How Social Media Can Help You Find a Job
As of a couple of years ago, we have seen an increase in social media platforms. If you went back ten years ago, no more than a handful of people would have received a job offer through their social media account. However, today is different.
We have seen Social Media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn be leaders for helping people find jobs in their area. If you go on Facebook, there are more than 100 jobs posted daily for you to apply. Let’s talk about how else they can help you find our future careers.
Advertising Yourself
What does this mean? This means more often than not; other individuals aren’t even seeing your resume. What you should do is max out your LinkedIn profile with all your accomplishments. This will help employers find your profile on their search for new employees.
Even better, message a hiring manager on LinkedIn to the company you applied for. This way, they can put a face to the name and see your professional profile.
Creating Your Network
Social Media is a great way to grow your network. Whether that is Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, this is by far the best way to get your name out there and reach out to others. Back before Social Media, there wasn’t a way to contact someone in a company without meeting them in-person. Barely was there even a chance to get one minute to talk with someone in a company back then. Now, it is different.
If you connect with someone on social media, there will be a higher possibility of you speaking to them. What I would do is go to your social media and link up with people in your area of expertise. Don’t just message them asking them for a job, but get to know who they are.
You can learn more about this on our previous blog post, “How to Master your Elevator Pitch,” but this is the easiest way to connect within a company.
Finding More Jobs to Apply to
As said before, many of these social media platforms are now crucial job boards to find jobs. As you may know, some job boards cost companies’ money, but Facebook doesn’t. Facebook is completely free for companies to post their career opportunities from there and hire candidates. If companies are looking to budget, this is usually where they will first post their job.
On the other hand, companies pay to post jobs to LinkedIn. This means the jobs posted on LinkedIn are going to be for more professional positions. Usually, you won’t see a local restaurant hiring a dishwasher on LinkedIn, but you could see that on Facebook.
Make sure to know which social media platform will be best suited to what you are looking for.
Show Your Worth
This one is the most important out of all of them. Show the company you are worth hiring on social media. Even though it is somewhat an invasion of privacy, some companies still are in the old habit of looking through your social media accounts to see if you will be the right fit. In this case, prove it to them that you are.
Make sure to take down all those photos of you drinking and change them to more family-friendly. On LinkedIn, avoid any posts you would put on Facebook. LinkedIn is much more professional, so make sure your pictures of yourself include dressing professionally and using professional language.
Make sure also to highlight some accomplishments of yours! Whether that is a promotion at your current work or an award you received in school, post it! The more you are interacting on social media, so higher chance someone will recognize your worth!
Check out this image to the left. 94% of Recruiters are on LinkedIn. Doesn’t this mean you should be too?
What kind of stuff that could harm your job search on your social media?
Inappropriate Posts
The one thing that is easy to take off your social media profile is inappropriate posts. This can be several things. What you should avoid is photos with excessive amounts of alcohol, revealing pictures, illegal activity, and photos of yourself doing something in your work outfit outside of work. Why do you ask? Here are a couple of reasons for each.
Posting a picture on Facebook of you at a bonfire with a drink in your hand isn’t the end of the world, and 90% of the time, it is completely fine! However, the time it is not is when you have excessive drinks in one photo. This could be you drinking tequila straight from the bottle or doing a keg stand. I would stay away from these posts as much as possible.
Another note on alcohol, if you are underage, don’t post pictures of yourself drinking online.
Language
This one is an easy one to avoid. Sometimes posting a swear or two on Facebook can be seen as a silly post, but sometimes that could come across as you are not as professional as others. Stay away from swearing if you can.
Also, don’t post negative comments about others online. Negative comments could show that you won’t fit the culture of a company looking into your social media. On the safe side, refrain from posting things that could offend others.
Negative Posts about Current Work
This one may be the most important of them all. Even if you had the worst experience with your current employer or previous employer, do not bad mouth them online. No employer wants to hire someone who badmouths their last work position on their social media accounts. Make sure to keep that off your social media to show your new employer that if you leave the job, you won’t post negative things about them.
What you should take away from this article? Improve your social media to benefit your job search. Just look at this. 10.2 million people have got their current job on LinkedIn, 8 million on Twitter, and 18.4 million on Facebook. Social Media is the new way!
We will see these numbers increase more and more over the years until social media is the best way to find a new job. Always keep up to date on new social media platforms coming out to get the competitive advantage on your competition.
Keep this in mind to the next time you decide to post something on your social media. “According to a survey by CareerBuilder, 70 percent of employers “use social media to screen candidates before hiring.” Even more striking is the follow-on statistic: 54 percent of employers surveyed said they chose not to hire a candidate based on content found on their social media profile(s).”
Source: Inc.com
For more information or to look for job opportunities in your area, check out our website at www.citypersonnel.net or call 401.331.2311.
