Social Media for Job Seekers: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter your way to your dream job
A few weeks back, I gave a talk at the Barrington Career Center on social media for job seekers, focusing on how to use LinkedIn, Facebook and even Twitter to land the job of your dreams. It was truly fortuitous timing as well, because I have several personal stories of getting so many fantastic job offers and contract opportunities that in fact I've been turning down more work than I've been accepting lately. And yes, those conversations started on Twitter, on Facebook and on LinkedIn. But I have to thank Susan Mernit's great post on social media for the newly laid off to finally get my butt in gear to write up this post!
So I'm throwing up the 40-minute audio talk from the Center here (direct download for the mp3). Eventually, I'll post the slides as well, once I figure out the best means to marry the PowerPoint with the audio with minimal work for me (clients come first, after all!) If you don't have time to listen, here is a summary of my main points. I'd love feedback--what social media tool do you find indispensible for tracking down job leads or for helping make connections for your job seeking colleagues?
First Principle of Job-Seeking
Whether you're out looking online on LinkedIn or at your local networking group, the first rule of networking still applies: help others first. Be open, be available, be helpful. Go in asking, "What can I do for you?" not "how can I use this connection?" (euuuw) If you think that you're not in a position to give anything at the moment, you're wrong. You already have tons of resources at your disposal--just because they're not the right resources to help you find the job of your dreams doesn't mean that they're not the right resources to help someone else find the job of her dreams.
Three things you can give even when you don't have a job:
- Connections--be generous with your existing connections. Offer to introduce friends and colleagues to those with similar interests. Be instrumental in the introduction.
- Advice--you have years and years of experience in your field. Even if you're moving to another field, your experience is invaluable to others out there. Share your expertise. Share a story. Share a challenge that you overcame.
- Attention--hey, how many of us would kill just for a sympathetic ear these days? Even if you can't offer help or a connection outright, just listening and brainstorming with an associate can be valuable.
Cool Online Tools to Land Your Dream Job
1. LinkedIn According to Guy Kawasaki, the average LinkedIn connections for people who work at Google is 47 and the average for Harvard Business School grads is 58, so you could skip the MBA, work at Google, and probably get most of the connections you need. Later, you can hire Harvard MBAs to prepare your income taxes. Also, people with more than 20 connections are 34 times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five. All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees. Use LinkedIn to increase the relevancy of your job search, to make the interview go more smoothly and to gauge the health of a company.
What? You only have a bare-bones profile on LinkedIn? Keep your LinkedIn profile fun, interactive and don't forget to be yourself. A few ways to do that:
- Update your status frequently to let everyone know what projects you're working on and which events you're attending
- Use the "summary" part of your profile to show your benefit statement and your personality. Talk about what you're passionate about, let your humor show, be yourself! This isn't a resume; it's coffee with a great friend. Let your personality show.
- Get engaged online--ask questions and answer other people's questions.
- Join groups that relate to your interests and participate in them actively to show your ongoing professional education and commitment
2. Facebook
When I presented this last week, a hand was raised, asking, "Isn't that just for your kids to talk to their friends?" Sure, it can be. Or it can be a powerful tool for connecting you with those in your field you might not otherwise have a means to connect with.
A few keys to using Facebook for your job search:
- Be conscious of how much personal information you're putting online. Sure, be open about your hobbies, your family, your cute dog. Avoid tagging photos of you drunk at social outings.
- Make sure your profile is as complete as possible--add photos from professional events you've attended, link to all your websites and make sure your profile reflects your professional interests For example, I frequently update my status talking about social media projects I'm working on, Web 2.0 articles I've read and events I'm either attending or wish I were attending.
- If you have feeds, bring them in to Facebook. Your blog, Twitter, Flickr, podcast--anything you produce should be aggregated here. Four thousand blog posts, 100 podcasts and a thousand Tweets will tell a potential employer a heckuva lot more about what you really care about in life than a two-page resume.
- Get engaged in two-way conversations and stay active. Just having a profile isn't enough; get out there and start building relationships. There are zillions of groups on Facebook; I did a search for "job seekers" and turned up over 500 groups, one with over 200 members just seeking jobs in Egypt! Join and participate in groups that relate to your interests.
Update your status frequently, showing your self, your passion and your and sense of humor. If you're not sure what to say, a few suggestions: what articles/books you’re reading? What music are you listening to? Ask a question asking for advice. Post a link to articles you read or write giving advice. Post a link to an event you'll be attending or photos you just posted.
3. Twitter
Yes, Twitter! It's not for everyone, and it's a fantastic tool for expanding your network and keeping in touch with those you just don't have a great excuse to send an email to. Twitter is a microblogging platform in which you answer the question "What are you doing?" in 140 characters or less--kind of like a cross between IM and blogging. Your friends follow you and keep track of your updates, kind of like with your status updates on Facebook and LinkedIn. Another way to think of Twitter is the life that happens between blog posts or articles--not enough to write home about, just a quick status update. (I've written about Twitter for customer service, CEOs, social change, just being lazy, and even for listening)
Twitter, like Facebook and LinkedIn, is designed to facilitate two-way communication. When you post a status message about a book you're reading, for example, some of your followers might reply back, asking what you think of it or giving their own impressions and recommendations. Twitter, like the other tools mentioned here, is great for building and maintaining relationships. Twitter gives you a chance to reach out, offer to help, offer advice--without having to drive downtown to meet that friend for coffee.
What do you Twitter? Kind of like your status updates, you might want to Tweet that you're writing a blog article, sending a newsletter, wondering how to sell to Canadians, asking a question, applying for a Social Media position in Boston (this Tweet unwittingly started a fantastic conversation with my pal Luke Armour), asking for interview advice, reading article on interview advice... you get the idea.
Now, the issue with this talk was honing the tools down to just three that were manageable--and I still overloaded the crowd when I got to Twitter. Truth is, everyone in the room was on LinkedIn; three were on Facebook and no one had even heard of Twitter. So that being said, what tools would YOU recommend to job seekers to build relationships before, during and after their job searches? Would you leave Twitter out or add even more tools?
Find me:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/heidimiller
Facebook: www.profile.to/heidimiller
Twitter: www.twitter.com/heidimiller
Edit: More articles on social media for job seekers: Johnny Makkar on Using Twitter to find a job
