Social networks have become an important tool of hiring managers to find the right talent and weed out applicants. It’s time you became open-minded and used social media to get your next job rather than only for posting statuses, pictures and reading breaking news.
Here are a few Facebook and Twitter secrets to land a dream job.
Be Proactive on Twitter
Imagine tweeting an article and thanking the firm that posted it, mentioning that Twitter conversation when you email the company about summer internship and be called for an interview within two days! Yes, Twitter hasn’t been structured as a job search tool, but it offers plenty of opportunities to connect with people. Companies and hiring professionals are increasingly sharing open positions on their accounts. All you need to do is:
Deck up your profile – Your Twitter profile is your brand – it should include an identifiable photo and a nifty bio. These two things can help you make an impression even before people decide to click on you.
Start following – Your next step should be to follow desired companies, recruiters, job forums and industry leaders. You can strike up a conversation with your potential bosses by retweeting, favouriting and replying to tweets in meaningful ways. Building up a personal conversation makes way for direct messaging where you can ask them to connect outside of Twitter.
Do your research – Looking up your interviewer and potential employers ahead of an important interview could arm you in ways you wouldn’t have thought of. Their recent tweets could hand out clues about what interests them and what the company culture is. They could even ask your thoughts about a certain topic they might have shared on Twitter.
Now you know how to put yourself at an equal standing with your potential boss.
Put Facebook to Good Use
Facebook can do better than being a platform for sharing cat pictures, inside jokes and random monologue about people you don’t like. You can use it to let your friends know that you’re searching for jobs. In fact, employee referrals are the quickest way to find a job at your dream company.
Use Facebook as a search engine – Prepare a list of companies you want to apply for jobs at. Find people in your network that might work there already and ask them about openings, if any. You could also follow the organization’s ‘fan’ page and get an insight into who they are, products that they offer, current promotions or a list of job openings. A lot of companies – big or small – have come to realize the power of social media and turn to Facebook for finding the employee who understands it well.
Use Facebook as a virtual billboard – Similar to Google AdWords, Facebook social ads let organizations and people to use Facebook’s news feed and left rail to advertise. Though this works similar to Google’s program, it has its own advantages – you can use your picture in the ad and the message is more “word-of-mouth friendly” because the ad moves through your friends’ news feed.
You can create an ad with these simple steps:
- Go to ‘Advertise on Facebook’
- Give a title to your ad – in a job seeker’s case it could be “I want to work for .” The more precise the title, the better.
- Put up a picture – one that is professional yet personal. Don’t put up a picture you wouldn’t want to show to a hiring manager.
- Give a description – Not the entire resume, but a quick of who you are, what do you do and what job you’re looking for. Remember, 56 characters is all you have.
After finishing, link this ad to your Facebook page, LinkedIn profile or blog. Select your target audience keeping in mind the company and location so that it lands up on the news feed of relevant people who would care about hiring you.
To have a successful job search, you need to become a content producer and be where recruiters are searching. Just keep a tab on new opportunities by following up on your dream company’s social accounts.
This article was originally published on BGR.in.
