TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications, LLC

From the Desktop of Lori Charest, Vice President of New Media Strategy

Think your audience isn't online and networking? Think again.

This month, Lori discusses the shifts in job seeker behavior, using LinkedIn as an example.

Two of my nieces graduated from college this spring. Different sides of the family. Different coasts. Same outcome: gotta find a job...now.

Imagine my surprise when both of them invited me to "join their LinkedIn network." Wait – they're only 21, they don’t know each other, and they definitely do not fit the LinkedIn demographic of experienced professionals in my (ahem) age group. What gives?

Well, college students today know how important networking is to their career. They understand that it's truly a marketplace of connections. Gone are the days when people post their resume and wait for someone to contact them. Job seekers are actively using the tools they've grown up with to help them in all areas of their lives, and LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools out there today.

Not surprisingly, we’ve witnessed huge shifts in job seeker behavior over the past several years. We've poked and prodded them with all sorts of questions and surveys, looking for answers that will lead us to the holy grail of talent acquisition. We know that job seekers use friends, colleagues and trusted networks to find not just jobs, but careers with companies whose culture and work environment align with their own. So why wouldn't they use LinkedIn? More importantly, why wouldn't employers use it?

As a professional network, LinkedIn has some staggering stats. More than 22 million registered users, and an additional 1 million new users join every month. C-Suite executives from Fortune 500 companies are represented, and the average session on the site ranges between 12-35 minutes. Think your audience isn't online and networking? Think again.

LinkedIn strikes a familiar chord with Generation Y and Millennials as they begin to make the transition from a social networking culture to a professional one. With the ends to their post-graduate job hunts at their fingertips, young professionals-to-be are getting "linked in." Having trouble finding them? I'm certain I can find you a pair of highly qualified college grads.

Questions? Comments? Email me at lori.charest@tmp.com.