Using social media to find the right job

By Abhijit Bhaduri
Performance appraisals are getting a lot of press these days. The last time the HR department had to defend this process was when some companies decided to remove the bell curve. It seems performance appraisals are back with a vengeance and how. Every time a lay off happens, the leaders ascribe it to routine post-appraisal yanking of low performers. The reasons are more complex than that. The digital tsunami is changing business models. Artificial Intelligence and robotics are going to take away jobs across sectors.

Six companies-Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL, Cognizant and Cap Gemini SA-plan to let go 4.5% of their 1.2 million employees in 2017. In 2016, a slew of ecommerce, food-tech and logistics startups let go of more than 9,000 employees. Engineering giant L&T laid off 14,000 people in 2016. HSBC India has laid off around 600 employees. Mergers between telecom providers will make large chunks of the three lakh employees vulnerable. [1]

How prepared are you to deal with any eventuality? Most people do not update their resume until they need to. If you are doing it on LinkedIn, remember to switch off the notifications tab before you make changes. Ask your managers to endorse your skills - that adds credibility.

Create a strategy - expand your options
Think beyond the big brands when you start your search. Make a list of choices beyond the obvious names.

1. You could move into a bigger job in a smaller company - think vendors, consultants and supplier organizations.

2. Look for a smaller role in a bigger company. Check out competitors (unless you have signed a contract that could come in the way).

3. This could be a chance to experiment with a cross-functional move. Try it out and who knows you could open up a new world.

4. Try to switch industries. You could be a source of innovative ideas by adapting your experience and ideas to an employer in a different sector.

5. Look for jobs in another city. It is disruptive but certainly worth trying out.

6. Think beyond full-time employment. Give options to potential employers to offer you a project where your skills are relevant.

7. Use the time to reinvent your skill set. Take a full-time class or join an online course. Offer to be an apprentice to someone you have admired.

Social media augments your effort
Social media is no longer a place for teenagers to post selfies. It can be a powerful tool to make you ready for your next career move. It can be a powerful tool to augment your job search.

About 94% of hiring experts use social media to find candidates. What about job seekers? Which social media maximizes your chances? According to Jobcast, 93% of companies use LinkedIn for recruiting, 66% use Facebook, and 54% use Twitter for hiring. [2]

Surprisingly, only 36% of job seekers are actually active on LinkedIn while 40% are active on Twitter and 83% on Facebook. So, LinkedIn and Twitter seem to be your best bets to get noticed. Every professional skill group has talent communities - keep your profile current in those. Leverage specialize job portals to look for jobs.

Special portals
Join 2 million developers to solve code challenges on HackerRank. CAJobPortal.com is a recruitment website that CA, CS, CWA and MBA (Finance) use to find jobs. Aviation sector-related jobs are on avjobs.com. IT professionals use Indeed.com and dice.com for job hunting. Retailcrossing.com lists several retail jobs while mfgjobs.com are good for manufacturing sector jobs. Legalstaff.com is popular with legal professionals.

Learn, reach and teach
Do not carpet bomb every site with your resume. Create a pull for your skills.

1. Increase your reach: Use Facebook to tap into your own network and your extended network to get your resume to the hiring team. Employee referrals are taken more seriously by companies. Your friends from your gym/ college network and family's network on social media can be used to refer your candidature. Opportunities may be more easily available if you are flexible about sector, location, designation and pay.

2. Teach a skill and learn a skill: Use Twitter and LinkedIn to create awareness among companies about your expertise. HackerEarth has 240 in-depth tutorials and more than 4,000 practice problems that can help you learn new skills. Developers can use sites like GitHub to host and review code, manage projects, and build software alongside millions of other developers. Create a channel on YouTube to showcase your expertise. Create infographics or sketchnotes on Instagram that people can use. This can place you on an employer's radar better than sending a resume.

If you have never been active on social media, do not try to make up for lost time by getting hyperactive. Think of unconventional choices. Have you thought of being your own boss or pursue your passion for teaching? This may be a good trigger to get started. If you want to run fast, then social media could be just the running shoes that you need.

(The author is a leadership expert and author of The Digital Tsunami.)