How your social CV affects your real life

It was guessed and now it is known: 80% of company job searches are hidden; In other words, they are not published, so the simple fact of sending your CV to apply is not enough in many cases. Those who recruit talent have other methods, such as those referred internally, contacts with professionals from competing companies and also those profiles that appear to have a very good social resume.

That is why what we do on the Internet is also a factor that can help you get what you want.

The social curriculum is one of the new forms of personnel evaluation that many companies and recruiters are beginning to adopt over or as a complement to the traditional curriculum vitae.

It is a practice in which recruiters collate information about candidates for a position to find out their personal profile and get an impression of who the candidate is through their publications on social networks.

What do companies see when they search for you online?

For much of the last century one of the safest and fastest ways that companies and employers had to gain a career path on people who aspired to a job, was with the printed curriculum vitae.

In this century, that has changed.

The presence in social networks that we all have in at least one of them puts us at a distance search from anyone in the world, including our potential employers.

• Related: 7 Things You Do On Social Media That Affect Your Personal Brand

Facebook has made it even easier. With just the name or email of a user we can access the personal profile of almost anyone. Recruiters use this and take it as one of their sources of information when they need to know if the candidate is suitable for the position for which they aspire.

According to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder, a popular US job site, of 1,000 hiring managers and HR professionals, half of employers searched for and screened job candidates based on the social media of the user they visited. .

Basically, they did so based on the information provided by the personal profile within the social networks where the candidate participated, on the background that supported their aptitudes for the position to which they aspired.

What are recruiters looking for on social media?

^{Image: Depositphotos.com}

According to this same CareerBuilder survey, recruiters sought to confirm data. To make the decision whether that candidate was suitable for the position, they considered: if the candidate was creative (34% of them focused on this point); if the candidate conveyed a professional image (33%); if the candidate showed a wide range of interests (31%) and if the candidate gave them the feeling of having a personality that could fit the work environment to which they aspired (31%).

Also, in 28% of the cases, it was taken into account whether the candidate had good communication skills. And 26% of recruiters observed whether the candidate had received awards and recognitions that confirmed the data on their curriculum vitae.

So we can say for sure that recruiters are interested in our social networks as long as it provides them with valuable information about who we are and what we are doing in relation to our work and professional field.

• Lee: Do you need to go to college to be successful?

From this follows the importance of being able to understand that social networks can be a gateway to new opportunities in the interconnected world in which we live or, on the contrary, a real nightmare if we only used to use social networks as a hobby or a meaningless hobby. Or something much worse, if we don't even have a Facebook or Twitter account.

Can you imagine claiming a position as a community manager for a large company and when they look for you, your last Twitter update was in March 2013? What do you think that company will think?

4 Tips to take care of your Social CV on Social Networks

Considering that social networks are no longer a simple hobby when we talk about professional and work life, we must bear in mind that we can "optimize" them and achieve a good impression so that the potential recruiter takes a good impression of us and complements the data that you already have it written about us on our curriculum vitae.

So consider the following:

1. Position yourself on LinkedIn

You should have a professional account on LinkedIn where the potential employer looks for you and can see exactly your skills validated through the social interactions that the platform allows.

This, in addition to highlighting your certifications, previous job positions and general skills, will increase the employer's confidence in your professional profile and will make a good impression.

LinkedIn is the social network by definition that anyone looking for a job should optimize in detail to achieve better results. And not only when we are looking for work, but permanently.

2. Focus on the social proof of your record

It is not the same to say that you have worked with several groups of people without being able to prove it than to post photos where you are seen working with groups of people.

Background validation, which according to CareerBuilder 37% of employers took into account in their profile analyzes, is one of the best ways to show who you are and what you do.

Also, photos are inscrutable social proof that shows that you do, indeed, do what you say.

The comments in this type of post are also a source of information that often tells us what someone is like and how well they know their field.

3. Videos and opinions on social networks can help you

If you know what you are talking about and also want to share it in video format, many recruiters take into account how convincing you are with your content in videos and whether or not you published a video, according to CareerBuilder, 21% of recruiters searched for videos of your candidates.

At this time we must remember that what we do on social networks and what we say or show on video, shapes our digital footprint. A mark that will last over time and that can favor or hinder our personal aspirations.

Youtubers have taught us that video is a powerful information tool and from them we have to be able to learn that what works for everyone can also be used to find work.

4. It's not about followers but about validations

Do not focus on increasing the number of followers, focus on making a good first impression for anyone who looks for you on social networks and having valuable content, sharing it.

We are not talking about the employer looking for influencers or youtubers , employers are looking for validation of professional skills. They are two different things and should not confuse you.

What it is about is to focus on having coherence between the data you offer in your traditional resume with what you post on your personal social networks. That, in short, is the social curriculum and its power resides there.

• Maybe you're interested: How to reconcile your business and personal life