Today a friend of mine from university (thank you Ahmed!) sent me a link on Facebook regarding hiring and LinkedIn. The article, Is Pinterest the new LinkedIn for job seekers?, was posted on the Globe & Mail’s career column in late March — and immediately caught my eye.
My first reaction was absolutely not.
My second reaction was I better read the article. :)
So anyways… a few good points:
- Involvement in social networking sites can provide you with exposure
- Pinterest will not solve unemployment
- Pinterest is getting a lot of traffic
Profound. ;)
Read the article and make a decision, but personally I don’t think that Pinterest is the next big thing for recruiting. It is one more place for a Recruiter to stalk you {although I’ve never seen it come up for an applicant in Google rankings} and it is an opportunity to help or hurt your “personal brand.” No sex, drugs, rock n’ roll and I’m sure you’ll be fine.
No different than any other social networking site, be aware of what you put out to the masses. The internet lives forever.
If you have an infographic resume — or whatever the hell job candidates are putting out there on Pinterest, ‘pin’ it to the homepage of your domain and generate traffic to your own site. Make a whole portfolio while you’re at it! :)
If you think Recruiters really want to know about the types of herbs you grow, birthday cake designs for your 4 year old or the type of chartreuse pillows you bought — you are wrong. It’s additional information that makes absolutely no difference to your application.
Me on Pinterest
If Recruiters or potential clients stalked me on Pinterest, they would find some version of myself. The Pinterest version of me has boards about running, yoga, travel, food and fashion. I’m usually on Pinterest as I wind down my night. 15-20 mins max. I often fall in love with a piece of fashion that I can’t afford or actually find online {this number is way cute}. It often spurs creativity or a super idea. My usual ‘pins’ have to do with running, healthy eats or some random do-it-yourself craft that I’ll do when I’m old and decrepit.
Pinterest for Brands?
I agree with Erica Swallow‘s comment about brands not joining Pinterest (or any site) if you don’t have a plan. Every platform has a different purpose. Figure out what works for your company and push full-speed ahead. Another post on Pinterest for brands can be found here. IMO tons of brands have got Pinterest way wrong. They joined because it’s the latest thing — and it’s fairly straight forward to sign up. Guaranteed that they have not looked into privacy/liability or thought about the tool strategically. A few who I think have figured out a way to make it work for them? Foodtree, Organic Lives and YYoga. Well done to that crew.
Shocking Stats
The article states that Americans spend 1 hour 17 mins on the site. No idea on Canadian statistics but that seems like a whole lot of time. Love dream boards, visualizations and visual learners — but how about getting centered back on real life? Spend 17 mins on the site and 1 hour turning your dreams into reality. Promise that you’ll make more progress.
This random post is brought to you by 5am mornings and general exhaustion. Love Pinterest — but it still needs to find it’s place in this big bad world.
PS – What is with all the girls who have ‘when I’m married’ boards on Pinterest? For real, you’re not dating, engaged, nor have a blow up boyfriend. What if you don’t get married? Or what if you do get married and it’s not like Barbie’s dream castle? Then what? #EndRant