you don't have work or industry contacts: For
people just graduating, LinkedIn is a pretty
barren area. With little experience and no work
contacts (because they have been studying, of
course) it's hard, a bit bewildering, and I think
it's very easy for people who have been in work
for years to forget that. I was still at university
when Facebook started - yes I am that old - and
I remember the buzz there was around it. I
didn't go onto LinkedIn until I was about to
leave my first job because I didn't see the
relevancy. I recommend it now, but I know
how it feels and I sympathise with those who
feel they have nothing to add to their profile on
there. Of course what they need to do is get on
there and add their skills - and any experience
they can muster - and jump in, but it's often
not that easy.
See yourself as an editor of your own suite of
magazines: I don't think those new to social
should be put off by the idea that they have to
be on 24/7 and managing multiple accounts like
a community pro. It's best to be genuine, so
have a personal account on each one and
update as necessary. Generally you don't want
to link up all your accounts because you need
different facets of your personality to shine
through on different parts. On tone: See
yourself as an editor of your own suite of life
magazines. You've got your personal magazine,
Facebook, where you share all the latest gossip
and pics - it's like Heat, but for you. Then
you've got LinkedIn. This is your FT, where you
are putting your best foot forward to show your
professional side. Twitter can be as fun or
professional as you like, but if you want to use
it for business, make it like Wired: interesting,
informative, cool.
Use Facebook to let your friends and family know
you're job seeking: If you don't mind your
Facebook being a channel for people to find you
on, here's a tip, put your key words in your
interests (as this is how the search works). So
for me it's community, community
management, social media, recruitment, HR,
journalism, writing, blogging and so on. If,
however, you prefer a little privacy, you can
still use your Facebook presence and your
connections on there for job seeking purposes
(your friends are your job seeking starting
point, always. They know you best, love you
and would hire you, if they could. So why not
start with them?).
Engage with a prospective employer rather than
jumping straight in: I think there are two
different routes. The first is using social media
tools to identify and then communicate with
prospective employers, the second is to then use
the tools and platforms to communicate your
knowledge, suitability or passion for a position.
I'd still use the likes of LinkedIn for
identification and communication, as it allows
for more private communication. However, by
following a prospective employer and engaging
with them rather than jumping straight in and
asking for job opportunities is the best advice I
can give. Those I've noticed most are the people
that can demonstrate they understand social
media, but can also add to the debate and flag
up things I may not know or have seen online.
Playing a numbers game via Twitter can give a bad
impression: I think the ease of access, immediacy
and in most cases the zero cost that social tools
give us, means that common sense can
sometimes go out the window. Tweeting at
hundreds of people, across a number of sectors
and jobs might be easy to do, but for anyone
looking back through your stream it will be
obvious you are playing the numbers game.
That for me is the difference. The offline
(traditional?) way is private, you write 1,000
letters and people won't know. Use social media
in the same way and you can see it won't look
great. It might even damage your prospects
when you do come across that position that
really is right for you.
Be open and honest about your employment status:
Never be ashamed of being unemployed. Some
agencies need freelancers and last minute part-
time employees and so would love to be aware
of your situation. It's always best to be open
and honest on all social networks.
... To Be Continued
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