This is part 5 of an ongoing community project (see all posts) to help people understand how to get jobs during a recession.
This data is slightly skewed towards those that are already active in social media as the survey went to those within my network on my blog and the highly connected Twitter community. There were 214 respondents to the survey although this graphic only represents those who got jobs since Sept 2008 (71 respondents) that represent those that were hired during the announcement of the recession. This sample set is smaller than one would expect out of a formal research project, after multiple promotions, it was capping out at 200 respondents, and I don’t have other resources to deploy against email lists, or affiliate programs. This is a personal research project, and is not tied to my employer, clients, or anyone else for that matter.
Finding 5: What Recent Hires Recommend To Job Seekers
This is just the data from the 71 respondents that got hired since Sept 2008 (since the recession was announced).
Although these answers were open ended, I tried to summarize them into categories, and then graphed them as shown above, please note that some of the individuals gave more than one suggestion per answer, and some did not answer at all. Note that their recommendations to connect with others online, is consistent with how they got jobs from friends and family. Which is the same as the first finding from this project Notice how 9 out of the respondents encourage you to learn new skills by reading online, or by attending classes.
This means that 78% of respondents were hired in full employment positions, likely with benefits.
Recommendations for Job Seekers in a Recession
The recommendations are very clear, use online social networking tools to connect with others, and get educated by reading online or take classes Important: In addition to reading my summary, here all the responses that they suggested to those who are seeking jobs –and their observations how the market has changed.
To find the other results from this survey, I’ll be tagging the post “Job Survey” and you can click that category to learn more.
Coming soon I’ll be posting results for: titles that were hired, and some other interesting data cuts
Resources: See my Web Strategy Job Board, or Job Wire.
I’m surprised the ‘use existing relationships’ column fell so low on the list. While the other suggestions are great, I almost always interview a candidate who came from a personal recommendation, rather than from a social network. Online connections are great, but forming personable relationships is still my first choice.
Thanks for the help. I have found that a lot of times however it’s not what you know but rather whom you know that gets you jobs. It’s such a subjective process
Saw a great article about job hunting, that recommended workers monitor RSS feeds for jobs. Can’t find the URL now but thought it was interesting…
Jeramiah,
Not to dispute the importance of social networking, but I would think that the data here would be significantly skewed in it’s favor, as you suggest.
The importance of maximizing your performance within your current role cannot be understated, a point which former HP chief Carly Fiorina emphasizes in her book, Tough Choices.
In addition, with respect to social networking, it is important to remember that this should be a process which is not limited to the online world, and indeed, networking within the offline world is still at least as important, if not more so, as that which is done online. No matter how fast the world moves online, there is still no replacement for face to face meetings, especially from a viewpoint of establishing a relationship of mutual trust.
The old word of mouth and making your needs obvious or in other words social networking definitely has it’s benefits. I also prefer a recommendation from someone when looking for employees, it is not always possible to get that but they go a long way in the employment vetting process, perhaps not to the scale of the results as you said but not totally off the wall results. Good luck to all the job seekers, it is a tough period to get new positions but it is possible. Education is as noted key as well, know what you are talking about before you interview for a position so learn about the company and the type of work otherwise you just waste your time and the prospective employers time.
The post is well laid-out and brings out some very salient points.
I was surprised reading the results on social networking compared to others.
a great article about job hunting, that recommended workers monitor RSS feeds for jobs. Can't find the URL now but thought it was interesting…
a great article about job hunting, that recommended workers monitor RSS feeds for jobs. Can't find the URL now but thought it was interesting…
a great article about job hunting, that recommended workers monitor RSS feeds for jobs. Can't find the URL now but thought it was interesting…
I think one category that's missing is “Relationships: Build New”
Networking is the key to getting your foot in the door and at least getting the first interview. Use existing relationships to branch out or expose yourself to a new group of people. Maybe I'm old fashioned but this proves to be successful time and time agian.
I think one category that's missing is “Relationships: Build New”
Networking is the key to getting your foot in the door and at least getting the first interview. Use existing relationships to branch out or expose yourself to a new group of people. Maybe I'm old fashioned but this proves to be successful time and time agian.
Based on this graph I found out that job seekers use the advantage of social networking enable to get a job and I guess it is a good idea..
Based on this graph I found out that job seekers use the advantage of social networking enable to get a job and I guess it is a good idea..
in this year,some company hiring an applicant base on the skill that the applicant have, sometimes having a work experience to the job you are applying for can be an advantage to be hired. there is a one site that I trust every time I'm looking a job the site is jobsindubai.com try it it is really nice
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I think social media is the way to go. I mean the public relations jobs saw a boost using social networking and social media in general so why wouldn't the rest of the domains benefit from this?
Saw a great article about job hunting, that recommended workers monitor RSS feeds for jobs. Can’t find the URL now but thought it was interesting…
Great article.. Though there are a lot of jobs available in market but people don’t apply at the right place and get involved in spams.