Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

With todays growing technology and societies insatiable need for more and more technology, its no wonder companies are turning to product fans and brand consumers to help sell their wares and/or services. On top of that, the Internet is becoming or more specifically sites such as Facebook are becoming the ideal place to go to find new employees for potential employers. No longer are the days of “pounding the asphalt” and going door to door, filling out job application and trying your hardest to make that first impression with the Manager. Now it’s all nameless and impersonal when applying for a job and just about education and provable work experience.

First, lets look at the increasing use of “Brand Ambassadors” and the companies that utilizes them. “Companies such as JetBlue, Sony, Microsoft, and McDonald’s, among others, are now developing a new breed of brand ambassador programs that organize and supercharge consumer-to-consumer interactions about their brands. These programs employ everyday consumers who are passionate about their products to act as part PR agents, part sales reps, and part evangelists.” (Marketing An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, pg.143) Companies are constantly looking for a new ways of reaching the masses, and if they can find those ways of making it less expensive without having to hire a whole marketing teams, then all the better. The general public wants to hear reviews from real users of the product, which is why companies like JetBlue employed their “Crew Blue ambassadors” on college campuses nationwide to host events and promote their airlines.

Secondly, we have the Internet and social media sites now acting as job boards and are being used by employers to help in recruitment. “More companies are trying to tap Facebook Inc.'s 750-million-plus user base to find new employees, threatening traditional job boards and competing with LinkedIn Corp., which has dominated the online professional networking arena.” (Wall Street Journal, Joe Light, Aug 8, 2011) Even though this trend is growing, there will always be those who are uncomfortable with this potential resource, and think it will be an invasion of privacy if employers are able to see all their personal information on their Facebook page and use it to determine their job worthiness. These same people though need to realize and appreciate that nothing posted online is private anymore, and should not be posting things that they don’t want a million plus people to see or read in the first place.