When people find out I work in the staffing industry, they start asking questions about searching for jobs. When people find out I work in the staffing industry as a public relations director, they start asking what role their social media pages play in job searches.
At a time when, per Morning Consult, 57% of young people aspire to be content creators, ASA partnered with The Harris Poll to find out: Does the general U.S. workforce view an active social media presence as an advantage…or a liability?
What we found should cause young workers to think twice about what they post. It also sheds light on how staffing professionals—in a consultative role with job seekers—should consider addressing social media activity with talent when they’re trying to land a job.
Findings by Generation
According to a recent ASA Workforce Monitor® survey, 44% of working U.S. adults believe an active social media presence is more likely to hurt someone’s career than help, while 37% say it’s more
likely to be an advantage.
Not surprisingly, the views broke along generational lines.
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- 48% of employed Baby Boomers (ages 61–79) believe an active social media presence can hurt someone’s career.
- 51% of Gen Z (18–28) say social media activity can help a person’s career.
At the same time, 56% of Gen Z workers believe their social media presence has helped their own careers, compared with 44% of Millennials (29–44), 28% of Gen X (45–60), and just 20% of Baby Boomers.
Candidates Take Caution
With a new class of graduates entering the workforce, the attitudes surrounding social media presence between those beginning their careers and those in charge of hiring early job seekers is fascinating. A CareerBuilder survey found that 57% of employers say they have found materials on job seekers’ social media pages that caused them to move away from a candidate. So, unless your chosen career path specifically involves likes, views, and shares as metrics of success, it’s best to follow the golden rule of social media pages: Do no harm. That rage bait post may go viral,
but it’s not worth closing the door to your future.
Megan Sweeney is director of public relations at ASA. Send feedback on this article to s******@americanstaffing.net. Engage with ASA on social media— go to americanstaffing.net/social.
