Use of social media for job searching and networking grows

One-third healthcare professionals used social media for job searching in 2011

Nearly one-third of the 2,790 respondents of the "Use of Social Media and Mobile by Healthcare Professionals: 2011 Results" said that they are using social media for job searching compared to 21 percent in 2010. Close to half of those surveyed are also using social media for professional networking compared to 37 percent in 2010.

"In our own recruitment with clinicians there's been an increase in the desire to use social media and mobile devices," said Susan Salka, president and CEO of AMN Healthcare. "It's the whole digital world and how they want to use the available technologies to be more efficient in accomplishing what they'd like to accomplish, whether that be searching for information or a job."

In addition, according to the survey, more hospitals are joining the social media revolution. In 2011, 1,229 hospitals utilized social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, compared to 391 in 2009.

"We're hearing more and more appetite to be able to access jobs and service related information," said Salka. "We go beyond that and our clients go beyond that when it comes to how they use social media to manage their online reputation."

There's evidence that the use of social media for job seekers is also becoming more efficient, according to the survey. Six percent of the respondents who used social media for job searching said they were able to find a new job. While this number is still low, only 3 percent found jobs this way in 2010.

Dana Lewis, interactive marketing specialist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, agrees that using social media for job searching and networking is on an upward trend.

"Individuals are using social media for job searching, and recruiters and career groups from healthcare organizations are definitely outreaching to people  -  researching people, using Facebook advertisements, creating groups about the culture that people would encounter in the organization," said Lewis. "I think some of the benefits social media gives to hospitals is when they can reach more people in less traditional ways and can show the culture and the fit of the organization for people who are applying for a particular position."

According to the survey, when it comes to mobile devices, in 2011, 32 percent of clinicians reported using mobile devices for accessing healthcare-related content or jobs compared to 12 percent in 2010.

"The statistics for using mobile devices for jobs is huge  -  85 to 90 percent of job seekers use them for job searching," said Amanda Kienast, manager of talent promotion in the human resources department at Scripps Health. "We have a mobile application that allows candidates to search for jobs and careers. People can email job links to themselves or a friend and then can sit down and go through the application process later. That's a trend we've been seeing so we wanted to make it easier for people."

Using social media for job recruiting also has the potential to save an organization a great deal when it comes to resources.