How to Use Social Media to Find Your Next Job
Social media is all the rage. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more platforms seem to be popping up everywhere. In social media like these, we get constant updates about the relevant and not-so-relevant aspects of everyone’s lives.
It can also be a great way to help you with your job search – if your career brand is built and ready to go.
Let’s consider a practical application of social media: finding your next job.
Social media gives you great tools for sharing information electronically with a potentially very large audience.
Try these strategies to help you land a great job:
- Focus your attention on people instead of companies. For instance, if you’re interested in a particular company, look at blogs and on Facebook for people who work there. You’re likely to also see the other people they know. Maybe you share an acquaintance or two. You can submit resumes to them, ask for advice, and get more contacts.
- You’ll want to be subtle; people are unlikely to be happy about being bombarded with job requests on their own time. By starting out with a few non-intrusive messages, you should be able to make in-roads toward your goal.
- Start your own blog. By putting out content that showcases your knowledge and expertise, people will begin to see you as an expert. Blogs are easy to start, and many websites will host yours for free. Other than the work involved, it’s free advertising for your skills.
- Use Twitter. It’s becoming common to hear stories of people getting laid off, sending out a few Tweets proclaiming their new unfortunate job status, and ultimately finding a new position as a result of their Tweets.
- With Twitter, word spreads quickly.
- Companies are beginning to use this tool as well, for this same reason. Recruiters use Twitter to announce positions and give updates.
Here’s a quick Twitter tutorial:
- Go to Twitter.com and fill out your profile completely, including a professional photo of yourself.
- Follow everyone you know. Also follow everyone who seems like they might be able to help you find a position.
- Tweet away.
- Take advantage of video. In addition to more usual social media tools, video is becoming increasingly relevant. Upload a video resume to YouTube and let the world know what you can do and what you’re looking for. Check out other video resumes to get a feel for how it’s done.
- When creating a video, keep brevity in mind. Explain your background; describe what you’re looking for and why you’d be the best person for the job. Take your time and get it right – you can rerecord as often needed.
- Consider Paid Advertising on Social Media. Also, consider Google AdWords and Facebook advertising to put the word out that you’re in job-search mode. To do this, you’ll need to make a landing page with your resume. Adding a blog, video resume, and any publications you authored would be helpful as well.
Social media is here to stay, so you might as well use it for something constructive. Finding employment is never enjoyable, but utilizing social media can really make a difference.
Never before has the average person had so much capability to reach so many people. Craft your message and get it out there every way you can think of.