I just had a discussion on what is #E20 (Enterprise 2.0) and we could clearly answer this one by „a holistic approach on how modern companies do business“.

In the beginning of Social Media – it was all about Communication and collaboration. Marketing for products and of course for jobs.

Today you will hardly find any big organization, which does not use Social Media for their recruiting. There are even companies, where you apply for a job via Twitter with a link to your LinkedIN, aboutme or Xing profile …that tells way more than some pieces of paper and saves a lot of effort – and it is faster too, even offering great filtering possibilities.

Many people today want to work for a modern company, where he/she can use modern tools, be seen as an individual, with great flexibility and a corporate portfolio which goes along with personal values… the question is – how to find out, how far down the road a company is. In many cases they have a great digital on boarding, but after you signed the contract – you get a paper check-list as handout to start…

Asking a company of their „Social Business Status“ (are you using internal Social Media and is it alive?) will give you a very good insight.

Be aware, many recruiter will not have a perfect answer to this (it is not even an official term) – but that gives already a first indicator. You might want to ask them, where Social Media is used in the company already or if they can give you some examples in the area you apply for. Best would be if YOU could give them an idea, where YOU would use Social Media in your future role – and what the benefits are.

A company with a healthy Social Media will most likely be:

• less hierarchical
• having a more modern leadership style (on eye level)
• an open feedback culture
• openness to individual ideas
• higher respect to each employee, but also anyone they work with
• faster processes
• increased diversity
• higher flexibility (which is also more demanding, of course)
• a different mindset when it comes to career and appreciation