When Sonia Arcieri graduates this fall, she’ll be using a secret weapon to help her find a job. It’s not a punchy cover letter or well-crafted resumé. Arcieri will be using social media to boost her job search success.

“As my graduation date approaches, I plan to utilize LinkedIn and other tools to search for employment,” says the fourth-year graphic communications management student, who already has a LinkedIn account connecting her to most of her classmates and professors.

According to social media experts, Arcieri is on the right track.

“Using social media is a great way to find jobs that aren’t available through other means as well as to broadcast your availability,” says Lauren Friese, founder of Talent Egg, a career site for students and new graduates.

LinkedIn is the first tool that Friese suggests: a professional networking site that allows users to create a profile, list their business experience and education, and connect with other members.

“LinkedIn is one of the top sites used by recruiters to find young talent,” says Friese.

“It’s a really great way to ensure that when employers Google you, they don’t find your Facebook profile first.”

She also recommends students start their own blogs — especially if they’re passionate about a certain sector.

“When an employer Googles you, and you’ve applied for a job in marketing, do they find an article you’ve written about your marketing experience or are they finding a picture of you on Facebook that they shouldn’t see?”

Friese says that not being connected will affect your chances at getting hired.

“For someone in Generation Y, in school right now, you are absolutely expected to be a digital native, and to not be involved in those things is a definite negative.”

And, like it or not, you will be Googled, says Andy Church, co-founder of Why Hire Me, a networking program that helps students build their personal brand online.

“Microsoft had a research firm go off and interview people — corporations — on the use of social media as an HR policy,” says Church.

“And the numbers are out: 75 per cent of all companies have a policy in place to use Google to search candidates.”

Church references a diagram in the popular job-hunting book, What Color is Your Parachute? that illustrates the traditional job search method — and how the majority of job applicants are doing it all wrong.

“What do most people do? They go to Monster.ca and throw a resumé and cover letter to an HR person and hundreds of people are doing that . . . and that’s the last way people want to find talent.”
The diagram shows that applications from job boards are the last method employers use to fill positions.

This is where Why Hire Me comes in.

 “We teach students how to go higher up that value chain by using the web and making connections and possibly get referred to an open position rather than coming through the front door with hundreds of others.”

The program encourages students to market themselves throughout university rather than putting together a resumé and posting tweets once graduation hits.

At Ryerson, the program is offered to first-year students in retail management and hospitality and tourism.

And last but not least: set up a Twitter account — where you’ll gain access to lots of hidden jobs. Just don’t let your tweets resemble your Facebook status updates.

“Twitter gives you the means to demonstrate what you’re reading professionally, and what you’re doing professionally.”

He recommends keeping it 80 per cent business and 20 per cent fun — separating the personal and the professional.