Reed.co.uk Advise Jobseekers to Harness Social Media

LONDON, February 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- Job site recognises how social networking is helping thousands attain employment

reed.co.uk, one of the UK's leading job sites, is advising thousands of jobseekers up and down the country to utilise and harness social media in their job searches, as the medium is now considered a useful way to bolster employability prospects.

It's widely acknowledged social media is becoming a powerful employability tool for both jobseekers and prospective employers. According to Jobvite, a recruitment software website, 50% of job seekers, now working in sales jobs, in 2010, admitted to using social networking giant Facebook to help look for a new job. A further 26% admitted to using LinkedIn, another leading social networking website, to build up career contacts and gain employment.

Looking at similar findings for a survey of people working in construction in 2011, the figures are far more conclusive of social media's growing popularity. Amongst employees working in construction jobs, 16% of those (who were surveyed by Jobvite) admitted to gaining their employment through social networking websites.

However despite the clear advantages social media platforms offer (wide networking opportunities, up-to-date job offerings, etc)  reed.co.uk claims many jobseekers are in fact oblivious to the fact many prospective employers now use social media to screen applicants.

A recent survey, carried out by social media monitoring service Reppler, found that more than 90% of recruiters and potential employers use or have used social networking websites as part of their employment screening process. Astonishingly 69% of recruiters admitted sleuthing a candidate's social networking profile and later rejecting their application based on the content they found.

However reed.co.uk's new social media guidance tips aim to teach jobseekers how to manage their social media profiles properly; limiting the chance of prospective employers finding content they may well dislike.

Commenting on social media's growing popularity amongst jobseekers, a spokesman from reed.co.uk said today:

"The days of printing stacks of C.Vs and handing them out personally to prospective employers are seemingly over. Social media, as a viable method to attaining employment, has emerged as the new 24/7 jobs fair, providing amazing ways to constantly stay on the radar of prospective employers."

To search a broad selection of jobs, visit http://www.reed.co.uk

About reed.co.uk:

reed.co.uk is the UK's leading online recruitment service, featuring over 110,000 jobs in Manchester, Birmingham and across the UK from more than 8,000 recruiters across 42 industry sectors.

reed.co.uk is the UK's most visited job site and was named by Experian Hitwise as the Number 1 website for Employment & Training sites throughout 2010 and between January and June 2011.

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