Virtual-corkboard-website Pinterest is now a place to find a job, pin stuff about your career aspirations and search for quirky Pinterest infographics about employment. The social media juggernaut ranks fourth among such websites, behind Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with 250 million unique monthly visitors. Although the top three have been used for job vetting and searching for years, prospective employees and companies with job openings cannot overlook Pinterest.
Although relatively small, 38 Pinterest infographics fall under the category "Infographics for Job Seekers" as of November 2014. The visual representations range from the pop-culture phenomenon "Mad Men" to informative graphics about what life was like for job seekers in 1913 versus 2013.
The most important pins come from job placement companies. One of several Pinterest infographics from FirstJob.com uses a Monopoly-style gameboard to explain the reasons why job hopping is a bad idea. Another piece from the firm touts changes in advertising careers. Half of the pins in this category are ads for the same company.
So what do these advertisements say about job-seeking pins? There is an untapped market waiting to be exploited by firms that want to hire and by job seekers who need employment. Instead of waiting for prospective employees to pin a company to a profile, businesses can be proactive with advertisements and placements based on the choices of consumers. Job seekers can find companies that are hiring and pin the companies' job postings.
The number of Pinterest pins bears this out. As of November 2014, the social media website has 126 pins and 171 followers for "Job Seeker Advice," 269 Pinterest infographics and 1,308 followers for "Job Search" along with 137 pins and 2,440 followers for "Job Search Inspiration." Only 66 pins list "Job Postings," yet 860 infographics show visual resumes with more than 8,700 followers. Listings for "Infographic Resumes" contain 284 pins and 4,627 followers.
The larger picture of these statistics is that there are plenty of people posting job skills, but not enough companies posting job opportunities. There are far fewer companies that seek employees in "Job Postings" than there are people who look for creative resumes. Pinterest is a great place to find nifty graphics for creative resumes, but it appears companies are not finding those job seekers.
The simplicity and creativity of Pinterest are the keys. All users do is place Pinterest infographics based on their interests. Companies already use this to confirm the shopping needs and interests of consumers who want wedding planning advice and vacation ideas. Nifty graphics pack a lot of information into colorful presentations. Users, and companies that buy advertisements, can be as creative as they want.
Pinterest succeeds because there are no retweets, rebuttals or 10,000 comments on a Facebook post. People simply pin a graphic, and it gets repinned. When a pin gets thousands of repins, it becomes popular. Companies can pay for placement of pins just like with any other website or search engine.
Pinterest's 250 million unique monthly visitors cannot be ignored. Yet, Pinterest infographics seem to be a neglected, untapped market for retailers, businesses and firms looking for employees. Investing a few hundred dollars in a freelance graphic designer for a Pinterest ad seems like a bargain for businesses that need quick and easy ways to find prospective employees.
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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