How do people find jobs? Turns out it's via both the latest digital technology and the longstanding tried-and-true method of nurturing professional relationships—i.e., networking.

Clutch surveyed 507 people who began a new job within the past six months and found that online job boards are the most popular source of new jobs–nearly half of recent hires (41 percent) found their current role through an online job board. However, the more traditional method of networking is the second-most popular way to find a new job, with a quarter (25 percent) of the respondents saying that networking led to their current role.

Men and women are equally likely to find a job through networking, but women are more likely to find a job through an online job board (44 percent) than men (33 percent), according to the survey.

An up-and-coming way to finding a job is through social media, listed by 14 percent of respondents, while an email newsletter from either an individual company or from an industry source was cited as a job source by 5 percent.

“Today, job seekers rely on a mix of traditional and digital resources when searching for their next role,” Clutch's Michelle Delgado writes. “Companies should post their job listings on online job boards such as Indeed and LinkedIn, network with candidates and even use social media to hire their next employee.”

For employers that use on online job boards to find workers, they can increase their chances of appearing in relevant job searches by including popular keywords in the job descriptions, as well as details such as the level of experience they are seeking, the specific location of the job location and whether or not the job is full-time or part-time, Delgado writes.

“Hiring managers and HR professionals should research similar job listings in their area to determine which phrasing is most commonly used,” she writes. “Candidates rely on automatic job alerts to discover new opportunities, so companies should optimize their online job board postings to increase their chances of appearing there.”

Employers can also increase their chances of finding the right talent by making their postings available via smartphones, as more people are on-the-move than ever, according to HRDive.

But no matter the method people choose to find a job, the candidate's experience should be top-of-mind for employers. “By knowing how job seekers conduct their searches and what tools and platforms they prefer to use, recruiters can create a better experience,” HRDive writes. “With a variety of tech tools available, recruiters can make candidates' experiences positive by humanizing the recruitment and hiring process. Today's candidates want and expect more humanization in what can seem like an impersonal set of procedures.”

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