As a recent graduate, I know the struggle in not only securing a graduate role but also searching for relevant ones. When I first started my job hunt I totally overlooked social media as a tool to help me find and secure a job. Statistics show how influential social media can be – over 27 million Britons use it every day, along with 65% of recruiters and HR staff using it regularly. It’s safe to say job hunters could be missing out by not making the most of using social media sites. Here are a few of my top tips I’ve picked up along the way…
Your Profile
First thing to do is to look over and edit your existing social media profiles. Check over your Facebook privacy settings and change everything to the highest privacy level. Recruiters rarely use Facebook to recruit candidates so it’s best to keep everything private here.
Twitter is a different story. Many companies and HR staff actively use Twitter for marketing, networking and recruiting graduates. Make your bio sharp, short and snappy outlining your interests that relate to your job search and the degree you studied. Look through your past tweets and delete any that include expletives or controversial issues. Keep all future tweets clean and sensible!
You can also easily find and learn more about an industry by reading news and articles posted on Twitter by newspapers and magazines. This knowledge will definitely come in handy in interviews. Showcase your interests and passions by retweeting and posting relevant articles. Don’t forget to tweet about any volunteering, qualifications and goals you’ve achieved to impress employers. Use your tweets to sell yourself!
LinkedIn is one of the top social media sites to use for job searching. Setting up your profile can feel daunting at first, but if you already have an up to date CV it is actually very simple. Use your CV as a basis and transfer over your details, like education, courses, and volunteering experience. Add a summary explaining your skills, interests and achievements and also what kind of job you’re searching for. Fill in all the sections you can, and spend some time in the ‘Experience’ area. It is here that you can highlight what skills you have developed through your experiences.
The Hunt
On Twitter and LinkedIn, follow any companies you would like to work for, along with recruitment sites or jobs boards. These will regularly post any new jobs they have so check your feed a few times a day or scroll through their profiles. Why not start by checking out the Inside Careers Twitter and LinkedIn pages?
It’s also worthwhile to follow any directors, HR staff or staff in the department/ company you want to work for on Twitter. They will become aware of you and your name will appear in their network.
LinkedIn has a feature where you can directly search and apply for jobs using the search toolbar at the top of the page. Once you’ve searched for a few jobs, LinkedIn will start to learn what kind of job you’re looking for and will advertise similar roles which will appear throughout your newsfeed.
Working at Inside Careers has taught me how useful LinkedIn groups are. There are many industry focused groups out there which you can freely join and where you can take part in discussions. Watch out for any job opportunities posted in here! I regularly post new jobs in our Actuaries and Patent groups.
And my final tip…
Good luck and keep trying! Remember if you don’t succeed in the interview stage, the company’s HR staff can later add you on LinkedIn to keep you in their network for future job opportunities!
– Lydia
