How to Use Social Media for Job Searching

Nowadays, with the advent of social media platforms everywhere you go (Facebook in your pocket included). Being able to converse at length about the newest memes is just as valuable a networking skill as ensuring everyone remembers how pretty and intelligent you were the last time they saw you during a job interview. In today’s article, we will walk you through “How to use social media for job searching”.

Even if you are not actively seeking new job opportunities, a polished online presence can bring your name to the attention of potential employers and people in your field.

Networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter or even Facebook are replete with ways in which you can network or understand company culture and job functions. Knowing how to use these tools properly can mean a lot in your search for a job.

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1. Profile Building: Professional

Sometimes your profile is the first thing potential employers will see about you. Having a polished and professional presence on LinkedIn, Twitter or other platforms can do wonders for your skills and overall personality.

Its LinkedIn: ensure an updated, and comprehensive LinkedIn profile. The trick is to use keywords in your field so recruiters discover you.

A concise professional overview, well-documented work history and a friendly, yet professional photograph of yourself are all things that can help you get noticed.

Facebook and Twitter — Many forget about Facebook, but it has become an important tool in the job search landscape. Join relevant groups, follow industry leaders and perhaps post professional content.

It goes without saying – keep your privacy settings in check and make sure the stuff you post publicly paints a professional picture.

Instagram and Others: Instagram is not a platform you would normally use to find work but for creative industries, this might be your golden goose. Present Your Portfolio // Display your work in the best way possible and create a narrative that cross references with your career.

2. Networking and Engaging

As everyone knows, when it comes to job searching and social media use there’s one thing that stands head-and-shoulders above all others: networking. Networking is Networking and you never know what connection in the online world leads to an opportunity.

Engage with Professionals & Community: Connect to the professionals, and join groups on LinkedIn or Facebook. This demonstrates to future employers that you’re interested in your field and gives you a chance to learn from each other.

Share, like or comment on industry-related content. This will help make you less visible to your network and display that you are a resource in the eyes of recruiters.

DM: People, for information or adding a personal touch to their hiring process. Don’t send them an entire novel, keep it brief and if they don’t answer respectfully let that be the end of the conversation.

3. Check Out the Companies & Opportunities

Social media provides tremendous insight into the organization, its culture and what your prospective employer would want to see in a candidate.

Understand Company Culture: Follow companies you admire to better understand your potential work environment.

Your LinkedIn company pages are usually flooded with stories of other employees, awards and announcements that might help you understand the culture or objectives for this particular Company.

Role/team exploration – Use LinkedIn to explore employee profiles and review their skills & career path This can also prepare you to know about specific roles or whether your fit is right.

Change of Time: A lot has changed over time keeping the budgeting aside many companies also use social media to announce things like expansions, layoffs or new leadership. Keeping abreast with this info allows you to time your application or networking outreach whenever applicable.

Job hunting made easy: There are many tools provided by professional networking and social media platforms. Utilizing these tools efficiently can save time and keep you up to date with the latest opportunities.

On the Job Search Tool of LinkedIn — The job search tool from LinkedIn is very sophisticated. It is possible to configure alerts for certain roles, locations and companies.

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The “Easy Apply” feature lets you apply to some listings right away by sending your resume directly (very handy for those roles which are not interested in passive or semi-passive candidates).

Twitter may not seem like the first place you would look for a job, but it can be very effective as well Follow Hashtags on Twitter Track industry-specific hashtags – #Hiring, #JobOpening, and niches such as #TechJobs or even a specific hashtag like #MarketingJobs (if that is what you are looking for).

Notifications and connections: You can set notifications to stay abreast of new opportunities. LinkedIn Open to Work — Tell Recruiters You Want a Job Reaching out to hiring managers or recruiters gets your name in that search list.

5. Building a Personal Brand

So, in reality, building a brand is completely separate to becoming an influencer but it does mean that you are creating a general image of yourself which includes your abilities and values while showcasing the craft Side.

Share Relevant Content– Follow a schedule to share articles, blog posts or projects in your industry. This shows that you are active and well-informed in your field.

However, Posting Achievements and Projects: Do not do a vault of your achievements. Completed a course, earned your certificate or finished that extensive project and lent it to posting as well. Employers want someone who is going to keep rising.

Blog posts or articles: If writing is more your style, share an article on LinkedIn or Medium about trends in the industry, challenges you face as a user researcher bee designer etc. This is great for demonstrating your expertise.

However, the same technology that can help your career (especially this aspect of it) might also hurt you if not used well and unfortunately, there are a lot of ways to do social media wrong. And here, how to avoid them.

Being Professional: Do not post anything controversial or way too personal in public accounts. Professionalism goes a long way in job hunting, even for casual industries.

Unclog those profiles: Time to go back through the past posts. Get rid of anything that could be considered unprofessional or inappropriate. Sometimes employers search for their candidates on social media to get an insight.

Don’t Overpost — or Spam As a general rule, being active is good; but if you post too much at one time it can be overwhelming for your connections. Instead, share occasional content that is of use to the target market and strike a balance.

While so many dismiss social media as a time-suck, it is loaded with chances to network and display behaviours that can land you in the role of your dreams.

These are ways to leverage social media for job searching — Create professional profiles, network well, research companies carefully and avoid the common pitfalls that keep people from really making use of social sites in their pursuit of work.

Be thoughtful about how you use the tools available and remember Jawo also mentions consistency. It took time for you to build a professional presence on social media but it can help in the New Year and beyond.