Grad jobs, a stalker, and no social media - any interviewers/recruiters around?

[profeshunal]

name changed but I’ve been around for a few years!

Not sure how much background info is relevant but I’ll try. I’m early/mid-20s, about to go into my final year of undergrad (UK) and will have to start applying for grad jobs soon (also UK). Earlier this year I put a huge amount of effort into applying for corporate internships and was rejected from every single one.

Whilst I recognise that there are a lot of factors that determine a rejection or acceptance, does anyone know if not having LinkedIn, or even a Facebook in my name, is going to screw me over when applying for grad jobs? Unfortunately I have had a stalker for the past few years and given how persistently he attempts to make contact with me if he finds me on any platform, I either don’t use social media, or I use it without my name and with no photos. Is not being searchable a hindrance to corporate employment, especially for fresh grads with no work history? Is someone not having LinkedIn etc for safety reasons a “thing”?

Thank you in advance, sorry if this is a stupid question!

There's something wrong with a company that makes those things part of their recruitment criteria (unless the company actually IS Facebook or LinkedIn).

Job market is probably just tight out there, most companies contracted recently.

I’m a recruiter. I wouldn’t bat an eyelid at someone not having social media - I wouldn’t search for them in the first place on anything other than LinkedIn unless they’ve given the link to something they want to share, such as a blog/portfolio, in their application. Lots of people including myself have privacy settings at the highest level on every other platform anyway, to prevent mixing of work and personal life.

I recruit a lot of grads, and it wouldn’t matter to me in the slightest.

I do always google people and I’ve made the decision not to hire based on things I’ve found, but no footprint would never be an issue for me.

I suspect it’s industry dependant though. I’ve previously worked alongside people who recruit grads into consumer PR, and they would put much more behind ‘personal brand’ bollocks. I suspect you still wouldn’t be ruled out because of having no online presence, but having really slick social media would be a boost for others.

We recruit from linkedin, we search profiles and invite people to interview rather than posting a job publicly - I think lots of companies are doing this now - you have a better chance of finding the right candidate, while they are maybe not even thinking of moving - Cambridge were introducing searchable software on their jobs boards to allow recruiters to search through their students pre-covid - not sure if that's in place yet.
Some people have a modified name though - often something like Anne M. and no pic - this does not put me off as long as their profile describes what they are involved in at work, so I can take a view on whether you have the right skills, academics and experience. A lack of connections on linkedin makes me wonder about how easily they build relationships (this is important in our line of work)...so it would be something I'd seek to reassure myself with in the interview but again it wouldn't put me off.

@lljkk

There's something wrong with a company that makes those things part of their recruitment criteria (unless the company actually IS Facebook or LinkedIn).

Job market is probably just tight out there, most companies contracted recently.

The jobs market is booming at the moment - not across every sector but it's not a general thing that companies are slimming down.

When it comes to grad recruitment, recruiters will be plowing through literally hundreds of CVs and will be far more interested in relevant work experience & internships, what University you attended and your class of degree rather than your social media profile. I do quite a bit of marketing recruitment - if the role you had applied for was digital comms related then I’d expect to see a developed online presence. But otherwise to be honest, at grad level I wouldn’t even check. No one expects a grad to have much of a LinkedIn profile and I don’t source grads from LinkedIn. Your lack of social media presence is really absolutely fine at this stage.

Going forwards, most of us do recruit experienced staff off LinkedIn so while it’s not important now, it will be in a couple of years.

Honestly, just focus on putting together a great CV and do get someone else to check the grammar!

PS - that wasn’t a comment on the grammar in your post just to clarify! As I’m sure other recruiters of grads will agree, some of the grammar on the CVS we receive is rather shocking!

@SJaneS49

When it comes to grad recruitment, recruiters will be plowing through literally hundreds of CVs and will be far more interested in relevant work experience & internships, what University you attended and your class of degree rather than your social media profile. I do quite a bit of marketing recruitment - if the role you had applied for was digital comms related then I’d expect to see a developed online presence. But otherwise to be honest, at grad level I wouldn’t even check. No one expects a grad to have much of a LinkedIn profile and I don’t source grads from LinkedIn. Your lack of social media presence is really absolutely fine at this stage.

Going forwards, most of us do recruit experienced staff off LinkedIn so while it’s not important now, it will be in a couple of years.

Honestly, just focus on putting together a great CV and do get someone else to check the grammar!

Spot on 👏

What industry are you in?
Corporate recruiters only use application information so no issue there.

However you will miss out on being headhunted by recruiters - and on valuable networking information (e.g. I notice that a former colleague is in a team I want to join - I reach out to her and get offered a job).

Create an account with a difficult to search name (maybe your first name and initial for example) and put a photo of you very far away so that it's unidentifiable.

Also just to note -
I'm just about to roll off a corporate grad scheme and received several offers at the time of graduation. I did however fail every single summer internship I applied for (bar one) - at the same firms that I went on to get graduate jobs for. So don't worry - the first application 'season' is good for practice. Apply the moment they open. The final few candidates may all be good enough but are competing for a small number of places while most early ones who pass the required standard get offers

I echo what previous posters have said.
I recruit and definitely check LinkedIn now for every CV I receive, however I wouldn't necessarily discount an undergrad without a LinkedIn presence. I don't bother with FB as in our industry, most people don't use it or if they do so, so covertly that we'd be basically doing OSINT searches/

Worry about LinkedIn in a couple of years however it is workable to use a modified name (when it comes to it) and a photo which is partially obscured/ done in such a way that it will evade facial recognition software. It's what I do. Good luck!

Don't be downhearted. It's just luck half the time and I've been there with a stalker. It's shit. But you are mightier than them.

Thank you all so much for the responses