Partner Article

Social media key to job-seeking success

USING Twitter and being original could be the secrets to landing your dream job, if a new survey by employment website MyNewcastleJobs.co.uk is to be believed.

The site analysed 500 CVs from UK job seekers and found repetition abound, while those who used Twitter were found to write better CVs. Over a third (37%) of the CVs used exactly the same opening phrase, as ‘experience’, ‘skills’ and ‘individual’ were recorded as the most popular first-line words.

The report concluded that jobseekers that used Twitter were more likely to be shortlisted for jobs because they wrote more eye-catching and succinct CV summaries.

Lee Fayer, managing director of MyJobsGroup.co.uk, said: “CV writing is an art and, with so many jobseekers hunting fewer roles, employment chances are improved with a well-written résumé.

“Like any first impression, those first few lines are crucial, so an interesting and memorable professional summary is key – people used to Tweeting do this better than most as they are regularly summarizing longer prose into sharp, interesting people.”

According to the research, the most popular first words on a CV are ‘I am, I’m’ (37%), ‘A highly’ (6.9% and ‘I have’ (5.6%).

Professor Gary Cooper - professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University management School - said: “The use of ‘I’ this and ‘I am’ that on a CV is not a smart move, most notably because it doesn’t position the candidate as a team player.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .