I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I find it a useful utility but I hate the hype that comes with it. Perhaps my issue is not with social media but its promoters who look for something-anything-to hype as another way for us to spend money. Having said that, I do believe that social media is a useful tool to broaden job searching and finding a job.
Above and beyond explicitly looking for jobs posted on social media sites, the largest advantage of social media in finding a job is expanding one’s network before one even becomes a job seeker. A site like LinkedIn allows a job seeker to expand their network and stay connected (since many contacts do change jobs over time and social media has made it much easier to track people down). Well-executed blogs also allow people to build creditability on the internet to reinforce whatever is stated on a resume. Finally, there is the obvious social media sites that help you find jobs. I did not realize this but many companies now post jobs on twitter before its web page.
However, social media is a double-edged sword. Every post, comment or photo posted on the internet should be thought of as a mini-business card handed out to the world. I routinely Google anyone who has made the short list to be interviewed for two reasons. Firstly, to serve as quick and dirty diligence to confirm what was written in a resume is true. Secondly, to ensure that the applicant is not hiding anything. Although not in a job interviewing context, it is easy to vet potential vendors and suppliers by Googling their names. Although the truthfulness of some of the information should be questioned, a consistent theme, good or bad, about a person does tend to form impressions. The same holds true for job seekers.
Ideally, one should scrub their social media presence well before applying for a job. Take down those college day party photos, set privacy settings to the maximum and, if there is anything remotely embarrassing on the internet that cannot be gotten ride of easily, make sure the issue is tackled head on in the interview. Better to deliver bad news yourself than have the potential employer surprised by something later.
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