Social Media Job Search: Tips from Recruiting

As a recruiter, my weekdays and even weekends are at times packed with LinkedIn invites and suggestions, asking me on how to find a new job? I often get my inbox flooded with CVs or questions like what is the perfect recipe to stand out when making a job application.

Truth is, there is no perfect recipe to land that perfect job that you spied on and yet still there are 100 of them.

But if you use Social media as a tool to refine and apply to jobs, your success rate will be higher. Find out how.

• LinkedIn:

Use LinkedIn selectively and not as a spam to connect to recruiters and business leads. Reach out to people in your network, politely with a short yet concise email explaining your purpose. Do not ask them to refer you in case they have never had the chance of working with you.

In case you know someone and have worked with him or her, then you can ask to be referred. Apply to only relevant jobs in LinkedIn and send an Inmail to the concerned recruiter.

In case you have not heard back in about a fortnight or a month, chances are that you never will. So time to move on to the next job application.  

• Facebook:

You never know who would be reading your feeds, so try to keep your profile private in your network. Please make sure you don’t write anything negative concerning your employer on your feeds as it might attract unwanted attention and chances of ruining chances for your job search.

In short, keep Facebook communication lucid and perhaps more information sharing on personal goals in case you wish to.

 Leave the rest to LinkedIn.  

• Network:

Talk to people non-virtually also. In case you are looking to shift jobs and a particular job in a company interests you, talk to people who work there about what they know about the role or in case they can direct you to the right person.

In case you know a recruiter at that company, try to know about the role and your chances of getting a call and the overall competition instead of applying headfirst.  

Apart from using social media as a tool, it is also important to note the below with respect to the job search; 

• Be passionate about what you would like to do:

We all like to ‘sell’ ourselves with the job that we see on LinkedIn and get into the mould of that role. It is a good idea therefore to know what job makes you happy and apply likewise. Employers today are also known to modify their job descriptions with respect to the candidate’s job profiles.

In short, you do not need to try too hard but try to highlight your current skillset to show how you can leverage it to the benefit of the role.

This can be easily highlighted via your LinkedIn profile or via online applications.  

• Say Thank you:

It sucks not to get ahead in the race in case you receive a no thank you note from a prospective employer or a recruiter. Nevertheless, try to think beyond that. What made you not get in the race ahead? Ask productive questions if you have a name. Ask for feedback. It might not land you the particular job, but your curiosity and eagerness will land you in a better place.  

• Improvisation:

However positive your approach or job application might look like, it may not always get you the call that you wished for. In case you are lucky to get a feedback, work on the things that you could for the role or similar roles in future.

Learn the local language if the role demands you to, take some online training/ certifications, get into an advisory board of a smaller organization, anything that might benefit you of getting the dream job.  

I would go far to say that Social Media is a useful tool in leading you to the job that you applied for. However, it is not a guarantee that will land you that job. What will pay in the end is your skillset, attitude, perseverance and networking when you look for jobs.  

Happy Hunting!