How important is social media to people building expat or international careers?
Very.
Back in August of 2009 I blogged about the fact that social media is not a fad - its here to stay. It's not only changing the way that we communicate, it's changing how we manage our careers and run and market our businesses.
(Other posts that might be of interest that were also written back in 2008 but the messages are still very relevant: how social networks are becoming professional and business networks, how we can learn from the Digital Natives, how an expat found a job through Facebook and interviewed top Facebook experts (and current or former expats) like Jesse Stay and Mari Smith.)
In that blog post I shared a video by Erik Qualman, author of the international best seller, Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, entitled the Social Media Revolution.
Flash forward almost two years and Qualman has created an updated version of the Social Media Revolution video which I've included here:
- If Facebook were a country it'd be the world's 3rd largest (up from 4th two years ago)
- 90% of people trust peer recommendations and only 14% trust advertising (up from 78% - advertising remained the same)
- E-readers surpass traditional books sales (up from 35% of books sold are for a kindle two years ago)
Indeed, social media is more than here to stay. It is an absolutely critical tool to anyone serious about reaching their professional or business goals.
I think a quote from Erik says it best: "We don't have a choice on whether we do social media. They question is how well we do it."
HOW CAN SOCIAL MEDIA HELP THOSE PURSUING INTERNATIONAL CAREERS?
There are many ways in which social media can help you professionally. The way I'd like to highlight today is in the second bullet point above: "90% of people trust peer recommendations and only 14% trust advertising".
What does that mean exactly for the international job seeker?
Let's suppose that your career marketing documents (CV, resume and many others addendums) are a form of "advertising" what you have to offer (It's us speaking about ourselves.). And let's say that Linkedin recommendations, online endorsements and sharing or retweeting your words and work are all forms of "peer recommendations". Given this and the aforementioned statistic, social media potentially has over 6 times the power of your CV, resume and other marketing materials to influence someone to hire you.
Let me repeat that.
Social media potentially has more than 6 times the power of your CV, resume and other marketing materials in influencing someone to hire you.
That's something worthy of taking seriously.
There are those that may not agree with my mapping of CVs and resumes to "advertising" and endorsements and sharing your words and ideas online to "peer recommendations". However I think few would argue against the idea that not using social media as a tool in your job search is shutting yourself out from the most attractive and exiting jobs overseas.
STANDING OUT AND CONNECTING ONLINE IS THE KEY TO YOUR DREAM JOB'S FRONT DOOR
Reality for today's international job seeker is just different. Employers are not likely to see your CV or resume until they've read information about you online through a referred link or a google search. A recent Microsoft international study showed 85% of employers and recruiters reported they will use social media more than any other tool in recruiting talent in 2011. So research backed data supports the what we've been seeing in practice for some time. Resumes and CVs are no longer the door openers they once were.
Add this to the fact that 75% of jobs are never advertised. Those accessing those opportunities are being recommended by colleagues, professional acquaintances and fellow staff. More often than not they are sharing the link to the recommended person's Linkedin (or other network) profile rather than asking them for their resume or CV to forward on.
Don't get me wrong - a strong, branded resume, CV and other marketing materials are absolutely critical in securing jobs. They provide important information about the top recommended candidates to decision makers. And they provide material to guide an interview. However, it will be your branded online presence and the conversations you'll have via social media that will most often lead to you getting noticed and even considered for a job in the first place.
Without opening doors and attracting opportunities through building your personal brand and networking with social media, the most stellar resume or CV in the world is not necessarily going to help you get noticed in today's highly competitive global marketplace.
EXPAT AND INTERNATIONAL CAREER SUCCESS TIP: Are you a current or aspiring expat looking to get noticed or attract the right opportunities to accelerate your international career? Are you using social media as part of your international job search?
If so, are you using it strategically or sporadically without clear strategy or goals? If you are using it without measurable objectives, your success tip is to set some goals and create a social media strategy that will maximize the impact you have online and help you get you where you want to go professionally.
If you are not using social media, then your success tip is to make a commitment to learn about a top network or social media tool most relevant to your target audience. It is critical to understand the power of these tools and how to best leverage them to secure work abroad before taking action.
CAREER COLLECTIVE
I'm a member of the Career Collective, a group of top career coaches, career professionals and resume and CV writers who blog monthly on a designated topic for careerists and job seekers. This month's topic is "Using Social Media in Your Job Search". You can find us on Twitter. Our hashtag: #careercollective. This post was my contribution to this month's topic.
You can read what other members of the Career Collective on the topic of social media and job search:
• Make Your Career More Social: Show Up and Engage, @WalterAkana
• You 2.0: The Brave New World of Social Media and Online Job Searches, @dawnrasmussen
• How to Get a New Job Using Social Media, @DebraWheatman
• Social Media: Choosing, Using, and Confusing, @ErinKennedyCPRW
• How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search, @heatherhuhman
• Updating: A Social Media Strategy For Job Search, @TimsStrategy
• Your Career Needs Social Media - Get Started, @EliteResumes @MartinBuckland
• We Get By With a Little Recs from Our Friends, @chandlee
• Expat Careers & Social Media: Social Media is Potentially 6 Times more Influential than a CV or Resume, @expatcoachmegan
• Social-Media Tools and Resources to Maximize Your Personalized Job Search, @KatCareerGal
• Job Search and Social Media: A Collective Approach, @careersherpa
• How Having Your Own Website Helps You, @keppie_careers
• Social Media: So what's the point?, @DawnBugni
• Tools that change your world, @WorkWithIllness
• HOW TO: Meet People IRL via LinkedIn, @AvidCareerist
• Effective Web 2.0 Job Search: Top 5 Secrets, @resumeservice
• Jumping Into the Social Media Sea @ValueIntoWords
• Sink or Swim in Social Media, @KCCareerCoach
• Social Media Primer for Job Seekers, @LaurieBerenson
Megan,
Love your tip about learning to master one site very well. So much easier than trying to be a jack of many "sites" master of none.
This is a great piece to share, thanks!
Posted by: Chandlee | June 2011 at 01:45
Hi Chandlee,
I feel like the world of social media can be so overwhelming that some don't know where to start or how on earth are they going to manage to be on all of these site available. Selective, strategic action - focused on quality and consistently tproviding value is important to succeed.
Many thaanks!
Posted by: Megan Fitzgerald | June 2011 at 09:58
The statistics you have pointed out are extremely valuable in understanding today's job search. You've provided a very informative post!
Posted by: Martin Buckland | June 2011 at 23:07
Megan, love the updated social media video. You combine several useful statistics and assign meaning from them well here. I especially thought the thought process for the power of social media compared to our CV was an eye opener.
Posted by: Nicholas Gronow | July 2011 at 23:03
@Martin - thanks so much for the positive feedback! I think its helpful to share statistics showing our changing times.
@Nicholas - thanks for the comment! I do feel that formal documents are not as powerful as they used to be as far as opening doors are concerned. Certainly they have a critical place in hiring, but figure in more later rather than earlier in the process. It's fascinating to watch our changing climate and how it affects how we apply for jobs.
My best,
Megan
Posted by: Megan Fitzgerald | July 2011 at 22:48