Search for work is on the go and getting more social, survey says

Think the job market is in the toilet? For some, that’s absolutely right. They are looking for a job while doing their business.

This insight comes courtesy of a survey by the Polling Co. on behalf of Jobvite out Thursday highlighting where and how people are looking for work. They asked a sample of 2,135 adults about their approach to job opportunities.

Two things that were increasingly becoming go-to tools for job searches, according to the survey: mobile devices and social media. Of those surveyed, 43% used their mobile device to find work.

And, it turns out, it’s not just the unemployed who are looking for work. About 17% of full-time workers were thumbing through prospective jobs while on the job and about 10% of those actively seeking work were doing it while in the restroom.

With the survey declaring 71% of the U.S. labor force is looking for work, 51% of employed workers are either actively seeking or open to a new job, the survey shows. In other words, employees have a wandering eye when it comes to work.

“People know instinctively in their DNA they have to be looking for a new job,” Dan Finnigan, CEO and president of Jobvite, told The Times.

As Finnigan noted, today’s college students are expected to change jobs 15 to 20 times during their careers. That’d be a new job every two to four years. With that rate of churn, you’d have to constantly be on the lookout for new opportunities and networking all the time.

And here’s where social networks come in. They are playing an increasingly integral role in the job search. It seems 86% of the job seekers in this survey had an account on at least one of the top social networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.

And they’re using them. About three-fourths of those surveyed found their current position through Facebook. Meanwhile, they used LinkedIn for referrals and professional connections and Twitter to seek work-related advice, the survey showed.

Folks have even taken to Vine to create six-second micro-resumes. Although, the jury is still out on whether that’s the best strategy for getting a job, it certainly can get you noticed.

The vast majority of recruiters are looking for candidates on LinkedIn, Finnigan said; however, the vast majority of job seekers are looking on Facebook.

It’s important to keep in mind, after fleshing out a profile that highlights (and links to) your accomplishments and projects, grouping your connections appropriately and being present on these platforms, you can still undo all of your careful curating with a few missteps.

Since recruiters are trolling the same networks on which you are sharing your random inane thoughts and weekend-in-Vegas photos, you might want to be sure to use appropriate privacy settings for your more publicly shared posts, Finnigan said.

Recruiters affirm that the biggest pitfalls of potential candidates they encounter on social networks are the use of profanity, the misuse of grammar or spelling and the photographic evidence of alcohol use.

Yes, social media can be a billboard for you as a potential employee, just remember to control the message. In other words, keep it clean even while searching for jobs in the john.

How are you using social media in your own job search? Has anything you posted online ever come back to haunt you? Tweet me at @mmaltaisLAT or share your story in the comments below.

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