Career cruising on social networks

There are a growing number of social networks at a media professional's disposal. And while socialising on them is nothing new, using these resources for career development is something which should be on a professional's agenda.

Kerry Thomas, publisher of alternative music and culture magazine Fused, pretty much uses them all. Twitter, MySpace, Issuu, Facebook and LinkedIn, Kerry has ensured the publication has an online presence on all these sites.

"We mainly use these sites as a platform to speak to readers," said Kerry. Being careful not to "over do it", inviting group members and 'friends' to fused-affiliated events, updating them on the magazine's movements and finding interesting editorial leads are among other uses Kerry finds social media valuable for.

"It's been useful for finding contributors," added Kerry, highlighting the fact these networks are good places to scout if you want to get involved or gain experience in publishing.

A lot of our friends are illustrators and artists. We invite them to take a look at our MySpace or post requests such as 'we need images of Santogold. Who can do it?'"

As well as communicating with the existing readership, networking in this way has also helped expand readership on a global scale and the magazine has recently secured an international distribution deal for North America, Canada, western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

"We obviously use Facebook," said Kerry.

Obviously? "Well, if there is one website people tend to check and look at every day, it will be Facebook or MySpace," she explained.

So can Facebook or LinkedIn do for professionals what MySpace did for bands? The Groups application within Facebook seems to provide the strongest possibility.

"Facebook is an excellent resource," said film journalist Richard Hawes, "especially with a growing number of professionals using it."

Richard administers UK Film Critics, an invite-only Facebook group, which gives national and regional critics the chance to get in touch with one another, exchange opinions on film and network to explore future opportunities.

"In terms of getting work I'm not sure how much my group has been of use. It's certainly been a good way for me to build a perspective on the market, make contacts and get advice."

As an extension of this, Richard set up a group to showcase his own work, to build an audience for his writing, network and find writing opportunities.

"I don't know if many others are using Facebook in this way but I thought it was worth trying," he said. "Anything to improve my prospects. I invite editors/employers to check it out."

"Inviting colleagues and contemporaries to view work and projects is a popular use for Facebook groups and other social media.

Groups such as New Media Jobs, an Australian-based collective (and Facebook arm of the digital-marketing network website Digital Ministry) carrying job opportunities, events and links to web pages new media professionals may find interesting.

The group was used to co-ordinate a recent Clickaholics event, which was the biggest, single digital network gathering in Australia to date.

Despite this, Digital Ministry's John Lynch feels social networking sites on their own have limited ability to advance careers short of the simple post and identify model.

"LinkedIn as a classic example of this, the whole process seems very flat and sterile. It strikes me as a site built for the recruiter, and it may be okay for lower wage positions," he said.

"Sites like Facebook and MySpace on the other hand are built for real people. So personal, from a career point of view, this may be detrimental. I was in a situation where a person was excluded from an interview based on their ridiculous status updates."

Using the people-focused benefits of the New Media Jobs Facebook group and subsidising it with an organised, additional leg of their website, Digital Ministry has plans to expand and launch a UK-focused website soon, so it has all the 'aspiration career destination' (London, New York and Sydney) bases covered.

"It's all designed to make it easier to find or be found for a job in those cities," said John.

"The idea we are pushing is rather than just list your career to date, tell us your opinion and by that opinion you will be judged. This allows for strong opinions, humour and an overall better feel of the type of employee you would be. Better than a CV."

"Social networking also seems to be attracting the new-age professional social networker," added John who uses a colleague with extensive Facebook and LinkedIn contacts as an example. She just landed an important job in China and was told her 64 LinkedIn recommendations were impressive.

LinkedIn is cited among most of the media professionals here as a good business resource.

The research for this very feature was aided by a few postings there. Within hours a poster advised: 'LinkedIn has been an irreplaceable source to gain and share knowledge with insightful colleagues worldwide with whom I have established additional communication to share, analyze and discuss about themes of management, leadership, and innovation.'

Another member replied to my thread claiming to have found Facebook a fortuitously good tool for professional gain, finding former colleagues and, in turn, opportunities.

Not everyone finds Facebook et al useful, of course. "Personally, I have looked at various groups on Facebook but it isn't really my thing. They are never very good for networking, more about art directors moaning about copy writers and visa-versa," joked Emily Shaw, art director at Golley Slater's Birmingham office.

Yet she reiterates John's point that social media is better for recruiters to find talent, than the other way round.

"At Birmingham Golley, I was in charge of setting up our MySpace page and YouTube channel as we actually produced three recruitment videos targeting graduates to come and work for us. And we have just been nominated for a Recruitment Business Award for them.

"It's essential we look at these sites when you think how much time the younger generation spend on them," she said offering insight from a recruitment perspective.

Personally, Emily finds industry-focused sites more useful. "As far as online communities go, I am linked to all the big ad/design job sites and get alerts via email on a daily basis. I also subscribe to e-letters from Brand Republic, Mad, IPA and Cool Hunter to keep me up to date with what is happening in the industry."