Social media can be an invaluable tool when embarking on a job hunt.
Nowadays, most employers and recruitment agencies are using social media to identify and source the best candidates for roles, so even if you’re not a fan, you should try to incorporate it into your job search strategy. It gives you the opportunity to establish your personal brand, network with others in your industry, identify job opportunities, and turn those relationships into real-life job opportunities.
Traditionally, your CV commonly would have only been seen by those to whom you sent it to, or by the recruiters who are working with companies to source best-fit candidates. Having active social media profiles can, however, help you increase your professional footprint and make you a more trusted candidate to any company you’re interested in working for. Remember, though, that while social media profiles can help you find a job, they’re only a tool as valuable as the amount of time and effort you put into managing them. You need to be strategic and proactive in sharing knowledge, building relationships and developing trust with your target audience.
BASIC SOCIAL MEDIA DOS AND DON’TS TO KEEP IN MIND
| DO | DON’T |
| Use your real name | Unnecessarily spam people |
| Check your privacy settings | Focus on yourself – be helpful to others |
| Share your knowledge, insights and resources | Just follow conversations – engage in them too |
| Regularly update your accounts | Use inappropriate photos |
| Be sociable: network with others like you | Use profanity, text speak or insult others |
| Use channels where your target audience exist | Buy followers or likes |
Now that you have realised there’s more to social media than sharing photos of your food or arguing politics, it’s time to learn how to perfect your search on each of the major networks. Trying to find jobs on social media isn’t particularly difficult, especially on LinkedIn, but finding opportunities that are a correct fit for you, or the positions that you’re excited about, can be a big challenge. So, where do you get started? We’ll walk you through how to use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to secure that dream role you’ve always been looking for.
FIND ACCOUNTS: Once you have added a professional bio and headshot photo to your profile, one of the quickest ways to find job-related accounts based on the accounts you follow is by putting “jobs” into the search box at the top of your timeline. Click the ‘People’ tab to see accounts which are similar in interest and location to those you’re already following.
FOLLOW HASHTAGS: Two of the most popular hashtags in Ireland for those trying to find a job are #jobfairy and #irishjobfairy. On a daily basis, you will find companies and recruitment agencies promoting the latest jobs they’re recruiting for, so be sure to check back regularly.
FOLLOW COMPANIES: Do you know where you want to work? Find and follow the Twitter accounts of those companies so that you don’t miss any updates about the latest opportunities to join the team.
CREATE LISTS: If you’re a social butterfly, it can be tricky to keep up to date on all of the relevant updates from recruitment agencies, companies, industry experts and fellow job seekers. That’s where Twitter lists become incredibly valuable by allow you to create lists by interest in order to separate content that can benefit your career from anything related to your personal interests.
Facebook may not be considered a professional networking tool, but if you look beyond the numerous updates from family and friends, there’s more to the world’s largest social network than you first may realise. Unlike Twitter, you can join private groups for job seekers, browse job boards to find opportunities in your area, and follow pages that specifically promote available roles.
It’s worth starting with Facebook’s dedicated jobs portal, which by default, will show jobs in your local area. You can always adjust the search parameters if you’re searching for a role elsewhere. If you do find something of interest, you can apply directly through Facebook where only your basic personal information will be shared with the company. It will then be down to them to get in touch with you for additional information related to your job application. Don’t worry though – it won’t give a potential employer access to any private posts or photos on your profile.
If you haven’t already, you should also follow the official pages of companies you’re interested in. While job recruitment websites may be the first touch point for finding out about a role, the company’s page on Facebook will help to give you an idea of their values, philosophy, and what type of marketing campaigns they have been running.
LinkedIn is generally the first port of call when searching for opportunities. Your personal profile should always have your latest employment history, headshot photos, links to recent work, and achievements that help to sell you as a “must-hire” candidate. You should also reach out to your network to ask for endorsements and recommendations to build trust in you as a potential hire for a company.
Unlike Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn is built for finding opportunities and companies will often come looking for you on LinkedIn, which is why having the correct, most up to date information, is not a choice; it’s something you need to keep on top of at all times. If you’re not a frequent user of the platform, you might not be aware of the numerous ways you can promote yourself to potential employers – you can share links to your work, list your interests, display testimonials from past employers, like and share content, and post updates for your whole network to see. Anything that helps you stand out from the crowd will give you a competitive advantage in your job search.
Once your profile is in tip-top shape, start your job search by looking at the jobs section on LinkedIn. You can narrow down your search by location and job title by using the search boxes at the top of the page. If you know how to use boolean operators, you can also apply them here as well. For example, if you use the minus symbol (“-“) in front of particular words, you can exclude them from the results, and if you put a (“+”) in front of words, this will help to ensure these ways are definitely included in the results that are returned.
Are you struggling to sift through all of the results? You can apply filters to help narrow down your job search by experience needed, industry, job type and location. Once you start seeing results that are relevant to you, it’s worth creating a search alert so that any new jobs matching your criteria are automatically sent straight to you in the future – much easier!
Besides the powerful search options, it’s worth taking the time to explore the groups discovery page to find places where you can share knowledge, meet like-minded people, stay up to date with industry news, and build relationships with people who may one day be working in the same team or company as you.
While social media presents excellent opportunities for recruitment, it also means that employers, both current and future, have become acutely aware of and sensitive to an employees’ web-presence. With everything you post under your own name, you need to consider whether you would be happy with this information being publicly available to current and future employers.
