Many social networking sites often lead to work
Jeff Dwoskin, an executive for marketing firm ePrize in Pleasant Ridge, Mich., uses the online social network Facebook mostly to connect with friends.But it’s his MySpace page, myspace.com/jeffisfunny, that Dwoskin has milked professionally for his side job as a stand-up comic.
“It makes me aware of things that are going on in the comedy community,” said Dwoskin, 37, of West Bloomfield, Mich. “And yes, I’ve gotten gigs from it.”
While the early buzz on social sites focused heavily on the dangers of sharing personal information online, such forums are helping professionals and companies network for business, career and job-search purposes. Employers are increasingly using networking sites to either seek or screen talent.
In a CareerBuilder survey of 1,150 hiring managers in 2006, 12 percent of respondents said they have used social networking sites to screen job candidates.
Pablo Malavenda, associate dean of students at Purdue University, said he prefers Facebook to MySpace and LinkedIn, a business-oriented social site, as a place to network and look for work.
Corra find the social websites are double edged swords in terms of employment recruiting. From the perspective of the employment candidate, on one hand employers can find you and find out and get to see what you are about. On the other hand, employers can find you and get to see what you are all about. And what happens if your social predilections to mesh well with your career ambitions. Trouble.
Corra has been approached by employers who would like us to monitor the social networking websites of potential job candidates. While we see the logic, we have turned down the service. We are not convinced that the way people act when they are gone from the job or what they feel and believe is necessarily a measure of their job performance. Above all, we wouldn’t know how to establish the criterion.
The world is full of surprises, good and bad. While we always urge our clients to conduct background searches, including criminal and education searches, we think they might pass over the true jewel of a candidate because he or she may not be the most conforming sort.
So talk to your recruits. Get to know them before you are ready to reject them for what you didn’t like on their social websites. And then check them out before you hire.
