How Searchable Are You?
That means creating and keeping your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blog, and other social networking profiles relevant and up-to-date, but also professional. A widely touted statistic is that over 70% of hiring managers have turned down job applicants based on what they found online whereas only 7% of job applicants are concerned about their online reputations. You need to be online to be found by 21st century recruiters, but the content has equal potential to sell or deter your dream company from pursuing you for the job.
Here are some social networking tips that will get you noticed for all of the right reasons:
Complete your profile. Not only are you selling yourself short by omitting key personal and professional information, recruiters are 40 times more likely to click on a complete profile. Sites like LinkedIn tell you how complete your profile is on a 0-100% scale.
Keep your posts current and consistent. Your internet presence is a living resume. Make sure that your profiles look the same across mediums and reflect your actual professional situation.
Know your audience and check your privacy settings. As we all know, the internet is a public forum and what you post can follow you indefinitely. Make sure you know what people see when they look you up and maintain professional decorum when you open your sites up for broader viewing.
Share your accomplishments and new content. You want to have a lure to your sites, whether or not a job opportunity is on the other end. Post relevant articles, blogs, or videos that you’ve created or learned from. Remember – more is not always better here. Make sure all of your interactions online enhance your overall profile.
Remain (inter)active. This means connecting to new people, companies, and groups of interest and thoughtfully contributing to conversation threads. Before you start posting, check out the style and format of previous contributors to guide your communications. Also, monitor how much of your activity is simply commenting on online activity, as opposed to communicating; you want to make sure that your networking is interactive.
Check your spelling and grammar. When using the internet for social purposes, there is a tendency to hold ourselves to lax grammatical rules. Be careful to avoid mistakes and abbreviations.
Include (some) industry buzzwords. Make sure you pop up when a recruiter does a key word search. Make sure you know what major skills or technology needs companies in your field of interest require and indicate that you meet these on your resume and profiles.
Don’t spend all of your time online. A couple of posts on any given social media tool a week should be sufficient. Your social networking should supplement, not supplant, you other job search activities. Drop social media sites that you don’t think you will be able to update regularly.
Don’t connect with everyone. It’s important to be calculating – a few quality connections and interactions will have the most impact!
For more information like this (and support in creating your profiles), sign up for Organizing Your Job Search Workshop Series at the South Shore Workforce1 Career Center. Over two weeks, you’ll gain the tools and strategies necessary to map your career path, organize and perform an effective, independent job search, build your own social media profile and a network of peers for continued support, and interview with a Workforce1 staff member for available job opportunities in your field of interest.
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