UK workers are shunning social media when applying for jobs because they do not think their profile will be taken seriously by prospective employers, a new survey by hyphen, has found.

The poll of 1,000 workers shows that the number of professionals that use social media to apply for a new role has halved since last year – with a mere 1 in 20 (4.4%) making regular applications for jobs through digital channels in 2013, compared to 1 in 10 (9.1%) last year.

Meanwhile, nearly a quarter (23.9%) of professionals say that even if they did apply for a new role through social media, they believe that their application would not be taken seriously. Last year, nearly half that amount (13.9%) expressed this view.

In spite of the growing importance of social media to corporate marketing strategies, and a significant investment in digital platforms, the poll shows that candidates are increasingly turned off using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to apply for jobs.

The poll revealed, however, that graduates are now more likely to apply for jobs using social media than last year, with one in 14 (7.7%) young professionals regularly making applications for jobs through digital channels – compared to just 3.1% last year.

But with even so-called digital natives still using other channels as their primary vehicle for finding and applying for jobs, firms must now either find new ways of engaging with talent through social media, or overhaul their online recruitment strategies entirely.
Credit: onrec.com