business How Does Social Media Affect Your Job Search? December 22, 2015 Are you maintaining clean, professional LinkedIn and Facebook pages? If you’re in the midst of a job search, you better be! The job search has become increasingly digital in recent years, which means that your online presence is a crucial part of your potential employment. The traditional resume and cover letter are no longer the only items recruiters and employers look at, so it is important that your online presence shows your professionalism, experience, and charitability. There are a number of ways you can tailor your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to attract recruiters and employers. LinkedIn Recruiters consider LinkedIn one of the most helpful tools in finding the right candidate for a position—many even considering it the most important part of your online presence. Some hiring managers go right to LinkedIn to look for potential hires rather than posting print and online ads. If you don’t already have an account, it is essential that you set one up. When looking at your LinkedIn page, recruiters will want to see: Photo and contact information (email address/phone number) Education, area of study, and degrees received Information on past employment Recommendations from past employers Professional skills Links to any publications you might have written Consistency between your resume and LinkedIn account Facebook Even though your Facebook page is likely very personal to you and your life outside of your professional career, employers are still interested in it. They will be looking for: Authenticity- Yes, potential employers are looking to see that you are a professional, career driven person, but they are also looking to see that you are not merely a machine that can answer their screening questionnaire with the answers they want to hear. They want to see that your personality will fit in with the corporate culture, and that you will bring your own authenticity to the position. Skills- Recruiters want to see your creative side, and how you use social media to showcase your communicative and technological skills. Hiring managers are looking for candidates that can innovate and bring creative skills to the table. Professionalism- The golden rule for Facebook is to use your common sense. Think twice about sharing posts and pictures of excessive drinking, try not to use profanity, and always double check your spelling and grammar. If you set your page to private, your profile picture will still be available to the public, so be sure the photo is appropriate. Twitter A lot of hiring managers will use LinkedIn and Facebook before they check Twitter, but nonetheless, maintaining a clean, professional Twitter account is a smart thing to do. The same rules for Facebook apply to Twitter. Keep in mind that your social media presence is often times the deciding factor on whether or not you land an interview. Be sure to review your existing pages and edit them accordingly. Even after you’ve been hired, keep up your respectable online image and personal brand—you never know who could be searching for you! Questions? Contact any member of the KLR Executive Search Group.
