Social media is an important part of conducting of your job search. Many companies are using it to find candidates for their job openings. Check out the statistics from this infographic on the left via Staff.com
You cannot simply setup profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. You must actively participate on these platforms and be involved in discussions online. This proactive approach is how you network online with the intention of connecting with people that are looking to hire. You want to make sure your profile is accurate and doesn’t include any embellishments. Remember, you want to allow employers to see your profile, so don’t make your privacy restrictions so tight they cannot see your profile. If you try to be invisible online, that can work against you. An employer may perceive this as you are not with the times and won’t make a good candidate for the position.
Many jobs are not advertised anymore. Recruiters are using social media to find candidates, so your best chances for being considered is to get your profiles setup and start networking online. The reason recruiters and hiring agents are using social media is the candidate pool available to them is nearly unlimited. In addition, they are able to learn about your qualifications and skills, as well as your personality by looking at your social media and your interactions online.
The best way to think about it is this is your personal branding. A great place to get started on creating your personal brand is LinkedIn. When you edit your profile there, LinkedIn will make suggestions on how to improve your profile. You can also look at profiles of connections that are of quality. Compare their profiles to yours and see where you can improve. You can also hire a professional LinkedIn profile organization to help you improve your profile (www.ChapmanServices.com).
A great way to start networking on LinkedIn is to use your existing network. You can import people from your email system and build off of that thereafter. From that point, you can start sharing valuable content to your network and comment on your networks content.
On LinkedIn and Facebook, you can join groups and start making valuable connections on there. Be a source of valuable information where your connections will see you as a source of knowledge. Another great way to make connections is to research companies that you would like to work with and follow them. If they post any job opening, you will receive notifications when they post it.
