Using Social Media for Job Searching

Maintain a Professional Presence

If you plan on turning to social media for job searching, it’s not only important to have visible profiles on the main social media platforms, but to ensure you maintain a professional presence. If you prefer to keep your social media profiles private, consider creating separate, public accounts that are used entirely for professional social media for career networking. Remember, when you’re in the middle of a job search, it’s very likely that hiring managers will look you up online and find your social media profiles.

Therefore, you want to ensure that you’re posting the right things on your public accounts. Only post things that you would be comfortable with potential employers seeing. You’ll also want to take things a step further and use these platforms as your opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in your field — post facts, useful information, share relevant news articles, and so on. This can also help you build a career network and as more people turn to you as a resource for a particular subject or industry, it will be that much more impressive to potential employers.

Social Media Job Search: Show Off Your Achievements

Your social media profiles are great platforms for showing off all that you’ve achieved, whether they’re past milestones you reached or new goals you’ve accomplished. Your connections and followers will see updates on any recent accomplishments and achievements that you post about, and they’ll learn more about any exciting industry projects you are working on. Potential employers and recruiters just stumbling across your profile for the first time will also see these updates, which is likely to spark their interest. 

Social Media for Job Searching: Show Off Your Work

Your social media profiles can also be used as a portfolio of your work, which can showcase exactly what you’ve created or worked on. Depending on what you’re sharing, you may be able to share it directly on your newsfeed, or you can link to other websites that showcase your work. This can include your online portfolio, professional website, client websites you’ve worked on, third-party websites that demonstrate your expertise and experience (for example, websites that you’ve submitted articles to as a guest contributor), and more. 

Find Companies in Your Industry

Social media is a terrific resource for finding companies in your industry that you didn’t know existed. They may not currently be hiring, which is why you may not find their job ads on online job boards, but follow them for future updates. Some companies turn directly to social media for job searching and share new opportunities with their followers before posting job ads, so this can be a great way to learn about new job openings as soon as they become available. 

Network with Like-Minded People

Make connections with people that share similar interests and experience in your industry, or that work at companies you have an interest in working at. Your initial interactions don’t have to immediately be about job openings. Instead, focus on just making casual conversation and getting to know each other on a professional level. Making these business connections is an essential part of building your career network, and when relevant opportunities do become available, you may be the individual that they think to contact first. 

Using Social Media for Job Searching

Social media isn’t just a great way to build your professional career network, but it can also give you an edge on available jobs that you’d be a perfect fit for. Each social media platform has its own ways of finding opportunities, so you’ll want to approach each platform a bit differently and incorporate various strategies. LinkedIn, for example, is a social media platform that was primarily designed for business networking and job searches. Aside from using the platform’s job search tool, however, there may be other useful features you’re overlooking that can help you land your next opportunity. For instance, remaining active on LinkedIn by posting news articles, tips, and information relevant to your industry can draw more attention to your profile, and can also demonstrate your expertise. 

Although social media platforms like Facebook tend to be more personal, you can create a profile that is exclusively used for professional purposes. Use this account to post public updates related to the industry you’re in, and you can also use the site’s search feature to also find like-minded posts from other users, which can lead to information about job opportunities.

Twitter is another good tool to use in your social media job search. Just about every company and organization has a Twitter presence these days. If you are not following the ones that interest you, you’re missing an opportunity to receive exclusive news, updates, and information about potential job opportunities. You can also search for relevant information and job posts by searching the right hashtags, which may be connected to Tweets that you’d be interested in. Similar to Twitter, Instagram also gives users the ability to search for posts through hashtags, which can also give you a way to connect with businesses and find job opportunities.

Add Relevant Credentials to Your Social Media Profiles

As you make important connections online and begin building your career network, it’s crucial to have relevant credentials to add to your social media profiles, which can help open up doors to exciting opportunities. The best way to earn these credentials is to enroll in the training program that best aligns with your interests and career goals, and then earn your certification. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, stacking multiple certifications is a good way to attract recruiters and employers who can help match you with the perfect career opportunities.

If you’re looking to enroll in an online program, look no further than Simplilearn. With Simplilearn, you can choose from hundreds of courses, immersive bootcamps, and even free courses to figure out which careers you might not have known you would be interested in. Gain invaluable skills and knowledge that prepare you for high-demand roles that you can highlight through social media for career networking. Learn more and enroll today!