As the growing popularity and usability of social media continues, it may have a positive effect on our economy. Corporations and small businesses alike are learning the advantages of embracing the technological era to earn better, well-rounded and prepared employees, as well as strengthen their grasp in society. More and more college level students are participating in these tools and building their resumes on paper, through the web, and in their every day lives. Social media embodies many useful capabilities that can help employers and job hunters all around.

According to Mashable.com, a social media and business tech information website, and many other studies, almost 90 percent of employers and companies use or plan to use social media for job recruitment and evaluation. Out of those employers, 70 percent of them have rejected potential employees for reasons they found through their social media evaluation, Shea Bennett of MediaBistro.com said. This shows that not only are businesses using these media outlets for recruiting and application processes for applicants, but they are using the sites for themselves to get a look at who is applying to their company.

For communications majors, this is a vital, key piece of information to consider before graduation. In the Communications field, being able to “show” yourself as part of your resume is highly important. Whether you have experience producing advertising campaigns, or you have been a contributing writer for a local publication for 6 months, anything you have in your portfolio that you can show future employees gives you a great boost. There are many easy, fun and useful ways to get your name to stand out of the pile. These can be done while studying in school or in the job market. Once you have established yourself and your brand online, it will be easier for employers to see your personality and qualifications first before deciding to meet the brilliant you in person.

• Get in to the “Big 3.” These are LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, and can assist anyone looking to network and build their portfolio. Most employers using social media for job recruitment now are focusing mostly on LinkedIn, although more social/media fields consider Twitter a positive tool for employment candidates as well.
• Start a blog!! (Ahem..) Blogs are the simple fast track to putting your name online and getting your work published. There is a lot of Internet and techno knowledge that is helpful to have before starting a blog. Just having a basic familiarity with web editing usually works. Blogs can be used by anyone in almost any field, and are very popular, so many opinions and inspirations are available.
• Blogs aren’t the only way to start your online publishing. Online portfolios and galleries can be used for formats other than writing. Photographers and ad designers can create online galleries to display some of their work. Musicial artists can create music profiles where they can upload their personal videos and music. Any way you find to publish your work demonstrates to employers that you can navigate through web editing and social media.
• Once you graduate, hopefully your profile and portfolio is already open to any potential employers. The next step is to be active in your job search. Social media is adopting a new style, in the form of job search engines. Through communications and networking, you can go to certain websites to search for openings in particular fields.
  • One such website is Tweetmyjobs.com. Connected to your other social media sites and friends, “Tweetmyjobs” allows you to sign up and determine what type of career or field you are interested in, then it sends you updates and notifications for openings and updates from businesses. The site includes a mobile app, and mobile GPS so you can see local businesses around you that have posted job listings (Fox News.) The most popular job search sites, however, are Indeed, Monster and Career Builder, to name a few. The best part about these sites is that they each offer their own app, and allows quick application submissions for those on-the-go!