testimonials and recommendations from former colleagues, and researching how other professionals in your sector are marketing themselves online.
Keep your resume updated and ready for submission – For many recruiters, your social media profile is but an initial step to jumpstart your actual application. If they are indeed interested, the recruiter will ask for your updated resume. Most of the time, your resume still reaches the hiring manager and the C-suite executives – when you reach the latter steps in the hiring process.
LAND THAT DREAM JOB WITH FOX SEARCH GROUP
Now that you have your resume prepared and your social media platforms updated, expand your wings and land that dream job with the help of the Fox Search Group. A reputable staffing firm with a long history of success while remaining anchored on diversity and inclusivity, collaborating with us gets you much closer to your dream job.
As the year soon draws to a close, what recruitment insights can you learn from 2022 that you can use to prepare for 2023?
2022 was when the world truly started emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic and coming to terms with its aftermath as far as the job market is concerned. To say the pandemic broke the labor market and how companies used to work before this public health crisis would be an understatement.
For one, the pandemic changed many employees’ priorities and employment considerations. So their demands are so much different now compared to less than two years ago. This prompted the so-called “Great Resignation,” where workers quit their jobs in droves to look for another job that could better cater to their needs and expectations.
Second, staffing firms have also experienced changes in job candidate expectations. Many job seekers choose more fulfilling jobs that offer greater flexibility, and analysts call this “The Great Reshuffle.” Staffing firms needed to be more aggressive when attracting top talent and catering to their expectations.
Recruitment Insights and Hiring Trends in 2022
Let’s face it. As far as staffing trends for 2022 are concerned, hiring has become more challenging today compared to a few years ago.
Many staffing firms now actively engage job candidates and no longer do passive hiring – even in entry-level positions! This is because of the labor skills gap. Job seekers’ skills and training often do not match the experience required for certain jobs in the post-pandemic economy. The space between the skills that job candidates have and the skills that employers are looking for is called the “skills gap.”
Reforming the education system to offer programs that answer industry needs is vital to reducing the skills gap. Additionally, to address the skills gap, more and more companies and staffing firms are looking past degrees and formal training to give more premium to skills.
This was also noted even before the pandemic, between 2017-2019. Data shows that companies have reduced degree requirements for 46 percent of middle-level positions and 31 percent of high-skill jobs. This is especially true in the tech sector. Now, look at the staffing industry trends for 2022 and the many lessons that hiring managers can learn.
Staffing Industry Trends for 2022: Lessons Moving Forward
As hiring managers, what can you learn about the recruitment insights and statistics of 2022 that will allow you to operate better as a staffing firm for 2023 and beyond?
Given all these changes and disruptions, what handles can you use to aptly respond to the headwinds of recruitment in this ever-changing and volatile labor market?
1. Flexibility is Key.
First, let’s get something straight. Americans embrace flexible work, and your staffing firm cannot do anything about it. Going against this trend is like going against gravity. So why fight it?
Flexible working arrangements are already part of the new working norm. According to a recent survey, 87 percent of workers would opt for flexible working arrangements if given a chance. Even more interesting is that the percentage of employees opting for flexible work arrangements cuts across all job sectors and all positions in the organizational chart – from the C-suite to entry-level roles.
Many U.S. employees and job candidates now consider flexibility and work/life balance as top priorities in considering job offers. A 2020 survey revealed that 81 percent of employees said they would be more loyal to employers who offer flexible work arrangements such as remote work, shifting schedules, and hybrid setups.
Data shows that employees involved in computer and mathematical jobs have overwhelmingly embraced remote work, with 77 percent willing to work entirely remotely.
Because of this undeniable reality, companies and staffing firms must be able to accommodate the demand for flexibility from employees and job candidates if they would like to hire and retain top talent.
2. Making Thoughtful Hiring Decisions
Because of the new working norms and preferences of job candidates, hiring managers and staffing firms must also revisit the application process from recruitment insights in selecting the top candidate for each position to see if anything needs to be changed or revised.
For example;
Do you need to revise the necessary skills to fill a specific position?
Is there a need to adjust the required qualifications for a particular job vacancy?
Do you need more questions that check for soft skills or tech skills?
Do you need to be more diverse and inclusive in your hiring process and candidate selection?
Many hiring managers and staffing firms have now come to realize that the measures they utilized in the hiring process before the pandemic are no longer very much in sync with today’s job candidates. If there are changes in the preferences and priorities of job candidates, then there should also be reforms made to how staffing firms identify and select top talent.
80 percent of staffing professionals believe that technology plays a crucial role in the success of their recruitment processes. This is why a great majority of staffing firms have also embraced digitalization.
As staffing managers investing in technology, you must ensure that you are maximizing your technological stack to achieve your hiring goals.
To understand the scope of this issue, ask yourself the following questions:
Does your technological stack enable you to do targeted advertising?
Are your job posts able to accommodate mobile-savvy candidates who use their mobile phones more than an actual computer to apply for jobs?
Does your technological stack allow you to communicate with top candidates seamlessly and wherever they may be?
Does it allow you to automate menial tasks and improve your hiring efficiency?
4. Focusing on Employee Well-Being
It may not be easy to see, but employees highly appreciate that mental health and well-being are given equal focus in the workplace. Recruitment insights from a recent survey revealed that 71 percent of employees now feel that their employer is giving more importance to their mental health and well-being. Their employees greatly appreciate this.
Staffing firms should also make this a cornerstone of their processes – including your selection of client companies and their policies on mental health and well-being, diversity and inclusivity, and how they deal with microaggressions in the workplace. This is vital because many job candidates are becoming increasingly curious about how employers take care of their employees.
Furthermore, studies also show that a culturally diverse workforce is instrumental in fueling innovation, boosting creativity, and even increasing profitability.
If you are ready to close this year with a bang and begin the new year fully informed and prepared when hiring top talent. Consider partnering with the Fox Search Group. A staffing firm that champions flexibility and diversity, we can help you find top talent who will thrive and be assets to your company, whether onsite or remotely. Put yesterday’s recruitment insights to work. Reach out to us today!
In the last few years, the war for tech talent continued to rage in the job market. The demand for tech talent rose to unprecedented highs, and the tech talent shortage was extremely palpable across various positions in many tech companies.
According to data, in the UK and US, the hiring rate in the tech industry was at an all-time high in 2021 and was the largest hiring spree since 2016. The labor market also opened in 2022 with a bang by adding 467,000 new jobs in January. The first five months of the current year saw job postings increase by 52 percent compared to the same period last year. Indeed, the number of jobs available for tech workers continued its upswing.
However, based on the news lately, there have been movements, especially coming from big tech companies, that seem to be pointing in the opposite direction and dampening the tech industry that used to be red hot in hiring tech talent.
A Decline in Demand? Recent Layoffs in Tech Talent
The hiring spree in the first five months of the year was snapped by the first month-to-month decline in June, when job posts went down by 17 percent compared to the month before. Then, in the last few months, you have probably heard of high-profile tech companies making significant layoffs and letting go of manpower.
Data shows that Netflix has laid off around 500 employees, while San Francisco-based enterprise software firm Twilio has let go of 800 workers. On the other hand, Snap laid off 20 percent of its manpower, totaling 1,200 employees, while Fintech firm Robinhood shed 30 percent of its workforce and let go of more than a thousand employees.
Similarly, companies such as Shopify, Invitae, GoPuff, Coinbase, Carvana, Better, and Peloton have all laid off thousands of employees collectively. News is also rife that the top technology companies in the world, such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Meta Platforms have also laid off employees.
In fact, some job candidates who already have job offers from various tech companies have been called to have their job offers revoked. This has happened even with big tech companies such as Twitter and Amazon.
With these recent developments, you might be asking if there is still a tech talent shortage or has the labor market has been fully saturated. Is there a global tech crunch, and are we on the brink of it?
Is the war for tech talent over?
Tech Talent Shortage: Looking at the Forest Instead of the Trees
First, analysts quickly point out that there is no reason to panic. When the pandemic happened, and the global economy pivoted online, the products and services offered by tech companies became extremely crucial for businesses and organizations to continue to operate amidst lockdowns and other public health hazards. This led many companies to be extremely dependent on technology to continue to thrive.
As a result, many tech companies padded their employee ranks rapidly during the pandemic to keep up with demand. For instance, e-commerce giant Amazon doubled its workforce during the pandemic as consumers migrated online to shop. Other e-commerce giants, such as Shopify, did the same.
Now, as the global economy slowly emerges from the pandemic and people have begun to go out more for business and leisure, many tech companies realize that they are overstaffed. As a result, they need to streamline and downsize to cut costs and shore up capital. Many tech companies are also making this move to secure their coffers amid ongoing uncertainty in the face of inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.
In hindsight, tech job candidates like you should know that the move by tech companies to cut jobs is mainly a move for greater profitability, stability, and efficiency. With pandemic-led growth now winding down, tech companies must pivot from a period of high growth/high demand toward long-term stability amid rising costs and the threat of a possible recession.
However, you must remember that companies do not represent an entire sector or industry. Moreover, one sector cannot represent an entire economy, so let’s look at the forest, not the individual trees.
The War for Tech Talent is Still ON
Is there still a tech talent shortage? The answer is YES.
Data pulled from July revealed that more than 500,000 new jobs in the IT sector were created in that month alone. This is way higher than what analysts projected of only 258,000 new jobs. Moreover, the unemployment rate for the IT sector currently stands at 3.5 percent, the lowest in many decades.
Software development job posts, for instance, increased by 125 percent from 2019, just before the pandemic hit. Aside from this, positions for data scientists, web developers, cybersecurity experts, cloud computing engineers, network architects, and web designers are still plentiful and very much sought after.
So how can YOU as a candidate navigate the future of work in the tech industry with flying colors? How can YOU make the most of the best and worst of times in this war for tech talent?
Continue to upskill and reskill.
Active job seekers and candidates should consider gaining more certifications and learning new tech skills, especially in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and other related fields. These fields and related positions have the highest demand in the job market now and in the foreseeable future.
Widen your options by considering non-big tech companies.
You must be open-minded about working for more companies instead of just high-profile ones. While it remains understandable if you are still obsessing about how to get a job at a big tech company, know that having a career in medium-sized companies or startups is also worth exploring. Not all IT professionals work for Big Tech. Non-tech industries and government agencies also need top-tech talent, so it’s best to expand your options.
Work with a dedicated recruitment or staffing agency.
Consider getting the services of a top staffing agency to help you find that ideal IT job, even during challenging times. Staffing agencies are equipped with personnel who are experts in matching top-tech talent with companies that are suitable and ideal for your particular profile.
Looking for a job on your own can narrow down and limit your options as you cannot cover all possible bases or platforms at the same time. This is where recruitment agencies can help, as they can tap into other platforms and various channels to give you options for prospective companies and a career in IT.
FIND THE TECH OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU WITH FOX SEARCH GROUP.
The Fox Search Group has a long history of helping IT job seekers find professional success. Our team, comprised of experts in recruiting and placement of top IT talent, ensures that you are front and center when it comes to companies that are looking to hire someone of your skillset and caliber. Reach out to the Fox Search Group and win the war for top tech talent with flying colors!
Emily has been in the labor force for the last six years. She has been working as a technical support specialist and is highly skilled at what she does to the point that she can train other people on the job. She has been pining to join her dream tech company for quite some time, but despite her skills, she remains unqualified.
This is because Emily does not possess a college degree – a qualification that her dream company requires.
Job Requirements: Degree Inflation
Research from the private sector and academia revealed widespread Degree Inflation still exists in the labor market. This happens when jobs that did not require a college degree before now require one. These include jobs such as an administrative assistant or production supervisor.
According to the same study, degree inflation worsens the skilled labor shortage by keeping highly qualified workers out of good jobs that they can do otherwise with flying colors. Worse, putting a college degree as one of the job requirements may be wasteful for your company. By competing for a limited pool of college degree holders, you may be overspending on talent as a hiring manager.
Thankfully, the last two years have challenged this labor phenomenon. But, thanks to the pandemic, there lies a silver lining.
Job Requirements and the Job Description
As a public health emergency, the pandemic has forced many hiring managers to stop clinging to a college degree as reassurance for job performance. But, come to think of it. Many companies need to do this to weather the myriad challenges of hiring in the current times.
Your company needs to look closely at the job description and if a college degree is necessary to fill your vacancies.
Job Requirements Post Pandemic: Potential Over Credential
The ongoing pandemic has disrupted the hiring process. More and more companies have started putting a premium on skills over a formal college degree.
Is experience really better than a college degree? If skills or work experience is better than a college degree, why should YOUR company begin investing in talent training and mentoring now more than ever?
Job Requirements: The Value of a College Degree – Perceived Vs. Actual
Research from the Harvard Business Review says that up until recently, many companies, including those in tech, hire degree holders because of soft skills. Soft skills refer to attributes like effective communication, teamwork, adaptability, initiative, and emotional intelligence. The assumption then was that college degree holders tend to have more mature soft skills than their non-degree counterparts.
However, in his study, University of Iowa Professor Frank Schmidt concluded that the connection between education level and job performance is weak. His research shows that intelligence scores are much better measures of job potential, especially when jobs require constant thinking and learning. Hence, many companies now hire based on in-demand technical skills over the proverbial college degree. Doing this allows you to optimize your recruitment and staffing budgets.
Companies have also become more aware of what skills and capabilities they are truly looking for. As a result, hiring managers also describe these capabilities more explicitly in job ads. This, in turn, makes your job applicants more aware of the skills they need to develop.
By doing away with overblown degree requirements, your company contributes to greater labor market equity. Previously overlooked but highly qualified workers can enter lucrative career pathways, while your company will have an easier time filling staff vacancies.
A survey conducted by the Manpower Group of 2,000 employers and published in the Harvard Business Review revealed that big tech firms, like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, are beginning to shift preference on individual learnability, curiosity, and inquisitiveness as indicators of career potential over a plain college degree.
This is why leading companies have begun investing heavily in employee training and talent development. The paradigm shift is not just on what they have before they enter your company. Instead, the greater emphasis now is on their ability to learn and absorb more knowledge and skills once they join your company.
Getting Past the College Degree Trap: Investing in Talent
Are you ready for a job requirement reset?
By shifting the focus to skills over a college degree, you enable your company to tap into a bigger and more diverse workforce that is more inclusive and representative of the actual labor force. You may also potentially close employment gaps and job mismatches because your focus is now on skills.
A study from the World Economic Forum shows that several high-profile tech companies such as EY, Google, and IBM, are gradually embracing hiring from less rigid talent pools. Aside from that, these companies have also started investing heavily in their staff’s continuous training and development.
Companies look for talent with holistic skills – a combination of hard or technical skills and soft skills like creativity, being detail-oriented, a passion for collaboration, and problem-solving skills. This is why you should invest in apprenticeship programs.
Hiring managers are now reaping benefits from apprenticeship programs, as these develop staff have technical skills and also possess human interaction skills that truly represent the brand and direction of the organization.
Moreover, when you invest in continuous training for your employees, you are nurturing their capability for lifelong learning, effectively enabling them to master more skills and be more productive.
Investing In Talent: Upskilling and Reskilling
Your company’s most important resource is your human resources. This is why it is vital to proactively develop opportunities to mentor, nurture, and continually cultivate their skills.
As the labor market and economy continue to evolve, it is important to upskill your employees so they can continue to effectively respond to the ever-changing global economy by becoming more skilled and up to date in their current position.
Moreover, as a college degree may only give employees skills that may be obsolete in just several years, why not invest in reskilling your staff? This allows them to have more skills and effectively fit one or more roles. Consequently, when the demand changes in these uncertain times, your employees continue to be resilient and effective at what they do.
As your employees continually learn new skills, they become thoroughly adaptable and can withstand the headwinds of market changes and the many shifts in the economy.
Transferable Skills: The Power of Mentorship
Many people who win in their professional lives attribute their success to a mentor. Similarly, many companies that withstood the test of time have also capitalized on the power of mentorship.
A survey conducted by the Olivet Nazarene University of some 3,000 employees in late 2019 revealed that 76 percent of employees feel that having a mentor is vital to their success. But unfortunately, only 37 percent of them actually had one.
Recall that mentors in the workplace provide a plethora of knowledge, skills, and experience. They can guide your employees to be more successful in what they do. Hence, one surefire way of investing in talent is to provide each employee with a mentor. This ultimately leads to the success of your organization.
REDEFINE YOUR IDEAS FOR A TOP CANDIDATE WITH FOX SEARCH GROUP.
As job requirements continue to evolve and companies become more and more open-minded, the shift to giving higher value to skills more than a formal degree is a truly welcome development. Not only will this increase your hiring rate, but it will also ensure that your company gets to welcome more diverse and better-qualified talent for your staffing needs.
If your company is ready to embrace more diversity and is looking for top talent that you can train, mentor, and nurture, Fox Search Group is the ideal partner for your staffing needs. No need to sacrifice quality with speed of delivery. The Fox Search Group is your partner in your search for top talent that is people-centered, innovative, highly qualified, and completely in sync with your company’s vision – no matter what job requirements you may have. Contact us today!
