Everyone partakes in the job hunt at some point in their lives, but students and recent grads are especially familiar with this scary, yet exciting process. Luckily, they have access to a recruitment tool that keeps expanding and growing more popular: social media. Because they allow users to communicate, connect and share information with a large audience, social networks are an asset for both job seekers and employers prowling for new talent.
“It’s a tool that students can use in addition to other job search strategies,” says Tang Choy, an employability support counsellor at Ryerson University. “It’s where employers are going due to its low cost… to use social media to recruit and raise brand awareness.”
Why recruiters use social media
Employers use social media to gather more diverse information about candidates than might be addressed in their resumé or cover letter.
Through social networks like LinkedIn, employers have access to your previous job roles and descriptions of each position. They can see your volunteer experience and whether you are engaging with others in your field. They gain insight into your industry knowledge, work ethic and personality.
Social media also allow employers to share news efficiently. Choy says by sharing job opportunities and updates with their networks, companies gain access to a broader range of talent. “There’s a pool of candidates they have access to… it can be very time saving,” she says. Another benefit is that a company’s social media followers are likely to be more passionate about working for the company as opposed to other job seekers because by following, they have already shown an interest in the company.
Using social media in your job search
When it comes to using social media effectively, Choy suggests an 80/20 rule: 80 percent of your posts should be beneficial to your community, and 20 percent can be self-promotional.
To target a specific community, think about useful articles or videos you’ve seen that relate to your field and could help others learn about the industry. This shows that you understand what type of content is valuable to your industry, and that you are actively keeping up with the latest news and trends. Choy emphasizes sharing content in an array of media: “Your audience will have different learning styles; different content will appeal to them.”
To ensure that your self-promotional posts don’t come off as bragging, keep your messages simple. Gently remind your network that you’re seeking opportunities. Post an update once you’ve completed a course or received a certification in your field. Casually let your network know about your most valuable skills and achievements.
To help show the importance of these techniques, Ryerson hosted Job Searching 2.0: Social Media Week. Over the course of seven days, students were taught how to use social media strategically in their job search. However, on a more regular basis, Ryerson also offers two workshops to help students establish themselves professionally online: Networking On and Offline, as well as LinkedIn: Building Career Connections and Effective Profiles.
Similarly, to help students learn the ways social media can advance their careers, York University provides a social media workshop called “Job Search Strategies that Work.” A large portion of it is dedicated to emphasizing company research—becoming familiar with the organization’s personality before reaching out to them about job opportunities, says Mayolyn Dagsi, who helps administer the workshop. Using the example of Molson Coors, she asks students, “What comes to mind when you first think about the company?” Many respond with words like summer, fun and partying. But when they look at Molson Coors’ website and social media profiles, they learn about the company’s emphasis on corporate social responsibility.
“When you learn about an organization, when you do the research, you realize that it’s not necessarily what you think first,” says Dagsi.
Solid background research helps you stand out during an interview. This is why company social media profiles are so beneficial. By knowing the company’s vision, initiatives, social media presence and past projects, you show employers that you’re passionate about their brand and dedicated to supporting it.
Branding yourself
As it is up to a company to provide you with information about an available position, you too need to provide them with information about who you are and what you’ve done. A great way to do this is through personal branding.
Your brand is the way you package yourself, says Dagsi. It is a combination of your online presence, cover letter and resumé, which need to be consistent with one another. For example, if your cover letter says you are interested in human rights, then your Pinterest page should show books and infographics related to human rights.
If your social media presence doesn’t support your resumé, then there’s a disconnect in your brand. This can be troublesome for employers who are looking for reliable workers to keep their company’s reputation intact, says Dagsi.
Trying to create your personal brand can be a daunting task. One way to start defining your brand is to consider how your friends and family might describe you, says Dagsi. “Everybody’s different, so there’s got to be a personality about you,” she says. “You don’t have to win the Nobel Prize… but it has to be something unique.”
“What do you want others to know you for? What skills or experiences do you have that set you apart from other candidates?” explains Choy. In other words, it’s defining your niche or area of expertise.
Red flags
When looking through social media profiles, employers tend to react negatively towards poor grammar and spelling. They may think, “What if our clients were looking at this profile? What kind of impression would it give?” This is why Choy says spelling and punctuation are so important. Your profile is a reflection of your work, so when it’s written poorly, employers think your work will be presented poorly as well.
Students should also be wary of sharing questionable posts or photos through social media. On sites like Facebook and Twitter it’s easy to get carried away with personal updates. But unlike your friends, employers will not be impressed by that photo of your keg stand. In fact, such pictures could be the reason you are no longer considered a candidate for a certain position. Employers look to social media for signs of professionalism and maturity, so don’t let posts with swearing, alcohol, illegal drug use or sexual references overshadow your engagement in the field.
Social media recruitment has gone from a trend to a necessity, according to a press release published by Jobvite, which outlines the results of their 2012 recruitment survey. Two out of three recruiters use Facebook to find new talent, and more than half use Twitter in search of people who have communicated an interest in the related field. LinkedIn, however, remains the dominant social network when it comes to finding new talent.
“[It’s] not a site where people will be promoting that they just watched ‘Wheel of Fortune,’” says Choy. “People know that this is a platform where you’re putting on your professional face.”
LinkedIn uses “Connections” to help users communicate with others in their field. But to ensure you make quality connections, you need to be professional. For Choy, this starts with your LinkedIn invitation. When asking someone to connect on LinkedIn, it’s important to change the default message. Make it more personal by referring to how you met or to a common interest. Social media are tools to help build relationships, says Choy, which means they’re more than just a way to secure a job—you want to use them to network with like-minded professionals.
Once you make a new connection (or even if you haven’t—your profile could come up in a Google search) and someone views your profile, your picture is one of the first things that they see. Choy emphasizes the importance of using a professional headshot, as opposed to a cropped photo or a picture with friends or family. Ryerson’s Career Development and Employment Centre offers free headshots for students that attend its one-to-one LinkedIn Profile Advising appointments.
Attention will naturally move from the picture to your summary. Write in first person, and apply your creativity and personality. Instead of merely listing the companies you’ve worked for, show off what you did for those companies by highlighting major achievements and using key words from your target industry. You should list both your soft and hard/technical skills so that employers can see all you have to offer.
Facebook can also be a useful tool in the job hunt. Company profiles do a good job of showing the environment and culture of a workplace. They’re also a great place for employers to post job opportunities and provide links to applications.
Filling out an application is only the first step in being considered for a job, especially when companies have large networks. To stand out, you need to engage with the company through its Facebook page. Occasionally post comments, videos and links on its profile so that the person in charge of hiring can see that you’re serious about the company’s work.
Facebook can also be used for networking, says Choy. “We often think of LinkedIn as the go-to resource, but Facebook can also be a platform where users can leverage their network.” She points to the new Graph Search feature, which allows users to narrow down their network based on parameters they indicate: “This is useful for determining individuals within your network that could potentially have leads on industries or companies.”
Companies and recruiters on Twitter tend to tweet updates, job openings and networking opportunities, making it more convenient for job seekers who would have previously had to scour company websites. It also helps to use hashtags. For example, if you’re looking for a job in digital marketing, search for the hashtag “#digitalmarketing.” You’ll find a variety of tweets about the topic, and if you’re lucky some of those tweets will be about job opportunities.
In an article for mashable.com, Elisha Hartwig writes, “Don’t just retweet what others are saying; create meaningful content that people care about. Be a thought leader.” By following the industry you are interested in and participating in live discussions, you prove how much you care about being a part of that community.
With social media continuing to rise in popularity, Dagsi believes these platforms have become a key part of the job hunt. “I think it’s definitely something that keeps expanding because of the fact that people do want to see how people are aside from a piece of paper,” she says.
While Choy agrees, she cautions students to remember social media are still only tools: “Even though students or job seekers may be looking online… it’s important to take things offline as well… [and it’s] important to try and make that effort to meet with these individuals in person.”
