Graduates favour emails from recruiters above Facebook

Yes, you read correctly! A new survey has found that social networking is not as popular as recruiters had thought.

In an era where Facebook is highly used by institutions to attract younger generations, these findings propose that job-seeking is an exception to the rule!

Total Jobs discovered that 20% of their users preferred not to liaise with recruiters through social networks, such as Facebook.

A further 75% admitted that they preferred to be contacted about jobs through emails. It appears that employers who resort to sending multiple emails to attract grad job-seekers will actually repel them in doing so.

So, what ever happened to the rule of ‘little and often’? It may work a treat in a calorie-counting diet but not in aiding recruiters to attract job applicants!

50% of respondents said they were indifferent when it came to being connected to employers on Facebook, however they are reluctant to liaise with such institutions directly through the medium.

They may view the company news feed occasionally or perhaps ‘like’ a circulating link but apparently, young grads are not likely to inbox message a potential employer with queries or prompts.
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It is no secret that this generation spends a lot of time online, to the extent that online job applications have almost replaced the ol’ manual CV-distribution all together!

Many of us have taken to social networks like Twitter and Facebook in appreciation of the ability to access mass communication quickly and efficiently, all condensed to one domain. Why does this change when it comes to finding a job?

Some respondents to the survey complained that Facebook was too ‘casual’ a platform to share with potential employers. Such young applicants believe that their social lives (likes, comments, profile photos and the like) should be kept completely separate from work affairs.

Others who share this attitude fear the likelihood of being stalked by employees and possibly judged outside a strictly professional setting. LinkedIn was often suggested as an alternative to Facebook, Twitter received some favour also. Set up in 2002, LinkedIn continues to a popular social network primarily dedicated to job-searching and establishing professional connections.

On the other hand, perhaps more young jobseekers should be taking advantage of the so-called ‘casual’ nature of social networking. Just like a company website, a Facebook page can shed light on various aspects of their infrastructure, all without leaving our desks!

How about it? Could Facebook become your newest method of job-search prospects?