Using Social Media in Jobhunting

 

Social media and networking sites can be used for careers research, job seeking and to market yourself to future employers as well as sorting out your social life – something that many students and graduates are surprisingly unaware of.  In a recent survey by SHL, less than 40% of graduates said they would consider marketing themselves to recruiters online. This means that the other 60% are missing the opportunity to present themselves in a positive light and use social media to help them get a job

There are different sites for professional networking and for social networking – your Facebook profile may not present you to employers in the best possible light!

Having said that, you can’t ignore Facebook for job-seeking - many employers do use it to promote their brand and their graduate programmes and allow potential candidates to network with graduates and recruitment staff. This information can help you to pick up useful tips on the company and the recruitment process and to come over as a well-informed candidate so it is well worth making use of.

Stories of recruiters checking out potential candidates via Facebook are largely exaggerated (most recruiters don’t have the time or staff to do this!) but it does happen, so set your privacy settings to the highest possible level and make sure your profile picture is one that you would be happy for a future employer to see!

Also try Googling your name both on the web and for images to make sure that nothing inappropriate shows up.

 

Blogs

These are another good way to get an insight into an organisation – major graduate recruiters often encourage their graduate trainees, interns and placement students to blog about their experiences – although you need to be aware that these blogs will usually have been vetted by the corporate communications department to make sure that the blogger is presenting the right image!
“Unofficial” blogs can give an even more valuable insight, although they may need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
To find useful blogs just Google the name of the company or career area you are interested in, e.g. IBM+blog or barrister+blog.
Writing your own blog can demonstrate your writing skills, your knowledge of a particular area and your enthusiasm to a wide audience.

Avoid Buzzwords!

Buzzwords make you sound like just another faceless candidate, a plastic applicant with no real personality who just cuts and pstes from other people's CVs. According to a survey by LinkedIn here are the top 10 overused buzzwords used in LinkedIn Profiles in the USA in 2010

In other countries extensive experience was most used in the USA, Canada, Australia, dynamic was most common in Brazil, India, Spain, motivated was the most common one in the UK whereas in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, innovative ruled the roost.

Personal Branding

A well developed online presence through blogging, social media and networking can demonstrate that you have the desired skills and knowledge without necessarily the hands on experience.

By developing their personal brand, students can independently:

See the excellent personal branding resources at www.ideasbynet.com/blog/personal-branding

Further information

 

twitterTwitter http://twitter.com Get the very latest vacancies and job-hunting updates from Twitter - follow us @unikentemploy and @ukmemploy

facebookFacebook The University of Kent Careers and Employability Service is also on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/UKCES and http://www.facebook.com/ukmemployability

 

Last fully updated in 2013