微博上招聘开始在中国流行

Can you summarize your education and work history in 140 words or less? If the answer is "Yes", and your words are catchy enough, then congratulations, you may just find the job you're looking for.

In late March, China's popular microblogging platform Sina Weibo launched its online recruitment service.

If a job seeker is interested in a job posted on the site, he or she can directly click the "I Want to Submit a Resume" button, and send their details via their microblog.

22-year-old Li Shan was recently given the opportunity to intern at a media company after applying for a vacancy advertised on Sina Weibo.

"Microblogs are widely used now. Compared to the information here, information on traditional recruitment websites is relatively old. Maybe the websites don't update their information fast enough. I didn't receive any response after posting my resume on those kinds of websites. But job information on microblogs is updated daily, so job seekers like me can access the latest information."

Companies also consider microblogs as an effective channel for recruitment.

For the first time ever, China's computer giant Lenovo launched its campus recruitment campaign on the company's official micro-blog and other social network websites this year, in an effort to target college graduates.

Wang Wenyu is a recruiting specialist from the Human Resources Department of Lenovo China.

"We've realized that students are very interested in microblogs and social network services like RenRen.com. So we started to utilize these platforms for recruitment. We hope more people can obtain information about our company and raise any questions they have through these channels. "

Wang says, thanks to their creative micro-resumes, some students are allowed to bypass parts of the interview process, and progress to the second round of its recruitment stages without having to take a written examination.

"Most of these candidates have majors in the field of technology. But unlike other technology majors whose resumes are ordinary and plain, these candidates are able to express themselves in an imaginative way. They are exactly the kind of person that we want."

A report from the China Internet Network Information Center shows that the number of China's micro-blog users reached 195 million by the end of June this year.

Anya Luang, a consultant at Antal International, a global executive recruitment organization, provides us with a quick snapshot of micro-blog recruitment.

"On the employers' side, I think they now change to a more proactive situation to use Weibo or SNS channel because they can search or attract candidates rather than wait for candidates to apply for their opening positions through the traditional recruiting channel. Another advantage for employers to use this channel is to build up employers' branding for free. "

Microblogs integrate various forms of communication, such as interpersonal, group and public communication. "Fans" and "fans of fans" can transmit information on microblogs with ease. Therefore, attractive job advertisements and creative micro-resumes can be widely circulated among a large group of users within a relatively short period of time.

Luang adds that microblog recruitment mainly concentrates upon the areas of IT or sales related positions and points out that most job seekers are young people who value the high efficiency and low cost of microblog recruitment.

So, will microblog recruitment be able to challenge traditional methods of recruitment? Luang says due to the limited amount of information that is posted on micro-blogs, at the moment they only serve as a channel for information.

"For the whole recruiting process, we still need to have face to face interviews with the candidates, and also some assessments to have a better understanding of both candidates and employers, because on the employee's side they are not just applying for an opportunity just through the Internet. They also need to understand the future employer and what they are going to do in the future position.

Luang also cautioned job seekers, pointing out that micro-blogs are a relatively new platform for recruitment purposes. For this reason, users will find it difficult to distinguish between true and false job information. Related websites and government departments are called upon to actively involve themselves in strengthening the supervision regarding the authenticity of information shared and released.

For CRI, I am Zhang Ru.