Despite three quarters (77 percent) of young people (aged 14-25) being aware that potential employers are checking social media profiles before hiring them, a quarter (24 percent) still have no privacy settings in place and further one in ten (11 percent) are unsure if they are protected or not.
Research from Jobvite shows that nine in ten employers will review a candidate’s social media profile before making their hiring decision. Yet, the LifeSkills Youth Barometer found that more than one fifth (22 percent) of young people regularly post pictures of events that might paint them in a less than positive light. One in ten (11 percent) also admitted they post pictures of themselves drinking as a common occurrence.
This lack of awareness could harm their employment chances in today’s recruitment market. International financial services provider Barclays’ LifeSkills have created the LifeSkills CV Builder in an attempt to help young people boost their employability by using social media in a positive way.
A candidate’s social media profile could be used to give a real advantage to their employment opportunities if harnessed in the right way. LifeSkills’ new CV Builder can connect a young person’s Facebook and Twitter accounts to ‘supercharge’ their CV. The CV Builder then guides candidates through a simple step by step process to further populate their CV, providing helpful hints and tips along the way.
Kirstie Mackey, head of LifeSkills, created by Barclays said: “Employers are increasingly using social media to find out more about prospective candidates prior to meeting and making their hiring decisions.
“In a competitive job market, it’s important to present yourself in the best possible way – both on and offline. You need to be shouting about positive experiences to boost your employability such as pinning top tweets demonstrating your achievements of which you are proud.
“This is why our LifeSkills programme has developed new tools which provide practical help to young people to present their best self online using social media and successfully transition into work.”
By registering at www.barclayslifeskills.com, young people can access the new CV builder, as well as a bank of tips and advice to help gain the skills needed to enter the world of work.
LifeSkills created with Barclays is a free education and work experience programme that aims to help to make the transition into work easier for young people by connecting business and education providers with young people and their parents. The programme also provides educators with more than 50 hours of free curriculum linked employability resources, through videos, quick fire activities, interactive tools and full lesson plans to teach young people, as well as dozens of interactive tools for young people to learn in their own time or in conjunction with their parents through our dedicated parents section.
Young people can also use the LifeSkills website to complete a range of interactive resources to learn everything from preparing for an interview and how to write a CV through to matching their skills to a career and how to network. As they complete tasks, they gain points which can be used to unlock work experience opportunities. The curriculum linked programme also provides free, lessons and workshops for teachers across three modules: people, money and work skills. In addition, teachers can match their pupils to local work experience opportunities. Barclays Digital Driving Licence also provides young people with digital skills to help them be more confident with the internet, digital development, online security and coding.
