Social Network Referrals Turbocharge Job Applications

Employment for the technology-adept is a rare bright spot in a grim job market. And companies—from startups to heavy-hitters like Starbucks -- are paying attention to social networks when looking for potential new hires. Why? That’s where the people are; comScore says social nets soak up one of every six minutes spent online, twice the rate previously reported. In its fourth annual look at how companies are using social recruiting, CRM software-as-a-service vendor Jobvite finds that 67% of the companies are planning to hire this year, and 89% of those companies will use social media as a way to find top talent. For job-hunters, the challenge lies in joining the right networks for given gigs. Some specialties gravitate to Twitter, for example, but for others you might be best served on LinkedIn. Not surprisingly, engineering and tech jobs rank high on the list of those most often shared on social networks. So which networks are most likely to land you your next job? For more on the survey, click here.