How Social Media Can Help You Find Work
Remember the old adage “it’s not what you know but who you know”? Well, although times have changed this adage still rings true in many ways. First off the connections that someone else may have could greatly benefit you in the area of employment. Try looking around at your friends and family, how many people do you know got a job because they knew of someone who was working for an establishment? For instance, a friend of mine was recently laid off of her long time job as a waitress. She was really upset and not sure what to do. She called one of her girlfriends who also worked in the service industry and was telling her of her sadness when her friend piped up and said she would introduce her to her boss, the next day a meeting was set up and voila, she was hired on the spot. I know this is an almost too-good-to-be-true story, but it shows us the strength of our relationships, the importance of networking and keeping in touch with people who have connections. If I were an employer I would definitely want to hire someone who was a friend of a good employee, instead of having to go out and search for new and unknown employees.
In keeping with the topic of connections and calling on our friends to help us find work, let’s talk a little more about how social media plays a role in finding work. Really we have been relying on social media to help guide us to the right employer for many decades; the only factor being the technology has changed drastically. In the old days it was picking up the phone or perhaps bumping into someone at a social event or local super market. Then the computer age was born with email being a quick and affordable way to communicate and send out our resumes. Now we have Facebook, Twitter and the internet to google any job lead, find out information about the jobs we want and network with possible employers. A recent example of the power of networking comes from Facebook. Imagine the surprise when a young man recently posted he had lost his job due to labour cuts and downsizing, he explained that he loved his job, he had amazing training and was a dedicated employee, he also understood the reasons why he was laid off and took a light-hearted approach that “everything happens for a reason”. In posting his concern on Facebook, hundreds of his friends rallied together and a short week later he landed a job with a wonderful company where his skills and prior knowledge were recognized. Going back to my first quote “it’s not what you know but who you know”, this theory plays itself over and over again on social networking sites. I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping up with today’s technology and remember what a wonderful and powerful tool the internet can be! So go ahead, take five minutes out of your day and just have a look at some of the social media sites listed below. Be sure to drop by one of our three centres where we can help get you started on the road to social media and finding you work!
