How to Use Social Media for Your Job Search? Tips and Tricks

As a job seeker, social media can be a very powerful method to help you find a job. From networking to researching potential employers, there are a ton of smart ways to use social media in your job search.

Why Use Social Media in Your Job Search?

Even if you aren’t an avid social media user, you should consider having a social media profile or two when you’re searching for a job. If nothing else, it can help demonstrate to potential employers that you have some technical skills and understand the internet and social media trends. However, there are other advantages to using social media for a job search:

• Helps you build your personal brand
• Lets you network and connect in ways you can’t in person
• Makes you “more visible” to hiring managers and recruiters that mine social media for prospective candidates—even when you aren’t actively searching for a job
• Gives you a chance to interact with companies you want to work for

If that’s not enough to convince you that you should incorporate social media in your job search, consider this: in 2017, 87% of recruiters reported using LinkedIn to source candidates, and 55% reported using Facebook.

If you’re not on social media, you might be missing out on job opportunities!

How to Create Social Media Profiles for Your Job Search

Of course, setting up a LinkedIn profile, filling it in, and never touching it again isn’t going to get you a job. You have to be active on social media, too. And though active can mean sharing amusing memes, you have to make sure you’re presenting a positive and professional image.

Clean Up Your Existing Accounts

Sure, social media can be light-hearted, but it’s also important to portray yourself in the most positive (and professional) light possible. Use your social media profiles to create a convincing image of you as a very likable—and hireable—employee.

Review your existing social media accounts with a fine-toothed comb to make sure they are employer-appropriate. Delete or hide any old posts or photos that are questionable. Or go one step further and create separate profiles that represent your professional interests. These profiles should have a professional photo of you and your posts should only be about your career or other information that relates to your industry.

As you proceed, consider everything you add to these accounts with an employer’s perspective in mind. The more thoughtful, knowledgeable, interesting, and above-board your internet image is, the better.

Google Yourself

According to a 2018 survey, 70% of employers use social media to screen applicants. And approximately 43% use social media to check on current employees! So, after you’ve done some clean-up or created new profiles, Google yourself and see what comes up.

Enter your name and any versions of it, including nicknames and common misspellings of your name.

If you find anything erroneous or egregious, try to fix the issue before a potential employer spots it. That way, you’ll hopefully have something professional and relevant pop up as soon as an employer Googles your name.

In summary, social media shows no signs of slowing down in popularity anytime soon. Although new platforms pop up on a regular basis, the top four remain relatively constant, and all are growing in relevance as a method of recruiting on the side of employers, and job search on the side of employees. The choice today, is not whether you choose to leverage social media in your remote job search, but which platforms you decide to use.