media | Journey

Does Social Media Harm Your Job Search? Take Our Poll

By Jared Cole on Monday, June 4, 2012

Last month, CareerBuilder released a survey of more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals about researching potential job candidates through their social media profiles. The study reported that of hiring managers surveyed who research candidates via social media, 34% found information that has caused them not to hire a candidate.
The top reasons they found for not hiring the candidates were provocative/inappropriate photos/info – 49%, evidence of candidates drinking or using drugs – 45%, and candidates bad mouthing previous employers – 33%.

While we recently talked about social media behavior, the study made us wonder about your behaviors in social media while job searching. Let us know in the poll below.

Social Media The Job Search

Like, Mention, and Friend Request Your Way to a New Job Through Facebook

By Jared Cole on Friday, May 25, 2012

Facebook just recorded 901 million active monthly users at the end of March. Needless to say, it’s a big deal. Odds are you are one of the millions of users checking their account every day to see what’s going on in the life of friends, loved ones, family, and celebrities.

What’s great about Facebook is you can use this vast market of people and organizations to help in your job search. Best part of all, you’re probably already using Facebook in your normal daily routine. With a few simple steps, you can use this common digital past time to help find a job.

Clean it up
It’s becoming more routine for employers to search candidates’ social media profiles to influence their hiring decisions. Consider cleaning up your profile to make sure it reflects a professional image of you by removing photos or status updates that could reflect poorly, and untag yourself from images you wouldn’t want potential employers to see. If you really must have those photos and memories on your profile, make sure you set them to private so only trusted friends can see the content.

Make sure your future updates are in a professional manner when looking for a job. Be especially mindful when updating after an interview. An employer may be taking special interest in what you say after talking with you.

Implement Interaction
One of the most important tactics in a job search is networking. Facebook can help you stay connected with people from all over the world. It’s time to take advantage of that. For example, post an update to your friends to ask if they’ve heard of any job openings you’re qualified for, or at least asking if they know anyone who does. Provide them links to your online résumé, LinkedIn profile, professional blog, or website.

You can also use Facebook to interact with companies and organizations you want to work for. They are always looking for more interaction from their customers on social media, and if you can get on their social media radar, the better the chance they’ll notice your résumé. Commenting on status updates and sharing their links are great ways of interacting with potential employers. It also opens doors for you to ask about employment opportunities.

Facebook’s App Attack
Apps on Facebook are more than just Farmville and Socialcam. They can be used specifically to help you build a professional network and find a job. One example is BranchOut, which allows you to build a professional profile on Facebook, network with more than 400 million professional profiles, and search more than three million job and 20,000 internship postings. You can also connect with Monster.com’s BeKnown mobile app on Facebook. Marketplace also has a jobs section that allows you to connect directly with recruiters.

Another option to consider is placing a Facebook ad. Some job seekers have found success using them, but they do cost money, and Facebook ads have been losing effectiveness since they launched. Do your research and see if it could be a viable option for you.

If you’re already on Facebook, go ahead and use it as a powerful tool to grow your network and connect with potential employers. What success stories do you have using Facebook to find a job?

Social Media The Job Search

Tweet Your Way to a Job Offer

By Jared Cole on Friday, April 27, 2012

Twitter is kind of a big deal – more than 140 million active users posting 340 million tweets daily big. I was pretty skeptical of Twitter when I first heard about it in 2007, but like most people, it’s become one of the biggest sources of instant information on what’s happening right now across the world.

It’s a social media site where users post small elements of information in less than 140 characters and share them with other Twitter users. Not only is it a great source of info, but it’s also a large market of influencers, recruiters, employers, and an opportunity for find work. Here are four ways you can use Twitter to find a job.

You’ve Got the Look
The first thing to do is make sure your profile is employer friendly. The ideal profile picture should portray you in a professional manner, and your about paragraph should include your elevator pitch, a to the point overview about yourself. Utilize your background space to best promote yourself. The Closet Entrepreneur has an easy method to create a good looking Twitter background. Don’t forget to link to your LinkedIn profile in your bio section.

Join the Conversation
What makes Twitter powerful is the interaction and engagement with other users. Use the Twitter search to look for interesting companies, industry experts, recruiters, or even local leaders. When you follow them, you’ll notice the people they talk to and the hashtag (#) conversations they participate in. That’s your chance to start a conversation with them or jump in a group discussion. Contributing to chats can help you get advice and get noticed. You don’t have to blast them with your job search story or experience, but you can build the relationships naturally.

When using Twitter, you should post relevant content and comments. No one will follow you if you talk about what you had for lunch or where you’re about to shop. Post thoughts about what’s going on in your industry, link to interesting blog posts or news articles, or retweet, something that was posted by someone you’re following that you found interesting. The more professional content you post, the more business/industry followers you’ll get.

Give, Give, Give
Don’t just promote yourself, help others promote themselves too. Job hunting as a community can have a much bigger impact. Nothing gets more credibility than helping others as opposed to always self-promoting. Hear of a job lead that’s not fit for you? Tweet about it so that others might apply to it.

Treat Your Followers Like a Garden
It’s not about how many followers you can have under your name, but the quality of followers you interact with. You’ll find more success by developing fewer, but stronger, relationships with Twitter users than having a huge list of unengaged followers. Just like a garden, developing connections on Twitter takes lot of time, attention, and care to grow.

What are some ways you’ve used twitter to help your job search? Sound off in the comments below.

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