New Ways to Use Social Media for Job Searching

New Ways to Use Social Media for Job Searching New Ways to Use Social Media for Job Searching Have you made your New Year’s resolutions? When a new job or career change is on your list, be sure you aren’t missing out on opportunities to include social media for job searching in your personal marketing plan. Consider incorporating the following strategies into your job search to take advantage of what social media offers: LinkedIn for Job Searching Most everyone recognizes that having a LinkedIn profile is an important part of job search preparation, but are you using all of LinkedIn’s tools to your best advantage? One often overlooked opportunity to demonstrate your expertise on LinkedIn is the chance to post status updates to your profile. It’s easy to do; LinkedIn offers you the option each time you sign in. What should you put in your status update? Include news and information that shows you know what’s going on in your industry and commentary on topics to prove you’re up-to-date on the most current trends in your field. Don’t miss the chance to “tag” people in your status update if you are passing along information they originally shared. You can also tag companies to let them know you are mentioning them. All you need to do is include the persons or company’s name with the @ symbol in your update (for example @JohnSmith), and LinkedIn alerts them of the mention. Facebook for Job Searching While traditional media outlets want you to think posting on Facebook can only lead to losing a job, the truth is that many job seekers who tapped social media to get a job believe Facebook was their most useful network. Since most people prefer to consider Facebook a “personal” network, it’s a challenge to make the most of the fact that many people do use it to find professional candidates. The solution? Create public status updates. You can reap the benefits of allowing certain status updates to be found in public search with a few clicks. Follow the link on the top of your Facebook page to check your privacy settings. Once there, click on the icon that says “Followers” on the left side of the screen. Then, under Follower Settings, check the box that says “turn on follow.” This will give you an option to create public updates and for people to “follow” your public updates. Once you set this up, each time you post on Facebook, you’ll have the option to allow the post to be “public.” Create public posts similar to what you may share on LinkedIn or any network: include news and information related to your field and commentary on what’s new in your industry. When you do, you’ll add another searchable series of posts to your digital footprint and make it more likely that people will find you when they search for someone with your skills. Twitter for Job Searching Like LinkedIn and Facebook, Twitter offers a great resource to demonstrate your expertise. When you use it to post updates and connect with others online via using their Twitter names in your posts, you can expand your network and make sure people know about your expertise. One thing you may not have considered: you can learn what’s new in your field by following Twitter handles from your professional organizations and conferences. Even if you can’t personally attend an organization’s professional event, it’s possible attendees will be there to “live tweet” what goes on at the conference. Look online to see if there is a hashtag (a word that includes a # sign) to help designate tweets from the conference. Follow that hashtag on Twitter and reap the benefits of what your colleagues share. Google+ for Job Searching You know that “Google it” is synonymous for “search for it,” but did you know that participating in Google’s social network can help make it easier for people to find you when they are looking for someone with your expertise? At the very least, you’ll want to create a complete Google profile. It’s as easy as signing up for a Gmail address; if you already have one, you’ll just want to enhance your profile. Fill in your professional information and help create a Watts line directly to Google. When you actively use Google+ by selecting people to follow and posting professional updates, you’ll be helping Google understand what you know and make it more likely for people who follow you via Google+ to come up with your information when they search for someone with your qualifications. Were thrilled to introduce you to our guest expert Miriam Salpeter. Miriam is a social media strategist, new economy job search coach, and social media consultant/speaker. Owner of Keppie Careers, she is the author of three books: Social Networking for Career Success, 100 Conversations for Career Success, and Social Networking for Business Success.  Be on the lookout for Miriams expert advice featured monthly on the blog! Readers, what ways have you used social media for job searching?