Social media has become a powerful tool to connect the world; every year, new platforms and new features enhance our way of communicating and building online communities. 

Besides liking, commenting and sharing various posts; social media can be a well-used aid for the job search. Knowing how to use social media effectively when seeking out new opportunities can take you a long way to being noticed by recruiters and employers alike. 

Some of the benefits of using social media in your job search include:

• Being able to apply for advertised job listings quickly and effectively 
• Being more visible to recruiters and employers that are scouting social networks 
• You can build your network and engage with your wider audience  

Whether you’ve started to use social media for your job search and looking for additional tips or you’re thinking about how you can use social media effectively, we have some ways you can do so. 

Activate Accounts

You won’t be able to use social media in your job search without having an account! There are various social media platforms that businesses have a presence on. From the perspective of a candidate, the best platform you could use to begin the process of finding your next role is LinkedIn

LinkedIn allows you to connect with potential employers and current and past colleagues, join groups, apply for roles and showcase your work. By having a well laid out profile, the chances of you being noticed by recruiters will be much higher! Read our blog on: LinkedIn Tips For Candidates for additional advice and pointers! 

Showcase Your Portfolio

Having an online portfolio has a range of benefits and being able to showcase them through different channels has more benefits! 

Think about the type of career in which you want to pursue and the people who you want to notice your work. If you want to become a journalist, share some of your blogs or recent projects  on social media or in a group you may have joined. If you’re an aspiring digital designer, provide links to your portfolio on social media platforms. 

The more work you showcase, the likelihood of your work being noticed increases. Other options could be creating YouTube tutorials and infographics expressing your passion and creative spark. 

Looking for additional tips? Read: The Benefits Of An Online Portfolio 

Showcase Your Personality 

Being able to fit in with the company culture is just as big as being able to carry out the role you’re hired for. More companies are trying to adopt a positive working culture as well as hiring individuals that can work effectively in a team, if needed. 

A good way to identify with a business culture would be to showcase your personality online. This could be through channels such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram; however, be careful. You have complete freedom with your social media accounts, but by posting harmful and offensive content; you certainly won’t be attracting recruiters or potential employers. 

If you’re applying for a marketing position, more specifically, social media related, then check out other business social media pages and gather their tone and their way of marketing their business. 

Join Groups Relating To Your Industry 

On LinkedIn and Facebook, there are plenty of groups and pages that could relate to your interests. Sometimes these groups post job opportunities that they’ve come across online and by joining these groups, you can spread your knowledge and passion for your chosen sector. 

Twitter is famous for hashtags – take advantage of them. Look for news in your industry by using hashtags. This will connect you with other users and your posts will be more searchable by recruiters, whilst bagging some influential followers. 

Be Understated about Your Job Search Online 

The idea of using social media for your job search is not to send out the “I’m desperate, hire me” message. The aim is to put yourself out there as a knowledgeable, proactive and enthusiastic person  while keeping an eye out for opportunities and engaging with people along the way. 

If you're trying to get your foot in the door, be creative when posting online. Pitching an idea, story or project that would be of interest to the company is a great tactic and demonstrates that you're a self-starter.

Be Creative With Your Profile 

This could be a great tip for those who wish to get into digital design. As mentioned before, a digital portfolio could be very beneficial for showcasing your talents. Perhaps you could make a portfolio of your work on Instagram or Pinterest? If you're a visual thinker, you could show this by taking the time to curate your pages artistically.

There are different tools to enhance vision and make your profile stand out such as Photoshop and Canva. 

Blog Your Way To An Opportunity 

Blogs can  be an excellent resource for candidates looking for new opportunities. And linking back to your blog while posting on other sites can lead recruiters right to your profile. Identify your interest and write some content towards that. It could be the case that you post two pieces of content per week and share that with your audience. 

Platforms such as Medium provide a platform for aspiring writers to put together content and share with other writers on the platform to provide feedback. This will highlight your skills, leaving room for improvement and also showing your dedication towards blogging and the industry you’re writing about. 

How Often Should You Use Social Media? 

In regards to using social media in your job search, you’ll be making more of an impact if you’re using it consistently. It’s just like your traditional job search; you’re more likely to get results and find a breakthrough if you put the work in. 

This means checking your Twitter feed regularly, interacting with other users or re-tweeting interesting articles or posts from thought leaders in your industry. Or it might mean posting something interesting to LinkedIn or Instagram to gain their attention. 

Maintaining your social media presence requires time. Identify the platforms that you feel will give you the best chance of influencing your job search and build on it. 

Your social media activity can play a very big part in landing your next position. There are various techniques you can implement to your day-to-day activity to ensure you’re grabbing the eye of the right people whilst showcasing your talents and passion.