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First things first
If you're a savvy job seeker, you'll undoubtedly have looked into all aspects of your job search. This could include everything from writing CVs and cover letters, interview prep and all the usual job search prep work.
One avenue for finding employment that you may not have even looked at could've bee right under your nose, quite literally, the whole time. We're talking about social media.
The vast majority of people use social media every day in their personal lives. But not many people are aware of the power that social media can have over your job search. Well over 90% of companies are now using social media in their hiring efforts. And three-quarters of hiring manager will check you out online at some point in the hiring process.
So what can you do to harness the massive potential that social media can give you? While at the same time not turning off any potential hirers with your Friday night pub session selfies or militant political rants?
Let us take you down the social media rabbit hole in our series of Blogs "Job hunting on social media". In these blogs, we will give you some top tips for making sure your social media gets you the thumbs up and not an unfollow from hiring managers.
First things first, a general Overview.
Use your real name
We all have had a nickname or handle that we have used online at some point in our lives, Hey millennials remember myspace? Sometimes these stick with us, and it's very tempting to use these on your profiles. Our advice on this is to use your real name. This looks more professional and makes it easier for people to find you if they search your name online.
Keep your profile pic professional.
Keeping your profile pic on point is something that we have spoken about before in our "Five steps to Linkedin profile bliss" blog. Your picture should be clear, recent and safe for work. Check out what other people in your industry are doing in there pics, take note and compare this with your picture to make sure your profile image is going to work.
Keeping that content clean
This one should be a given, and we would hope that you'd already know this one. Make sure that anything that the public can see on your profile is squeaky clean. We're not just talking about your pictures from last Friday night, or any swear words, but you should also make sure that you're not talking about anything too politically charged, long rants about things you dislike or content that would offend anyone too much.
Make it about you
Your social media shouldn't just be an isolated page, floating about on the world wide web. You should link it to other places where people will be able to find out more about you. We're not just talking about other social profiles but to your work website and the projects you have worked on both past and present, any personal websites or blogs. The more you can share, the better.
Don't use social for professional contact (except LinkedIn)
With the obvious exception of LinkedIn, you shouldn't use your social media profile for making job search-related communications. It's fine to share your social profiles on your CV etc. infant we actively encourage it. What you shouldn't be doing is blowing up the DM boxes of companies that you're applying for Facebook or Twitter. Nine times out of ten it won't be anyone in the hiring team you'll get through to it will be someone on the marketing team, and it will take longer to get an answer to your question. The best bet is to use email or the phone to keep in touch with potential hirers.
We hope that these first steps into the world of social media job hunting have helped, we'll be back next Wednesday with another slice of social media job hunting goodness be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to make sure that you don't miss out.