There is a lot of talk about Google Plus at present, the new social media thing from Google that will – according to some – not only rival Facebook and Twitter, but eventually kill them. Resultantly, particularly when it has grown to the size/scale of Twitter in less than four months, many are heralding the second coming of social media, and trying to find uses for Google Plus that other social media networks already hold – like job search.
With regards the former issue, you can’t presently easily integrate all your blog posts or other forms of social media; you have to manually repost. As an engineer I understand that, and as a launch marketing position I can accept that; but as a user, its seems like a gaping hole in the armoury.
On the second issue, then much as though its grown “bigger than Twitter in just four months” to quote an infamous Internet Marketer (actually, if he woke up, he’d realise that its a product development and not a company and product launch), then its still not open access to all. You can’t just show up and register, you still have to be invited. This restricts the current users to active social media types and techno-heads, often based in Silicon Valley, more of which later.
Before I assess Google Plus as a job search tool, I’d like to cover a few basics of job search. Firstly, you have two ways to get a job: be approached by an employer, or approach them via either networking or direct application against a job advert. To then progress, you need an easily findable and inline with their SQE requirements social media profile, to pass a basic background competency check. Hence things like a LinkedIn profile and a Google Profile are basics in social media job search and application, because they SEO well.
Finally, the modern key to job search is that the internet allows you not only to research the company, but also the hiring manager. I’d go so far these days as a trained job interviewer, to say that it would be to your detriment just to read the front page of your prospective employers website, and thier last five press releases: you have access to so much more specific information.
Google Plus is firstly based on your Google Profile, so you need a Google Profile to access and use Google Plus. Hence personally, Google Plus at best is at present a second tier tool to job search over a first tier essential, like a Google Profile is. Once you are on the platform, you can add people to circles, Google’s form of groups. Now personally, circles are an interesting fail in the current form of Google Plus in terms of personal security. There is implied “friend approval” of a third party person, should they initially follow one of your friends, and then follow you. You then look at their profile and see your friends picture, giving implied social approval of that third party. Yet all they have done is added your friend to their circle. Secondly, what are you getting from adding someone to a circle? You see some of their feed of social media stream, and what they commented on. But remember, in the present beta development of Google Plus, that doesn’t at present automatically include their own blog posts and tweets, so they only appear if that person chooses to re-post them.