Where are hiring managers searching for their next superstar employees? It's not necessarily the résumé pile: Today's recruiters are scanning social media profiles to identify and headhunt the industry's top talent.
"Hiring managers are increasingly turning to [social media] to get a competitive edge in identifying potential candidates and broaden their candidate pool across all job sectors," said Shon Burton, CEO of global recruiting tool Hiring Solved. "The reality is that the job market has completely changed. Unlike previous generations, there is very little loyalty to a single company. Employees no longer stay with a single company for 25 years. Today, everyone is a candidate."
Social recruiting is especially prevalent in the tech sector, where positions often require very specific experience and skill sets. Instead of wasting time reading through a relatively narrow pool of applications, hiring managers can simply enter search criteria and find social media profiles that match the job requirements.
"If a recruiter isn't using social recruiting, they aren't taking advantage of the fastest and most efficient method to find talent," Burton said. "A few years ago, all recruiters had to go on was the résumé. With social profiles, recruiters have access to a more accurate and updated profile about a person's expertise, providing a more complete picture of a potential candidate."
According to a recent report by HiringSolved, these are the 10 terms related to technical skills recruiters most frequently look for on social media:
- Java/J2EE/Java Developer
- C/C++/Objective C
- Javascript/CSS/HTML
- SQL/SQL Server/MSSQL
- .Net/C#/ASP
- SAP
- Linux
- Oracle
- Ruby/Ruby On
- Python
The report also named the top job terms and titles that recruiters are searching for:
- Software Engineer
- Account Executive
- Mechanical Engineer
- Account Manager
- Computer Science
- Business Development
- Customer Service
- Java Developer
- Sales Manager
- Sales Engineer
No matter what industry you're in, recruiters are likely searching through social media to find job candidates. If you want to get noticed by hiring managers, be sure to keep your profiles, especially Twitter and LinkedIn, up to date with all relevant skills and experience for your field.