The War for Talent is fiercer than ever. If all you have in your arsenal is your CV, then your chances of survival are very slim. According to the 2012 Jobvite Social Recruitment survey results, 92% of companies plan to use social media for recruiting. Hiring managers and recruitment professionals are becoming more and more interested in reviewing online profiles of candidates during the hiring process to insure higher quality recruits. So the question that you need to ask is “are you ready to be drafted?”

Contents of your arsenal

1. LinkedIn: 93% of social recruitment happens on LinkedIn (Jobvite 2012); therefore, it’s worth spending time developing your LinkedIn profile. Make sure it reflects your academic and professional experience and support that with recommendations from your professors and managers.
2. Google+, Facebook & Twitter: Even though Facebook & Twitter are not perceived as professional social networks, part of the screening process takes place there. Hiring managers use Facebook & Twitter as filtering tools that allow them to identify value mismatches between the company and the recruits. Your likes and dislikes, the subjects that interest you, who you engage with, your hobbies, and much more personal information that helps the recruiter profile the candidates.
3. Own your name: Buy your personal domain name, think of it as e-real-estate! If you have nothing to share on it, you can simply use it as a virtual business card – with your picture, name, email, and a downloadable copy of your CV. Ideally though, you should be blogging about your expertise.

Survival Tips

1. One You: Even though the purposes of the social networks are different, you are still the same person and your profile on each of them should reflect that. You can’t be the professional businessperson on LinkedIn, the drunken party-animal on Facebook, and the political activist on Twitter all at the same time.
2. Behave: Recruiters react very negatively to recruits with comments/posts containing reference to drug use, sex, profanity, and even grammatical/spelling errors! So make sure you behave!
3. Engage: Aside from setting up your profile on the different social networks, it is important to showcase your know-how by engaging with online content.

Some of the best places to engage are:

• Showcase your expertise with LinkedIn Groups: Join groups of particular interest to you and target the most active discussions there – provide insightful replies and thought-provoking questions. This will help you build visibility, credibility, and your network.
• High-traffic blogs – use sites like technorati.com to check out high-traffic blogs in your field of interest. The next time you read an interesting post on one of these sites, make sure to leave a comment that will intrigue the readers to investigate the person behind it!
• Twitter Chats are interactive chats regarding a particular subject, predefined with a hashtag. The format of the chat depends on the choice of moderator but usually involves Q&As. You will be able to engage and network with people that share similar interests.

Recruits … now you’re ready for war! And like I always say, “YOU SHY, YOU DIE!”

This article was first posted in YOUnique newsletter as part of my monthly column dedicated to help graduates stand out from the crowd and take control of their career legacy.