May 20: If you thought that today’s youth are browsing social networking sites for leisure, you may be wrong. On the contrary, they may be seriously scouting for new job opportunities on the such website. Apart from networking, sites such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter are emerging as a potent job search tool for Indian youth today.
They use these sites not just to check on job openings, but also to understand the prospective organisation’s work culture and activities, so that they are aware of the company when they attend the interviews. HR firms in the country aver that most Indian employees are scouring these sites for job openings and promotions. While HR firm Kelly Services says more than one-in-five job aspirants in India access social networking sites to hunt for the right job, another hiring major Ma Foi Randstad states that about 87 per cent of Indian employees use social media to find information about an organisation’s work culture.
And interestingly, employees in the income of `2 to 5 lakh and ` 5-10 lakh are seen the top users of these sites. “Social media has become a potent tool for both employers and employees and as a low cost — high return option,” says Mr E. Balaji, managing director of Ma Foi Randstad. Echoing similar sentiments are Mr Kamal Karanth of Kelly Services. “Social networking has completely revolutionised the way people look out for work and scout for information about the work culture of an organisation.”
Confirming this trend, Shantha, a senior HR manager of a leading IT firm, says, “we have a dedicated person in the team to check FB and Linkedin profiles of candidates.” However, there is also anxiety among many of these folks about their potential career fallout from personal content on these sites.
While social media is active as an employment tool, the rampant postings on these sites can equally be disastrous for careers.