Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

Social networking has changed the culture from the way we communicate even to how companies hire employees. I've heard on several occasions of companies who looked up potential employees Facebook and twitter page as apart of a background check but some companies are using Facebook for better uses. Companies are beginning to hire loyal customers s brand ambassadors. "Brand ambassador programs leverage the power of peer-to-peer communication. Consumers hear about products and brand experiences from others just like themselves—people they trust—rather than from commercial marketing sources." (Armstrong/Kotler pg. 143) The idea is brilliant what better way to get people to buy your product than having people in their own circle tell them about. Facebook has evolved passed being just a social network site. "Facebook hires account for less than 1% of the total hires companies are making, according to Jobs2Web, which helps companies track the sources of candidates and hires. But if current growth trends continue, Facebook could rival traditional job boards in 2012, said Jobs2Web analytics manager Phil Schrader." (Joe Light) Though the movement is small now I believe it will only grow. Who knew a site intended to college students updated would turn into a way for people to get hired."More companies are trying to tap Facebook Inc.'s 750-million-plus user base to find new employees, threatening
traditional job boards and competing with LinkedIn Corp., which has dominated the online professional
networking arena." (Joe Light) I would venture to say social networking may be an intricate part of job hiring in the not-so-distant future. Also, people are much more likely to apply for positions that they find on social network sites such as Facebook among other sites. The corporate world has began to adapt to our tech savvy society. I am interested to see how it will evolve in the years to come.