10 Tips To Help You Maximize Social Media To Find Employment

Social media is a growing resource for job seekers looking for new opportunities to help you land your ideal job.  As a career coach, one of the best pieces of advice I have for job seekers is to network and make connections with companies you want to work with, instead of waiting for job postings.  Social media provides you with a natural platform to do just that. 

Social media has quickly become a dominant force for companies to find and hire quality talent. A recent survey of hiring managers showed 92% use or plan to use social media for recruiting – an increase of almost 10% from the 83% using social recruiting in 2010.  73% have successfully hired a candidate through social networks.

Now, more than ever, it is crucial to be media savvy and use all tools that are available in your job search. If you are not sure where to begin in social media, two good places to start are Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Twitter is a site where 140-character “tweets” pour in every second of the day; it is a stream of ongoing conversations which you can jump in on at any time. LinkedIn is an international business networking site where you can find former colleagues, connect with industry experts and search job postings.  It is well known that some recruiters are using social media as their first resource in looking for candidates. 

Here are some tips to help you utilize social media in your job search:

1. Whatever you post on social media sites can be viewed by anyone, so make yourself marketable and engaging.

2. For your online profile, it is important that your photo is clear, appropriate and professional, not hiding behind icons or blank images.

3. By creating a Twitter bio that reflects your career interests, you are letting other Twitter users know what areas you are looking to share information and have conversations about.

4. On Twitter the more you engage, the more contacts and relationships you build and that is what will help you land your next job. 

5. By re-tweeting posts (repeating a tweet) on Twitter, you can garner the attention of industry contacts you want to build and network.

6. You can also post your resume for free on LinkedIn, making it accessible to the hundreds of recruiters who are on there looking for people like you. 

7. On LinkedIn your contacts can introduce you to their contacts, and there is no better way to meet potential employers than being recommended by a mutual contact. 

8. You can ask industry experts questions and garner insightful feedback in regards to your job search through Twitter and LinkedIn.

9. A tweet or a message from a LinkedIn colleague may alert you of a networking event, where you can meet your online contacts face-to-face and help to improve your opportunity to find and land your dream job. 

10. Actively use social media, be it tweeting or posting comments to industry discussion boards, in order to get comfortable with the medium.  That ease in using social media will be evident to job recruiters and add to your online reputation.