For the past few years, social media became an important part of our daily life. Almost everyone has at least one social media account because it is an easy and fun way to keep in touch with friends and family as well as showing your personal brand. Your tweets, posts and the pictures you upload online make up your online personal brand. Even though your account gives you the option to make your profile public or private, it is still better to be risk averse and be careful what you put online especially if you are actively looking for a new job.
Dos of Social Media:
Keep Your Profile Up-to-Date: Other than letting us keep in touch with others, social media platforms help us find new jobs as well. Therefore, you need to make sure to keep your profile up-to-date. Treat it as an online version of your resume and put as many details as you can.
Connect with Key People: Use your social media account to connect with key people who can refer you to the jobs that you desire. Connect with recruiters, hiring managers or peers who work in a similar position. Express your interest in a new position and ask for their help. If you already have an interview lined up, try to get insight information about the company.
Use Keywords: Use keywords in your profile to promote yourself and make yourself visible to recruiters so that your profile can come up during their searches. Recruiters use specific keywords to pull up profiles as a faster way to identify the right candidates for their open positions.
Donts of Social Media:
Don’t Post Inappropriate Comments: Be careful what you post. Don’t post inappropriate pictures or offensive comments especially about your former employers. Go through your posts and pictures and see if there is anything that needs to be deleted.
Don’t Use Poor Grammar: Don’t use poor grammar or spelling in your profile or when sending a message to recruiters or others whom you are trying to connect with via social media. Also, don’t send generic messages to recruiters. Customize your message for each position.
Don’t Forget to Interact: This is called social media so you should be social. Don’t just sit and wait for recruiters find you and be interactive. Engage with other users or professional groups or even brands. Show your passion and interests.
Don’t Forget to be Consistent: Make sure all of your social media accounts are consistent with each other. All of your profiles should show the same job and education history along with your resume.
