IT job seekers tapping into social media

Like a lot of job seekers, IT pros are using social media sites to network and market themselves. But many are concerned about content on their profiles hurting their job searches.

Among the IT professionals surveyed for Technisource's "August 2010 Social Media Use Report," 41 percent said they've used social media sites as part of their search for work. Out of those, 85 percent have mainly used LinkedIn. Further, 32 percent received a career opportunity through a social network, with most of those offers coming through LinkedIn.

Thirty-five percent of the people surveyed said most of their networking is now done through social media sites, compared with 33 percent who mostly network face to face. And 47 percent said they research potential employers through social media.

But social networks can be a catch-22. Concerned about potentially embarrassing content on their social network pages, 50 percent said they would or at least might remove or change things on their profiles if they knew prospective employers were peeking around.

Further, 37 percent said they would not "friend" or connect with their current boss through a social network.

"Social media is clearly taking on a bigger role for both candidates and employers," Technisource president Michael Winwood said in a statement. "Not only are job seekers doing a lot of their networking on these sites, but 41 percent of survey respondents have used social media at one time or another to conduct a job search. I anticipate that more professionals will turn to social media for both self-marketing and researching of potential employers--making a company's digital footprint and online reputation more critical than ever."

Technisource is an IT staffing company that provides IT and engineering services to its business customers. The survey was conducted online between July 14 and August 4 and received responses from 408 people ages 20 and older who work in the technology field.