Social media can help you attain many different objectives. It can help you please your customers, it can help your business or it can help you find a new job. Here are a few pointers on how to use social media to help out with your job search.
- Start BEFORE you need a new job
- Complete your LinkedIn profile
- Join and contribute to relevant groups on LinkedIn
- Answer questions in the Answers section of LinkedIn
- Connect with others in your field or in the field you would like to go into
- Give others references and ask for references in return
- If you have a blog, keep in up to date with relevant posts even if it’s not directly related to your professional experience, work or even your field
- If you blog about music, stick with that, you might land a great job at a local radio or TV station or even in a print or online publication
- Comment on other’s blog. Focus on other blogs in the area you want to work in and move outwards. It’ll build your reputation there first
- Update your Facebook profile and connect with friends and acquaintances
- Like, Comment and send messages regularly to stay in touch
- Complete your Twitter profile. It’s only 160 characters so it shouldn’t be too hard
- Connect with people of interest in your industry and others
- RT great messages and keep in touch with @ replies and DMs
- Tweet great posts you see around the internet
- Don’t shy away from other networks such as Flickr and YouTube if photography or video is your thing
- Don’t ignore meeting people in person. Grab a coffee or a bite to eat just to chat
- Help others in your network
- Continue. Continue, even after you’ve found your next opportunity
Notice how I’ve never mentioned selling yourself. The closest to selling yourself should be through blog posts… only once in a while.
If it seems like a lot of work, it isn’t. If you start before you need a new job, you only need to put in a few minutes a day. When the time comes, people will be more than happy to point you in the right direction. After that, it’s still up to you to kill it at the interviews.
What do you think? Anything else to add?
(Photo credit: MacJewell)
