Only 1 in 5 students find social media useful when job hunting

Jan. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- In a survey of 177 students and graduates across the UK by the online student job board Freelancestudents.co.uk, 81 per cent of respondents have not found social media to be useful whilst job hunting.

With the rise in popularity of social networking, and the challenging job market facing students, many are turning to social media in a bid to put themselves in front of prospective employers, but this hasn’t proved as helpful as students have hoped it would, leading most to feel it a waste of time when job hunting.

Timothy Mukasa, founder of FreelanceStudents.co.uk, said: “The results came as a total surprise. There is a lot of press about the usefulness of social media for job hunting, however the evidence here appears to be contradictory. We would advise students not to dismiss, or totally rely on, social media, but to see it as an additional string to the job hunting bow.”

The survey reveals that the majority of respondents (63 per cent) found online job boards to be the most effective when job hunting, whilst the more traditional form of job hunting, networking and referrals, came in second place at 32 per cent.  

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Notes to editors

•   Launched in July 2009 Freelancestudents.co.uk provides a platform for small businesses and charities to connect with talented UK students for professional one-off jobs, student jobs, short-term projects and internships

•   Freelancestudents has a database of more than 3000 students and graduates and 800 employers.

•   The site also maintains a popular blog that provides candid career advice.
   
•   For more information about Freelancestudents, visit http://www.freelancestudents.co.uk