Will having no online presence affect your job search?

Lots of people have asked me whether having no social media accounts is a problem.  Will having no online presence affect your job search?  For the last couple of years I’ve said it’s probably not a problem. However, we live in a digital world and it’s important you embrace technology. It’s reported that as much as 60% of jobs are hidden.  So, you will most definitely be missing out on job opportunities. An even higher percentage of recruiters use social media to find talent, so again you will be missing out on being found.

It’s easy to think having no online footprint has its advantages. There’s no need to purchase social media clean-up software! There won’t be any bad news popping up when a prospective employer Googles your name! Or any embarrassing drunken party pictures showing up in a search!  If you have nothing to hide then that’s not really a problem in the first place.

LinkedIn

A high percentage of recruiters spend most of their day on LinkedIn searching for talent. It’s the biggest free candidate database in the world. There are 500 million plus accounts. That’s 2 new accounts created per second! Not only is LinkedIn a great tool to find talent for recruiters, it’s also a great tool to network and build your online presence. If you are not on any social media platforms it’s likely you will not be found. Therefore, you are likely to be missing out on lots of opportunities.

The advantages are vast. You can build up trust and credibility before you’ve even met these days. This is good for interviews. Recruiters can get a really good impression of you, your skills, knowledge and achievements before meeting you. Take full advantage of the functionality on LinkedIn to do just that. Write and post articles on your profile, regularly update your status and get involved in discussions – LinkedIn make a pledge that you own all the data you share on their platform. Read their User Agreement Statement.

Networking

Regardless of whether you are looking for a new job or not. Networking should form part of your continuous personal development plan. Networking is an incredibly useful activity. It will keep you informed and educated about your sector. It will allow you to maintain and build key contacts in your industry.

The primary reason Reid Hoffman originally set up LinkedIn was to offer people a digital platform to efficiently manage contacts and be able to network online. He wanted to upload his Rolodex (business cards!) and easily manage his business contacts online. After all it is the digital age!

Hidden Jobs Market

Today it’s wise to use lots of routes to market. To maximize your chances of landing the ideal job you’ll need to be using a variety of methods to search for jobs.  It also makes sense to use multiple routes to market to reduce the time it takes going through the recruitment process.  No one wants to look for a job for longer than they have to.  Going through the recruitment process is a means to an end.

Visible jobs market:

• Job Boards and advertised vacancies
• Registering with Recruitment Agencies

Hidden Jobs Market:

• Attending Job Fairs and networking
• Attending industry seminars, events and conferences
• Networking online – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
• Network face-to-face – being referred by contacts, friends or family, word of mouth etc.

Apparently, 60% of vacancies are hidden. That’s thousands of opportunities that you cannot reach by the more traditional approaches. So, it’s not good to wait for those job alerts – because most jobs won’t be found that way.

Technology

Technology is still in its infancy in our modern world. It’s one of the fastest growing factors impacting the world of work today. Consider working for a forward thinking, innovative and successful business and you have no LinkedIn profile or online presence. How might this be perceived? Does it demonstrate embracing technology? What about willingness to change and adapt to today’s way of working? Not going to be received well. We can all make claims but the evidence is always in the actions you take.

Final thoughts

In the early days of technology and certainly social media you might have got away with being resistant to getting on-board. Today, it’s a massive part of our lives and work. We shop, bank, communicate, socialize, market and advertise, we complain and share. It’s not going away. If you are not on board you will be left behind very quickly. You’ll be out of touch very quickly.

If you have the same attitude about your career or in the workplace someone else will be landing the job. It’s going to be more and more difficult to hide from changes. Employers don’t just want people to embrace change, they are seeking out those individuals for their businesses.