- Millions don’t embrace social media to enhance careers
- One in ten employers impressed by social media profiles
- Apprentice team of the Year Finale #BAC15
While the nation may be addicted to social media, the nation’s employees are slow to use it to sell themselves to future employers, according to new research released to mark the Finale of the Brathay Apprentice Challenge 2015. [1]
The data reveals that over 27 million Brits use social media on a daily basis [2], but only a quarter (26 per cent) sell themselves through social media to improve their careers and only 19 per cent use it for their own career enhancement.
With 65 per cent of those responsible for hiring staff using social media and a further 12 per cent saying that a good social media presence impresses them, the country’s job hunters could be missing out by not including vital information on their social media profiles.
Only 19 per cent have included fundraising activities, 17 per cent volunteering, 13 per cent coaching and mentoring, 12 per cent team building exercises and leadership roles on their social media profiles.
With 75 per cent of job seekers saying that they look to take on as much extra training or courses to enhance their CV, experts have called on employees to do more to celebrate the skills they have.
Godfrey Owen, Chief Executive of young people’s development charity Brathay Trust said:
“With employers increasingly using social media to recruit, it is a great medium for people looking for promotion or a new job to enhance their career. But social self selling isn’t just about talking about qualifications and experience, it is also vital to include soft skills such as volunteering, leadership, coaching or mentoring on CVs and on social media profiles.
“These soft skills are what the finalists in the Brathay Apprentice Challenge – some of the country’s leading employers – all agree are vital to a successful career.”
Paul Sippitt from previous finalists in the Brathay Apprentice Challenge QinetiQ, said:
“When it comes to selecting new apprentices, we look for the skills that will make people stand out now and in the future. Candidates that can show proof of soft skills and who make personal development and training a priority always stand out in the recruitment process.
“As previous finalists, we know that the Brathay Apprentice Challenge provides apprentices with the opportunity to develop these soft skills that can help enhance their future careers.”
The official search for the apprentice team of the year, the Brathay Apprentice Challenge, pits teams of nine apprentices to compete in a series of work-related challenges to develop new skills, benefit their local communities as well as raise the profile of their employers and apprenticeships.
Nine apprentices from eight organisations including; Dale Power Solutions, Plymouth City Council, Pera Training and Emfec Group, British Airways, HSBC, Nottingham City Homes, Redrow Homes and Sellafield have come together at Brathay Trust’s Windermere headquarters for the logistical and teambuilding finale where the apprentice team of the year will be announced on 8th July.
[1] Market researchers Bilendi conducted an online survey among 2,000 randomly selected British adults who are Maximiles UK panelists. The margin of error-which measures sampling variability-is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and regional data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding
[2] Ofcom Adults’ media use and Attitudes report 2014 states that 83% of the adult population (41.5million) are online of which 66% use social media (27.3million).