How are selection processes changing thanks to Linkedin?

El Fòrum IMPULSA va ser un esdeveniment organitzat per la FPdGi que es va celebrar anualment a l'Auditori de Girona els anys 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 i 2015. L'objectiu era oferir un espai d’oportunitats per a què els joves perdessin la por a emprendre i a compartir les seves idees. Més de 5.000 joves van poder compartir en les diferents edicions del Fòrum les seves idees i projectes, adquirir experiència, parlar amb professionals i emprenedors consolidats, explorar les seves habilitats personals i professionals i desenvolupar les capacitats emprenedores.

Alex López

For some time now, and increasingly so in the past two years, we have seen how selection processes have been changing significantly, above all, due to social networks.

The growing number of candidates, under great pressure because of the current situation, are finding that it is no longer enough to simply email their CVs as PDFs to companies or apply for a vacancy advertised on an oversubscribed employment website.

In response to the frequent doubt about what to do and how to proceed in these cases, we must understand that the recent technological and social evolution leads us to a whole other ballgame. Nowadays, there is a chance that a recruiter, probably directly from a HR department, will take the initiative and contact us if we have a good professional profile posted online. This happens more than we realise and it is becoming more and more frequent. In these circumstances it is common to be asked to do a first interview by Skype to allow the recruiter to get to know us, so it is a good idea to bear this possibility in mind and prepare for it, rather than have to improvise in the moment.

This initial contact is a good screening process which reduces travel costs and time. In addition, you can be sure that the prospective employer wants to check and learn about other aspects, competences and skills in greater depth than the simple information we could send in a document. To obtain these additional and valuable details it is becoming increasingly common, for example, to look to the information available on LinkedIn, the huge professional database which allows those who know how to use this tool well to take an ‘X-ray’ of the candidate.

In the past two years I have been fortunate enough to personally share sessions on the function of recruitment 2.0 with many departments and to analyse the wealth of possibilities for taking the initiative in today’s selection processes for management positions.

For those of you who are currently seeking employment I recommend that you take advantage of LinkedIn, as it has become the CV 2.0 par excellence. Its growth and consolidation as a professional network has also led to changes in the software application itself which, using the new profile characteristics, allow users to present a very interesting personal brand online.

It is possible, and recommendable, to detail the projects you have carried out and link them to your profile, to mention articles published in the media and present your blog as a fundamental part of your knowledge. A 100% online profile that acts as a showcase for your talents 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. What is happening? It seems that the internet is offering the necessary resources for both parties to interact without barriers.

We will be discussing this and much more on Friday 26 June at the IMPULSA Forum, and we hope you will join us.

Álex López