We can’t get away from the way social media has invaded and become part of our lives. Like it or love it, social media is everywhere in all things. You can even use social media to find a job. And, why not? Social media can put us in contact with and give us access to millions of people we wouldn’t communicate with in the real world. In troubled financial times, it’s important to employ every bit of ammunition in your job hunting arsenal to find a job. Making the most of social media can indicate how ‘now and happening’ you are, and demonstrate an ability to think outside the box. So put down the jobs page, grab a coffee and read on for 20 Ways to Use Social Media to Find a Job:
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1. Optimise Your Facebook Page
Make your Facebook page one big CV. Every word upon it should be carefully picked. Within the parts that allow you to write about your hobbies, likes and dislikes, you should put extra work related items. Make sure you only have a few pictures, and each one should look like a marketing picture, aka, you in suit, throwing ball for dog, hugging girlfriend/boyfriend.
2. Get on Youtube
Being clever with social media to find a job is creative and innovative. Create YouTube videos that revolve around your chosen profession. Show the world that you know all there is to know about your profession, then go out of your way to make sure your potential new employers see them.
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3. Be a Follower but Not a Stalker
Follow the companies of your choice on their own social media and engage in a little chatter. Tell them how great they are (they consider it free advertizing) and then, every so often, you should ask them for a job.
4. Build a Presence
Find a job by creating an online presence - get yourself on every social media channel. If a potential employer types your name into Google, you want a big list to appear with you on each social media portal/platform. They do research people they are interested in. Make sure each social media platform is a shimmering beacon of how great you are.
5. Box Clever
Find out insider information via social media and then use it to help get a job. If you play it clever, you can get their staff to tell you the names and likes of the decision makers. You can then contact them personally.
6. Build a Reputation
Teams in HR are not going to scour the Internet for people to hire, when they get hundreds of applications per month. What you should do however, is create a reputation for yourself. In the “Bio” section of blogs you write on, social media you add to, etc, describe yourself with the word “expert”, “Specialist”, “X guru”. You can even ask your friends (real friends) to comment on the stuff you write, and say how great you are, and how clever you are. You can even create a few fake accounts yourself and have them “hail” your additions.
7. Get Insider Info
Contact all the companies you wish to work for via social media, and ask them for advice on how to get a job working there. You will unlikely be talking to the HR people, but you are talking to a person who applied for the job and got it. So, they will know a few insider tips.
8. Make Friends
Make friends with the people who write online for social media platforms. Become very chummy with them and then when you apply for a job, add their name under “do you know anybody who works for us” section. Chances are that they won’t check it, but even if they do, it is not a lie. You do know them, you just haven’t met!
9. Keep It Professional
Keep your social media conversations professional and polite. If you want to talk “trash” with your friends, then make up a different profile, with a different name (maiden name if you are married is good), and a different picture. Some people set them up in the names (and with pics) of their dogs. That way, only their close friends know it is them.
10. Research
Get a job by using social media to learn EVERYTHING about the company you want to work for. Then use this information on your CV, application form and on your interview. If you find out they hold bake sales on Fridays, then mention it on your cover letter, such as under your hobbies. The more you know about the company, the more they feel that you are one of them, and also think they may have to train you less.
11. Keep It Subtle
Do NOT write which jobs you specifically want on any of your bio pages, walls, etc. You can tell people you want to work for them if you are writing it on their page/wall/comment section, but do not do it on your own. This will preclude you from other companies wanting to hire you.
12. Linkedin
If you are clever enough to find out who the decision maker is in a company, then that person may be registered on Linkedin. In which case, you should try to friend them and come across as an expert. Give them solutions to problems that they speak of, and give suggestions that will genuinely help that person. For example if they are complaining that they have trouble doing X because of company X, then research a better solution and then tell him/her that when YOU are doing X, then you use company X, XX and XYX who serve you quite well. If you make this person think you are a problem solver/expert, or just pretty darn smart, then it will help you when you drop hints that you may have to start looking for work soon, hinty, hint, hint.
13. Be Self-critical
When you have created a great online presence for yourself, then Google yourself on the search engine part, and the pictures part. You are going to see things and pictures come up that are less than favorable. Change them so that everything that comes up is golden, so that you look great when an employer Googles you.
14. Video Resume
The social media revolution has also introduced new ways to find a job. Make a Video Resume on YouTube and Daily Motion. Try to keep production values as high as possible, and keep it snappy. If you are going through your qualifications then show them pictures of them, but speak promptly, enunciate and edit the film so that it is short but PACKED with details and selling points. Add a little background music (on quiet) too.
15. Photo Album CV
Use Tumblr or Pintrest to make a photo album CV. It takes some creativity, but if you are kind, then show a pic of you helping an old lady across the road with the word “kind” underneath. If you are caring, then go to a petting zoo and have a close up shot of you taken stroking a baby bunny or bottle feeding a goat, and underneath have the word “caring”. It’s easy and fun to do, and allows you to be very creative in the way you advertise yourself.
16. Make Use of Twitter
Twitter is probably the best for contacting people you do not know, so you can ask them for jobs, but do not do it too often. Lay a little sand down first before you march in and ask for a job. Do it too often and it will be flagged as spam. Follow the companies that you want to work for, because sometimes people will reciprocate follows. If so, you need to make sure that your Twitter bio SCREAMS that you are the best employee in the world and itching get some work done.
17. Make Facebook Strangers Your Friends
Facebook is a great place to “friend” complete strangers that you would probably cross the street to avoid. However, you probably (like most people) accept every friend that comes your way, even if you don’t know them. This means that you have a great opportunity to mine information from them. Write on the walls of people you don’t know too well, and tell them you are looking for a job. Ask if there are any positions available where they work. You can also send detailed private messages to the Facebook profiles of people who are your friends in real life, asking them to recommend you to where they work.
18. Don’t Ignore the Smaller Opportunities
When using social media to find a job, don’t just engage with the massive sites. Write on the smaller social media such as WordPress and BlogSpot about your chosen industry, making sure it demonstrates your knowledge about it. You can then also link to those articles from your other social media too, so that even more people see them.
19. Sow Seeds of Friendship
Find your chosen company’s staff on Facebook and friend their friends. Get about ten or twenty of their friends (from each employee, so it will take some time), and with any luck the employee may add you themselves. Even if they don’t, you will stand in a better position later, when you try to friend them. Do not send friend requests to too many people at once, or it is seen as spam.
20. Advertize
If you have the money, then run a few Facebook adverts, with a picture of you, along with words such as, “X expert, ready for hire”, or “Masters Degree, looking for work”.
Embrace these ways to use social media to find a job and you can find yourself on the next rung of your career ladder before you know it.
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