HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN MAKE OR MAR YOUR NEXT JOB SEARCH,

Employability isn’t simply about getting your next job. It’s about your ability to develop and manage a satisfying career. Through social media you have the opportunity to maintain your professional identity, and make yourself known and visible for the right reasons. When you apply for a job, your potential employer is likely to search for you online to find out more about you, so the image you present is vital. Make sure nothing is visible that you wouldn’t want employers to see when they search for you. Many professions such as nursing, teaching and law also have guidelines on the use of social media which emphasize the need to behave professionally online. Have a look online for examples of guidance from the areas you’re interested in. 

This has a great deal to do with the importance of posting only important, meaningful and appropriate. This includes not posting certain inappropriate pictures of Saturday night’s party on facebook and not posting or Tweeting anything when they’re angry or in a bad mood. Now, managing your social media profile has become even more important – a 2012 survey demonstrates that your social media profile could make or break your chances of being hired.  

Stand out from the crowd: We know from employers that being distinctive and strategic online will help you stand out from other applicants, so consider what makes you different, then back it up with examples. For example, if you have a niche area of knowledge, share interesting articles and participate in discussions around that topic. If you have a particular skill, demonstrate it.

Develop a strategy: To stand a better chance of success with finding a job and attracting employers, you need to be pro-active. This might include:

• Researching employers and practitioners in your area, and staying up to date with news from your industry.

• Searching for vacancies – employers are increasingly using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to promote them.

• Making connections by linking with individuals working in your area.

• Following employers, making contact and asking them questions to get a greater insight into an organisation – and to promote yourself.

                                    DECIDE ON WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA WILL BE USEFUL.          

Each social media tool has its own strengths and applications. Be clear about what you want to achieve and how you are going to go about it. Find out which tools are used by those working in your subject area or industry, and research why and how they are used. Consider how much time you want to devote to social media. It’s better to be regularly and purposefully active on one or two platforms than spread thinly across a number of platforms with out of date content. It also helps to be consistent across your professional profiles and link between them to present a coherent picture to possible future employers.

With the popularity of online resume searches, digital portfolios and online job boards, the recruitment process has increasingly shifted into the online realm. With many employers now turning to the likes of LinkedIn to seek out potential hires, check out recommendations or make new connections, employers are very well acquainted with the web’s potential in recruitment.

With that in mind, it’s very possible that a potential employer will turn to the internet to research a candidate of interest. In this instance, you have limited control over what is revealed from a quick Google search of your name. For this purpose, the following tips can be useful when managing or handling your social media pages.

·   Make sure that your professional networks, such as LinkedIn, are reserved for career-related posting. As this is a professional networking tool, it’s best to keep personal, casual updates and tweets separate.

·    Endeavour to use you normal and full name on your profile, with the correct spellings and details of yourself. All necessary details should be included.

·    Be selective with the photos you choose to post online and monitor the ones that others post of you. Although it may seem unfair for an employer to judge you on a photo, the images that pop up online could have an impact on their perception of you.

·    Avoid bad-mouthing fellow colleagues, your boss or the company you currently work for on social networking sites. You can never be completely sure of who will access this information and their subsequent affiliations. An employer would no doubt be very wary of someone who aired their work frustrations so publicly.

·      Avoid foul language, vulgar remarks or insults in a public online domain.

·      Be cautious of who you accept as a friend, follower or contact.

                                                            FACEBOOK.

Always follow the old saying about not posting anything that would make you embarrassed if it were published on the front page of a newspaper. Don’t use Facebook as a forum to vent on everything you hate about life, your job, someone else, or a company – talk to a friend in person if you feel the need to vent. Some people recommend creating separate personal profiles – one for business and one for family and close friends only – but this is not recommended because it can be next to impossible to manage.

            LINKEDIN.

Better for job seekers than Facebook is LinkedIn because you can create a highly professional profile by using LinkedIn as an electronic CV. This includes writing a succinct profile summary, adding your current job information, past job experience, education, skills, awards, and even obtaining testimonials from previous managers, co-workers, or direct reports. If you author a blog that relates to business or your work, be sure to include the URL information. Then, you can encourage potential employers to review your information on LinkedIn.

With more and more companies jumping on the social media bandwagon, it only makes sense that searching social media for background information on potential job candidates will continue to grow. This will make it even more important that everyone actively manage his or her online persona. This is much more than an online CV. Creating a LinkedIn account will help ensure that a professional profile appears in any Google search by potential employers.

Use LinkedIn to:

• Research company information and follow key influencers in your chosen sector.

• Identify the skills that employees in your sector need to possess.

• Demonstrate your interest in a sector by joining and participating in discussion groups.

• Make connections and develop your network.

• Find out what previous graduates from your course have gone on to do to using the ‘Alumni’ tool.

TWITTER.

 A carefully-worded profile can attract followers, including potential employers.

Use Twitter to:

• Follow employers, practitioners and commentators in your area of interest.

• Keep up to date with news and events in your sector.

• Raise your profile and demonstrate your interest by joining in with discussions.

• Draw attention to your activity on other platforms, for instance when you have posted on your blog, or added to your e-portfolio.

...to be continued.