How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search
social media in your job search
For years career coaches and career centers have stressed networking as an important part of the job search strategy. Social media has kicked up networking to a whole other level.
Per Capterra, in 2014 a whopping 94% of recruiters were either using or planning to use social media for recruiting.
It makes sense then that you would be using social media in your job search as a networking tool. While it may be overwhelming to use social media in your job search, below are some tips to help make it more manageable.
Do's for Social Media in Your Job Search
LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are not just for photos of your latest meals or trip to the beach and TikTok is not just for dance videos. These days, you can use these platforms to:
Join groups
Follow people in industries of choice
Show your interests
Demonstrate your professional expertise
Research companies and industries
Get job alerts or notification about things of interest
Learn about new resources
Honor people whose work you admire
Bridge the gap between your professional life and personal interests
Promote ideas you value
Communicate with friends or like minded people
Advocate for an idea, your school etc.
Search for hashtags that relate to a job you’re looking for
Follow your dream companies to see postings for new opportunities
As you engage social media in your job search, remember that these social media networks all have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, on LinkedIn, you can actually get endorsements and references as part of your profile. You can literally build an inventory of your professional life. Twitter's 140 characters, on the other hand, allows you snapshots of professional or personal life mixed in with in with your commentary on current events and breaking news. You can use lists to sort people around your interests.
However you choose to use social media in your job search some of the general networking rules still apply. Be open to meeting new people, be willing to share and connect others and remember that it is not who you give to that you will get from.