C areers e dition 2011
New Graduates use social media to look for Jobs
By tim Post
minnesota Public radio
st. PauL, minn. (AP) — Sometimes it
seems online social networks, like
Facebook, are a place where people share
all of life’s little happenings, from what
they had for lunch to minor aches and pains.
But for new college graduates, social
media sites like Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn are playing an increasingly impor-
tant role in their job search.
At the University of Minnesota’s
Minneapolis campus, many are turning to
Judy Zimmer, a Twin Cities-based motiva-
tional speaker and career coach, to help
them manage their online personas — and
interviewing skills.
Zimmer’s presentations could best be
described as “Networking 101.”
Career experts say
online social networks
are just one part of a
good networking
strategy. They say to
find a job, new
graduates also need
to break away from
their computer, shake
hands and look
people in the eye
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“Typically what you want to do is give
someone a handshake when you approach
them,” she told students during a recent ses-
sion. “You want to make some type of eye
contact.”
Surrounded by more than 100 students in
a classroom, Zimmer held an event called
“You’ve graduated. What now?”
Her audience includes many who just
graduated; others are headed into their sen-
ior year at the U. They all have one thing in
common: they’re looking for that first job to
launch a career.
The room buzzes as new grads and soon-
to-be-seniors practice their ice breaking and
schmoozing.
Career experts say this person-to-person
networking is the best way to get a job,
especially in a fiercely competitive job mar-
ket.
But for these students, raised on the
Internet and trailblazers of social network-
ing, face-to-face interaction alone seems so
1990s.
Zimmer agrees. She said Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter are great tools for new
graduates to use in their job search.
“The introvert loves the researching
aspect and they can look and dig and not
have to interact with another human being,”
Zimmer said. “The extrovert finds someone
and picks up the phone and tries to find a
way to connect with them verbally.”
The social networks give new graduates
the chance to make far more connections
than they could solely through in-person
networking.
“Social networking allows you to imme-
diately tap into all of your friends’, former
coworkers’ (and) family members’
Rolodexes,” said Liz Hruska, the universi-
ty’s assistant director of career services.
Employers also use social networking
sites, largely search for recruits.
Davy Degreef, a recruiter for the business
software company Epicor, uses LinkedIn, a
rapidly growing business social networking
site, to find new college graduates with
potential.
“I can look through groups of recent grad-
uates,” he said. “I can look through groups
of college students, business students or
management students that line up what
we’re looking for.”
That means new graduates looking for
work should be careful about what they put
on social networking sites. Career experts
say students shouldn’t use a Facebook
account to track down job leads if it’s where
they post their crazy party pictures.
The best bet for students is LinkedIn, they
say.
That’s where 23-year-old Carolyn Voight,
of Bloomington, spends a lot of time these
days.
“I’m probably on there everyday for at
least 20 minutes,” Voight said. “Some days
I’m on their a little longer, depending on
what I’m changing around or updating.”
Voight, who just graduated from the U of
M with a degree in communications, has yet
to find a job. But she has some good leads.
She said networking, and going online to
find connections, has helped her friends
find work.
Alyssa Thull, another recent U of M grad-
uate, has been using Facebook to track
down job contacts.
“It’s a really good way to get in contact
with friends of friends,” said Thull, 21, of
Minneapolis. “You find out you have con-
nections you didn’t even know about
before.”
For Thull, who majored in Asian lan-
guages and minored in business manage-
ment, online social networking makes
searching for a job less intimidating.
“It’s way easier to talk to people that
way,” she said. “It’s less scary than cold
calling people and saying ‘I know you
through this person.’”
Career experts say online social networks
are just one part of a good networking strat-
egy. They say to find a job, new graduates
also need to break away from their comput-
er, shake hands and look people in the eye.
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June 8, 2011 The Seattle Skanner Page 5