Module 4:

Developing Self-Marketing Skills

Using Social Media for Your Job Search

You knew social media was important for the job search, but just how important is it? Turns out, very. In fact, 92% of companies are using social media for hiring—and more than just LinkedIn.

Source: TheMuse.com

General Social Media Job Search Tips

1. Get Everything Squeaky Clean

Make sure any public information on your various profile is super clean. This doesn’t just mean profanities and party pics—you should also consider removing articles that are politically divisive or could be considered offensive, posts that are super random, long rants on a certain topic, and the like. SimpleWash is a great tool that can help you search your feeds for things to delete.

2. Don’t Have an Account on Everything

Being “active on social media” doesn’t mean opening an account on every platform possible. Quite the opposite in fact! It’s much better to have a well-crafted, up-to-date account on one or two platforms than to have a bunch of accounts that haven’t been touched in years. Every job seeker should have a LinkedIn account, and a Facebook or Twitter to show that you’re a real person doesn’t hurt. Beyond that, consider what’s really important for your industry.

3. Use Your Real Name

It can be tempting to pick a punchy nickname or handle when making your profiles but, as much as possible, use your real name. This both looks more professional and means that people will be able to find your profiles when they search for your name. If you have a common name or often go by a nickname, at least choose a consistent name you’ll use across platforms, and try to have your real name somewhere on each account.

4. Keep Your Image Professional and Consistent

You should have a clear, friendly, recent, and appropriately professional image to use across all platforms. Not sure what “appropriately professional” means? Take a look around at what the people in your industry are wearing (or try out PhotoFeeler ), to see how competent, influential, and friendly your photo makes you look.

5. Get Your Personal Branding Down

In addition to a consistent name and consistent photo, you should have a consistent brand across your social platforms. You want people to know who you are, what you do, and where you’re going.

6. Use Your Social Accounts as Jumping Off Points

A social media account should never live in isolation—it should link off to somewhere that people can learn more about you. On all your social media accounts, make sure to include a link to the projects you’re working on from current jobs or past jobs, your personal website , your blog, or anywhere else someone could learn more about you.

7. Bring All Your Accounts Together in One Place

Conversely, make sure there’s a central hub where you can collect all of your various presences around the web. A personal website or landing page is a great option, or you could simply make sure to link to them all from your LinkedIn profile. Doing this will mean that whenever hiring managers or potential contacts search for you on social media for potential jobs, they can easily find all the profiles you want them to see.

8. And Put Them on Your Job Search Materials

Your social media profiles are now a great representation of who you are and where you’re going, so make sure they’re out there! Put your Twitter handle on your resume, mention your industry-specific network in your cover letter, and tell people where to find you on your business card or your email signature. If you’ve done the work to make them good and professional, don’t be shy about sharing them!

9. Don’t Use it for Professional Communications

While it’s okay to promote your professional social media profiles in your materials when searching for jobs, don’t use it for job-search related communications. In other words, you shouldn’t be badgering companies you’re applying to on Facebook or following up with recruiters after an interview on Twitter.

10. Use Scheduling Tools to Stay on Top of Things

Worried you won’t remember to update your social profiles regularly? There are plenty of tools out there that will allow you to schedule, get ahead, share things directly from your browser, and hardly have to think about keeping an active social presence.

E-Portfolios

Your career e-portfolio, much like your resume, is a demonstration of your skills, abilities, and achievements as they relate to the type of position you are seeking. Additionally, you can now include text, files, images, multimedia, blog entries, links, audio, and video. Creating a digital portfolio for a specific job listing can demonstrate your professional capabilities and make you more attractive to employers. It is also a quick way for employers to access your relevant projects and accomplishments.

All of the information provided in your e-portfolio should be employer focused. This means asking, “What can I do for the employer? How can my skills and experience add value to the employer? What skills, attributes, learning, etc. can I demonstrate that can be used in the employer’s environment?”

A career e-portfolio does not replace a resume or cover letter, rather it enhances them by serving as a way to supplement, support, and extend your resume. As a dynamic profile with actual examples of your work, it gives employers the ability to learn much more about you and the work that you are describing in the resume and cover letter.

Templates

Basic

Grids

Maple Red

References:

Greenawald, Erin. 4 Feb. 2015, “45 Things to Do on Social Media to Find Jobs.” The Muse, www.themuse.com/advice/45-things-to-do-on-social-media-to-find-jobs.

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