According to a recent job seeker survey from Jobvite, more than half of job seekers (52 percent) in the United States actively look for work on Facebook. The same survey also reports that Linkedin Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) and Twitter are catching up in terms of popularity with job seekers, with their respective numbers 38% and 34%.
When it comes to looking for work, connections matter. One in five Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) users share a job with a contact, 19% of LinkedIn users share a job with contact, and 11 percent shared a job with contact on Twitter.
For those who are looking for actual jobs on popular social media websites, 14 percent used Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s site, 11 percent used Linkedin Corporation (NYSE:LNKD)’s website, and 10 percent used Twitter.
Compared to last year, the overall numbers from this year’s Jobvite Survey are up from last year’s. This is good news for current job seekers and employers. 75% of job seekers in the United States are either actively looking for a job, or consider themselves open for new career opportunities.
Dan Finnigan, the president and chief executive officer for Jobvite said, “With fierce competition for jobs, which now includes a majority of employed people on top of active job seekers, social media has become a critical tool for job hunting and career growth. One in six job seekers polled, credited a social network for leading to their current/most recent employment. Maintaining your online presence and keeping employment top-of-mind at all times are vital to professional success. With technology and social networking rapidly evolving, those who don’t engage through Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter will quickly find themselves falling behind.”
Jobvite’s recent survey just echoes what many of us already know, social media has pretty much replaced local networking events. It is just easier for companies to find and recruit potential employees on websites they already use on a daily basis.
