Social media, a way to communicate, share, educate and build relationships with people from all over the world. Catching up with old friends, sharing old and new memories – seems so simple and free. But what about when you are seeking employment? Do your profiles become your resume?
A time not so long ago, when seeking employment we would ask our friends and family to keep their eyes and ears open for a job that might interest us or peruse the classifieds looking for a job that our resume matched and would send it out.
With the unemployment rising and more and more people seeking work, the strategy has changed a bit. While we still ask friends and family, there is an entirely new resource available. Social Media! Post on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, etc that you are looking for work and instead of sending out a resume via snail mail, fax or email you post a link to your LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is one the best resources for posting their bio/resume and getting people to take a look as they are already on the page and do not have to open another page to view. Twitter is quickly becoming a leader in job leads and referrals for positions. Building relationships in social media allows for you to get to know someone at first by their skill set, interests and who they work for. This information is key when you are seeking a job as it is much easier to put out a tweet or DM that you are looking than it is to go through a long job search the traditonal way.
6 Tips for Building A Social Media Resume
1. Complete Profiles. Fill out profile completely and as comprehensive as possible. Be honest and geniune. Be first to say as opposed to a potential employer finding something first. You never know who knows who from previous employment.
2. Exploit Skill Set. Build relationships by sharing information that highlights your skill set. This is not a sales pitch to get hired. If you are a graphic desiger with graphic design agency experience, it is beneficial to share articles on designing logos, corporate brochures and showing brochure design samples.
3. Monitor Posts. When was the last time you looked at your string of tweets or posts? Chatting with friends is great and there is nothing wrong showing that you are able to engage people however a potential employer seeing a conversation as opposed to your blog post or sharing other posts does not give them a feel for your professional side.
4. Think before you Post. We all have bad days and are not always satisfied with our job but repeatedly bashing them is a red flag to potential employers. Employers do not want to hire someone who complains over and over about their previous employer.
5. Monitor Pictures. Be consistent in your profile photos. Not every photo needs to be the same but if your hair is blonde in some and dark brown in others it shows that you may not be keeping up with that profile. The other is Facebook. I am not saying to remove party pics, no, remove the pics that you would not wish for an employer to see (ie hovering over the toilet after a rough night).
6. Update Regularly. This lets people know that you are still out there and employable and also lets the employer see that you are a self starter who engages people. Once you are gainfully employed don’t be a stranger – continue to be around.
The way that we are going about seeking employment has changed over the past 2 years. It is more so about who you know and by taking a minute or two to look at our profiles and how people perceive us goes a long way.
Reversing it, as a business owner, you need to monitior the company profile as well as what is being said about you out there. Social media profiles contain a lot of information and a search of the company can showcase previous employees who may have not have had a very positive experience and wrote all about it. There is nothing you can do as once it is on the internet it is there to stay but you can be proactive and diminish the negativity by first knowing.
Social media has opened so many doors to communication and continues to change. Undoubtedly, social media marketing is impacting how we communicate and establish our niche.
Agree? Looking for a job – share your skill set and experiences on how social media relationships have helped.
Photo credit: socialisbetter