Digitisation is already dominating most aspects of our lives, heavily influencing how we now seek for job opportunities and go about applying for them. Gone are the days when the resume was a piece of paper.

Now, it’s a collection of a candidate’s data that can be found online like participation in online communities, conferences and meet-ups or Facebook posts, Instagram photos that divulge the personality of person and his/her likes and interests.

According to a recent LinkedIn’s Middle East and North Africa (Mena) research that surveyed over 170 corporate talent acquisition leaders, businesses will continue to use social professional networks such as LinkedIn to identify and hire new talent, further strengthening the reign of social media. Another research — the 2016 Mena Talent Trends — revealed that approximately 51 per cent of professionals were “actively searching” for new roles and were found to be more likely to land a new job by applying through social networks and through company careers websites than their global counterparts.

Though it is true that online talent platforms are increasingly connecting people to the right job opportunities, those labour markets that haven’t really kept up pace with changing economies are now facing problems such as unemployment, under-employment, stationary wages and discourage.

Online talent platforms can address these labour-market dysfunctions by more effectively connecting individuals with work opportunities.

Most of the times, the biggest roadblock that candidates across all the world — and especially in the Mena region — face is a disparity in the transparency of information — or lack thereof — between recruiters and jobseekers. A LinkedIn survey conducted last year found that 54 per cent of candidates in the Mena region prioritise understanding a company’s culture and values when applying for jobs.

This was then followed by a greater understanding of perks and benefits, as well as the corporate mission, company leadership, and the company’s actual products and services. Online platforms can therefore increase the transparency of the demand for skills, enabling young people to make better educational choices.

Online platforms are not only being used to identify and recruit talent but are also serving as a platform to motivate talent and assume a role of a thought-leader for anyone looking for career guidance. There is also an enormous opportunity to harness the data these platforms gather to produce insights into the demand for specific skills and occupations.

For instance, LinkedIn’s Power Profiles campaign that lists the most powerful members on the social platform on the basis of the most number of views celebrates this rise and reign of social media, while also stressing on the importance of professional branding — a must in today’s socially active world.

Adding a professional photo, giving an attractive header, briefly listing out key career achievements, adding images to support work experience, sharing status updates to share industry-relevant content are some the tips that can be used to utilise the platform of social media and shape one’s career.

The writer is Head of LinkedIn Talent Solutions for Growth Markets, Southern Europe, Middle East and North Africa.