Using Social Media to Land a Job

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etiquette, Facebook, how to get a job, how to use social media to get a job, job hunt, LinkedIn, personal brand, social media, social media job, social media rules, twitter

Photo from Levo League

Social media can be an important tool in the job hunt for ANY profession you go into. Whether you aspire to be a personal fitness trainer, nanny, teacher, writer, graphic designer or an engineer, using social media tools strategically can help you land a job.

Here’s how…

Keep your brand in mind. Always.
Social media is not just for fun, it can be a critical tool when job-hunting. The first thing to consider is your brand. Yes, YOU as a brand. Who are you?

Activity: Write down five character traits you’d like to be known for.

Now, as you are active on your social sites, consider these five traits. Does your online behavior reflect these traits? If not, time to adjust your behavior. If so, keep up the good work! A good rule to stick to is called the 80/20 rule. Meaning, 80 percent of your online content should be professional (or related to your profession) and 20 percent can be personal (just for fun.)

A note a bout personal tweets: If you’re eating a bagel, don’t just tweet, “Ate a bagel.” Reality check: no one cares. Instead, tweet, “Catching up with a j-school friend over a bagel and coffee at @brekenkitchen. #pdxeats @UOSOJC” This tweet, says a lot more about you. It says, you’re relational and that you keep in touch with people. It says you support local businesses and by linking to your alma mater, you show where you went to school and that you’re loyal and proud of the program. See the difference?

Think before you tweet.

Tweet with intentionality.

Google yourself. Never done it? If not, go do it right now.
What did you find? Employers are looking for passionate, hard-working and talented professionals. Do your Google results point to that? Is there anything that would raise an eyebrow?

If you wouldn’t want your grandma to see it, delete it.

Now.

Set your privacy settings to the highest possible setting. I recommend using you use Facebook for your friends and LinkedIn and Twitter (and blog is applicable) for your professional contacts. It is common practice for an employer to Google you before an interview. They’ll come into the interview with that research in mind and come with related questions. They’ll also come with an opinion based on their research. Be prepared for that.

Warning: While things can technically be deleted, whatever has ever been published on the internet is in some fashion, permanent. Employers can look as far back as they want, even high school.

The LinkedIn Advantage. If nothing else, do this!
LinkedIn is useful for ALL professions, not just business majors. Why? Because it serves as a virtual résumé. For more on how to use LinkedIn specifically, check back for a post later this week.

General Social Media Rules to follow:

• Be professional
• Proofread all posts for spelling, punctuation, grammar and content
• Be consistent in your social media presence
• Be positive.
• Be active. (2-3 posts per week)

Here are the cold hard facts from The Recruiter’s Lounge:

Using social media tools can take your job application from a piece of plain white paper on a desk along with a hundred others, to you, a multi-demential and dynamic, you. You can create an online replica of who you are in reality. By doing this, you allow people to get to know you before they’ve even met you.

The ultimate goal is that when a potential employer Googles you, he or she will she not only facts about you, but who you really are! They will see you hobbies, interests and personality. YOU and all you are will come to live and they will want nothing more that to meet you! 

“There is no one alive who is youer than you!” -Dr. Seuss

So be YOU! Show them YOU!

You can do this. If all this is new to you it’s OK.

Take it one step at a time and remember: If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.