How to Use Social Media to Find a Job

When we think of social media, most of us have one simple association in mind - sharing photos, following celebrities, and enjoying content about the things we like. But, social media can be so much more than just a fun way to keep up with your friends and the latest trends in the world. In fact, it can help you find a job.

If you're currently on the job hunt but haven't had that much luck succeeding, it's time to try something new. Social media as a job-seeking tool can be more powerful than you're imagining, so let's show you how it's done!

Here are the best tips and tricks for using social media to find a job.

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Create a Solid Online Image

You may not be aware of this, but recruiters and hiring managers will look you up before offering you an interview or hiring you. Studies show that 92% of companies are using social media to find talent and research candidates.

This is why you should start by thinking about the image you’ve built on your social media and what kind of impression it leaves.

Here are some important steps to cover:

google yourself in incognito mode to see what comes up
go through all your social media profiles, even the ones you’re not actively using
remove any inappropriate content, images, or posts that you don’t want hiring managers to see
delete the outdated profiles on channels you don’t use
update and align information on all social media

This is a great way to start building credibility in the eyes of the recruiters and show them you are reliable and professional.

The next thing you want to do is make sure the information from your resume matches that on your social media. You need to keep both updated and aligned so that you show you’re a trustworthy job candidate.

The main social media to look after is LinkedIn, since it’s designed for job seekers like yourself. It’s certain that recruiters will look you up on LinkedIn first.

So, always keep your resume and LinkedIn synced:

current and past job experiences
main and strongest skills
diplomas, certificates, and training finished
personality traits

LinkedIn can help you leave a great impression on recruiters and offer them an extended version of the resume you've sent. Don’t forget to polish your writing to perfection, or use LetsGradeIt to find writing professionals from services reviews to help you out. The important thing is- every word of your resume, motivation letter, or social media post needs to be spot on.

Network

Simply having active and updated social media profiles won’t help you land that interview or get the job. You have to work for it and earn the attention of the people in your industry.

This is why you should use networking as one of the biggest advantages social media has to offer.

To network for a job successfully, you’ll need to get active and start practicing these daily habits:

look up the companies you’re interested in working for or want to apply for a job there
use their social media profiles to find out who are the people in charge (HR professionals, CEOs, team leaders)
follow their profiles and activities
join discussions and leave comments to attract attention
create connections with other people who are in the same industry or niche

The more you mingle with the people from your industry, the better chances you have of being noticed. Plus, it will be your shot to show your knowledge, standpoints, and ideas.

Create Job Alerts

There’s another great feature on LinkedIn that can save you a ton of time and energy, and help you find jobs to apply to. They have the option to turn on job alerts that will notify you whenever someone posts a job you might be interested in.

All you have to do is set up the parameters that will let the algorithm know what kind of job you’re looking for:

job title/position
years of experience
location/remote
full-time/part-time

Once you tell LinkedIn what you want, they’ll notify you via email whenever something pops up. Whether you’re looking for jobs for students or something of a senior position-the job alert will be fixed according to your personal wishes.

This way, you’ll be keeping up with all the latest job openings, without manually going through them every day.

Naturally, social media can help you show who you are and what you offer. Creating and showing your portfolio using social media is one of the best ways to creatively and easily share your work.

This is a perfect opportunity for professionals such as:

photographers
graphic designers
web developers
interior designers
architects
event planners
videographers
marketing specialists
writers
artists of any sort

You can simply post about your work and finished projects regularly, providing inspiring descriptions that will help recruiters learn more about your skills and abilities. This way, your social media is turned into one growing and information-packed portfolio.

Follow the Latest In Your Industry

To stay competitive in the job-hunting market, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your competitors, you need to know what's happening in your industry. All the news, innovation, events, and changes are important to learn about.

Luckily, you can do it using your social media profiles.

Twitter and LinkedIn are the best choices for following the latest trends in your industry. There are also Facebook, Instagram, and even some YouTube channels that could help.

The important thing is that you choose carefully what sources and profiles to follow. Here’s what we suggest:

leading companies and their representatives
credible business magazines
credible news portals

By following these pages, you'll be updated about everything that's important including the people, technologies, and happenings. This will help you be more confident in job interviews and show you truly understand the matter.

Reach Out

Finally, social media is primarily about communication and getting in touch with people, right? So, you should start using it to reach out to people who could help you advance in your career.

This doesn’t mean you should go ahead and spam the inboxes of CEOs or randomly send messages to people from your niche. But, you could slowly build your case with the people you’re interested in reaching out to:

follow them on social media
follow their posts, ideas, and activity
leaves likes and comment
find a good moment to send a personalized message that the other person would be interested in

Introduce yourself, provide context, and let the other person know why it would be mutually beneficial to have each other as a contact.

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Final Thoughts

As you can see, social media is more than just entertainment or a fun way to kill time. In the right hands, it’s a mighty tool for finding a job and making a great impression on hiring managers and recruiters.

Hopefully, we’ve helped you learn how to turn your social media into your job-seeking ally. Go ahead, make the necessary changes, and start working on getting that job!

Bio

Andrew is a professional Social Media Manager and freelance writer. He worked for many famous brands before, creating content for their social media, but recently decided to become a blogger and share his own thought and experience in this niche.