Social media and job hunting
WHEN it comes to looking for work nowadays, don’t ignore the power of social media in determining your chances of getting your dream job.
It’s a good bet that you’re probably already on one or more social media platforms but when it comes to job hunting, most online sites will advise you to set up a LinkedIn account, if you haven’t already.
The key is to have a LinkedIn account with a strong summary, which includes phrases and keywords for skills that employers in your industry are on the lookout for. These days, more and more employers are hunting for jobseekers on LinkedIn by searching for those keywords.
If you’re on Twitter, you should probably start another account that will be used strictly for professional purposes. For this account, you should not share photos of your meals or parties or even your favourite actors or singers. This account would be for you to follow the people and companies in your industry.
More importantly, it allows you to have some interaction with them even if it’s just retweeting or sharing their tweets. Sharing interesting articles could also get you noticed by recruiters, especially if they look at you as someone passionate about their industry.
For the most popular social media platform, Facebook, one of the most important things to think about in terms of your jobhunting prospects is to have the right privacy settings in place. You have a right to share your social life on Facebook but that does not mean you should share it with everyone, especially not the HR executives who are potentially trying to recruit you.
The key is to always portray yourself in a positive light in the eyes of your potential employers.
For all these social networks, as suggested by one website, try not to refer to yourself in your profile as “unemployed” or “jobseeker”. Instead, you should refer to yourself in terms of the kind of employment you’re looking for, so it doesn’t matter if you’re not working in that particular field at the moment.
It’s also important to avoid sensitive issues or subjects that could be divisive, even if you’re not the one posting or tweeting about it, as they could reflect badly on you and potentially scare away recruiters.
Social media can either help you or harm your chances in your search for a job. Hopefully, by paying more attention to your social media presence, the odds of getting your dream job will be greatly improved.
This is a weekly column by SarawakYES! – an initiative driven by Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd and supported by Angkatan Zaman Mansang (Azam) Sarawak – to provide advice and stories on the topics of education and careers to support Sarawakians seeking to achieve their dreams. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.