Social media is more than a space for sharing memes and getting the latest news about famous people.
If you play your cards right, you can leverage social media to help with your job hunting efforts.
The challenge is that it takes more than posting “Looking for a job” on your Facebook wall to get hired.
You’ll also need to implement solid strategies to find employment, such as optimizing your LinkedIn profile for job search.
While there are many ways to make the most of social media platforms to help you find your dream job, we’ll start with the four tips below.
1. Share a CV or online portfolio on social media
One of the best ways to use your social media profiles for your job search is to create a social media page or portfolio to showcase your work.
You can also share blog posts on your social media feeds relevant to your industry or niche.
For instance, if you have Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expertise or experience, you can create a blog post on how to buy SEO articles.
You can share the whole piece on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
For more visual-based social networks such as Instagram, share snippets and links your audience can click to get to the entire piece.
If you want to take your efforts to showcase your work on social media to the next level, you can create compelling YouTube videos with voiceovers or fun infographics about your experience and skills.
Try to highlight how your skills and experience can help future employers instead of simply bragging about your accomplishments and capabilities.
It’s a great way to share your characteristics and qualities without being too self-promotional, which can turn off potential employers.
Creating a social media portfolio can help lead your potential employers to your best work.
2. Edit your privacy settings
Most modern employers will check your social media profiles to get a good sense of your personality, interests, etc. It’s one way of gauging whether you’ll be a good fit for the job.
That said, your Facebook profiles and pages should be free from controversial, scandalous, or inappropriate content and posts if you want to get hired.
It’s not always your posts that can be deemed “unprofessional” since other people can tag you in photos and videos.
To ensure your potential employers won’t see anything that could ruin your chances of getting hired (or even a chance at an interview), adjust your privacy settings.
For example, you can configure your Facebook profile and tagging settings to “Only you.” You can also enable the timeline review options to check each tagged content and show or hide it from your timeline.
Image source: facebook.com.
The goal isn’t to hide and deceive your prospective employers but to ensure your private life doesn’t interfere with your career opportunities.
The key is to maintain respectable and professional-looking social media profiles to increase your chances of landing a job.
You can also create a dedicated social media profile for your job hunting and career advancement purposes to help keep things strictly professional.
3. Be proactive but not desperate
While your goal is to find jobs using social media platforms, you don’t want to come off as desperate.
Try to be understated with your job search.
Avoid constantly posting “Please hire me” on your social media pages, even if you do it as a joke. It can reflect negatively on you and might drown out intelligent content that might help your cause.
Instead, present yourself on your social media profiles as a proactive, skilled, and knowledgeable person while keeping an eye on opportunities and connecting with relevant people.
Be creative and strategic when posting online to help get your foot in the door. Pitch a story, project, or idea that will most likely interest people in your industry (and recruiters).
You can also join Facebook and LinkedIn groups relevant to your career interests, such as groups for people who use reliable church data management systems.
It’s a great way to connect with and learn from industry experts while establishing your expertise.
Social media groups and communities often post job opportunities you can get first dibs on.
4. Leverage platforms with job search features
While most popular social media platforms aren’t designed for job seeking, LinkedIn offers handy features and opportunities to help you find work.
LinkedIn provides suggested jobs based on your profile and search history, including skills assessment, interview prep, a resume builder, and job seeker guidance from industry experts.
You can also bookmark potential jobs and set up job alerts, so you don’t miss employment opportunities that best fit your experience and skills.
Image source: linkedin.com.
It also helps to optimize your LinkedIn profile for job seeking with these tips.
- Use a professional-looking profile picture. Use a work-appropriate and high-resolution picture for your profile photo. It can help you appear more professional and credible.
If you have graphic design skills and are looking for work in that industry, you can use a creative yet appropriate profile photo to show off your skills.
- Write a catchy headline. Catch your potential employer’s eye with a standout headline that conveys what you can offer.
Opt for relevant keywords over uniqueness since wordplay doesn’t often appear in job ads. It can lower your chances of getting found by prospective employers.
- Add a professional summary to your profile. Showcase your aspirations and achievements or present your elevator pitch in the summary box.
Share the sample processes you improved in previous jobs and the qualities that make you an excellent employee. Also, include relevant keywords that recruiters commonly search for.
You can also leverage social media platforms such as Twitter to aid your job search.
For instance, if you have expertise and experience in reliable user behavior analytics tools, look for hashtags using the same keywords.
Find specific hashtags linking directly to job posts and ads and those relevant to your industry.
Harness the power of social media to find work
Social media can be an excellent space to find your next career opportunities.
Know the best ways to leverage social media to find jobs, use reliable tools, and plan your approach to increase your chances of succeeding.
