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How Job Seekers Use Social Media and Mobile in 2014 [INFOGRAPHIC]

Our friends at Jobvite recently conducted a nationwide online omnibus survey of 1,303 U.S. job seekers who are currently in employment. Here are some of the main takeaways (scroll down for the infographic).

Social job seekers

86% of job seekers have an account on at least one of the six online social networks included with this study; Facebook, Linkedin, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Social job seekers are younger, more highly educated and more likely to be employed full-time.

Facebook

76% of social job seekers found their current position through Facebook. Three most popular activities on Facebook:

  • 27% contact shared a job opportunity
  • 25% contact provided an employee’s perspective on a company
  • 22% shared a job opportunity with a contact

Screen Shot 2014-02-06 at 16.26.57LinkedIn

LinkedIn is where they do most of their job-seeking activity:

  • 40% contact referred me for a job
  • 34% contact shared a job opportunity
  • 32% made a new professional connection
  • 32% contact provided an employee’s perspective on a company

Twitter

  • Twitter is the most popular place to ask others for help and advice:
  • Next three most popular activities on Twitter:
  • 29% shared a job opportunity with a contact
  • 28% contact provided an employee’s perspective on a company
  • 28% contact shared a job opportunity

Privacy

46% of job seekers have modified their privacy settings. Job seekers are as likely to delete their account completely as they are to remove specific content from their profiles. And recruiters are looking:

  • 93% of recruiters are likely to look at a candidate’s social profile.
  • 42% have reconsidered a candidate based on content viewed in a social profile, leading to both positive and negative re-assessments

RELATED: How Employers Use Social Media To Screen Applicants [INFOGRAPHIC]

The college educated are also 4x as likely to update their LinkedIn with professional info than those who are high-school educated or less, and almost 2x as likely to do so on a mobile device.

Most popular social networks

While job seekers flock to Facebook, recruiters prefer Linkedin when searching for candidates. Most popular social networks for…

Job seekers:

  • Facebook 83%
  • Twitter 40%
  • Google+ 37%
  • LinkedIn 36%

Screen Shot 2014-02-06 at 16.27.28

Recruiters:

  • LinkedIn 94%
  • Facebook 65%
  • Twitter 55%
  • Google + 18%

While 94% of recruiters are active on Linkedin, only 36% of job seekers are.

The mobile job seeker

Frequent job-changers are more likely than average to have searched for jobs or had contact with a potential employer on their mobile device: 64% of adults who change jobs every 1-5 years vs. 43% overall.

  • 43% of job seekers have used their mobile device to engage in job-seeking activity
  • 27% of job seekers expect to be able to apply for a job from their mobile device.
  • 37% of millennial job seekers expect career websites to be optimised for mobile.

Percentage of job seekers rating the following “important” in their job search:

  • 55% ability to see job openings or listings without having to register
  • 27% ability to apply for jobs from a mobile device
  • 23% website optimised for mobile devices
  • 11% ability to use Linkedin profile or online resume to apply for a job

Mobile and social

Mobile job seekers are more likely to turn to Facebook than Linkedin in their job search. Percentage of job seekers who have done the following on a mobile device:

Updated their profile with professional information:

  • 15% Facebook
  • 11% Twitter
  • 6% Linkedin

Searched for a job:

  • 12% Facebook
  • 7% Linkedin
  • 6% Twitter

RELATED: How Do Recruiters Use Social Media? [STUDY]

2014JobviteJobSeekerNationSurvey

By Jörgen Sundberg

Founder of Undercover Recruiter & CEO of Link Humans, home of The Employer Brand Index.