Social Networking – Avoiding the Pitfalls and Leveraging the Tools
So you have a Twitter account, Facebook page and a LinkedIn profile. That’s a good start. Now…are you actually using them as tools to help you to get re-employed? Or is your online presence creating the wrong personal brand/image and taking you out of contention for being seriously considered as a candidate?
Twitter and Facebook are still perceived by employers to be “personal” while they look at a LinkedIn profile as being a good barometer of a person’s professional experience, interests and expertise.
I’m hoping at this point pretty much everyone realizes that prospective employers will almost always do a good job of scanning the Internet as part of their overall due diligence regarding candidates in whom they have some interest. This means “Googling” your name to find “what’s out there” about you along with taking a good, long look at what people are posting on your “wall”, what you are “tweeting” and learning about past work experiences on LinkedIn (have you noticed over the last year or so how many professional athletes are getting themselves into serious trouble via their “Tweets”).
Yes…all of this really does matter. Remember, from my frame of reference – if I can find and read all of this information about you, so can my boss and my company’s best client. So, I must be very cognizant of the image you have chosen to portray online. If what can easily be seen or read about you online might embarrass my company…why on earth would I consider hiring you? Remember, much of a hiring manager’s reputation comes as a result of the perceived value of the employees they have brought into the organization.
So…how can you avoid a personal online disaster and use the digital universe to your advantage? Here are a few tips that might wind up being tie-breakers or game changers for you:
• First and foremost, take an “inventory” of your social media accounts. Look at each as though YOU were the hiring manager looking at “you”, the candidate. What would be your first (and lasting) impression of this “candidate”?
• Don’t just add people to your LinkedIn profile to pump up the number of connections. Hiring mangers will look at your connections to see who is in your network. Are you “surrounding” yourself with strong business/professional contacts or “just anyone”? Quality vs. quantity here, folks. What’s the old axiom, “You are best known by the company you keep”…?
• Join industry-related groups on LinkedIn. Comment regularly on discussion topics of interest that can provide you an opportunity to be viewed/perceived as an industry expert and thought leader. This type of activity is great for helping to build your personal brand.
• Search for good industry related blogs and get to know the authors. Add them to your LinkedIn connections. You never know who these folks may have in their networks that might be able to help you get your foot in the door of a targeted employer. Blogs, like LinkedIn discussion groups, provide terrific opportunities for your name to become familiar/recognizable to others within your industry. How about writing your own blog? They are relatively easy to set up and most are free to use. I started writing this blog last July and now there are thousands of people reading it in over 22 countries around the world.
• If you regularly attend meetings for local job seekers’ groups, join their LinkedIn group and post job opportunities which might benefit other members. You help others to succeed in their job search and they often will turn around and do whatever they can to help you. This is a “win-win” if there ever was one. PAY IT FORWARD!
• It’s OK to ask people to recommend you on LinkedIn. Be smart about this…ask the people who are willing to recommend you to focus their comments on a particular accomplishment, which demonstrates a high proficiency with a specific skill set. Then, over time, these recommendations from former co-workers, supervisors and clients will tell a pretty complete story about how you are able to apply multiple skills to produce exceptional results. Five recommendations that speak to five different skills trumps ten recommendations that all describe only one of your many skills.
• Use the “Advanced Search” option in LinkedIn to look for employees of your target companies who have a profile. Find those people who are connected to your connections, then pick up the phone and ask the person in your network to arrange for an introduction. This might be one of the most powerful, yet most under-utilized tools on LinkedIn. Time spent on this type of activity is exponentially more valuable than staring for hours at online job postings.
• Although this again is something that I would like to assume everyone knows, it is still worth mentioning – Nothing ever really gets deleted from the Internet. Pictures, videos, emails….these things “live” forever in the digital world. Think at least twice before you hit “Send” or “Post”. Tweets, postings on Facebook “walls”, YouTube videos…what are you telling “me” about “you”?
Clearly the bottom line in all of this is to use these tools, and use them effectively. The only required investment is your time. To become a proficient user of Social Media is relatively easy. And, such proficiency goes a long way to getting your name on the short list of finalists for job opportunities.
Twitter and Facebook are still perceived by employers to be “personal” while they look at a LinkedIn profile as being a good barometer of a person’s professional experience, interests and expertise.
I’m hoping at this point pretty much everyone realizes that prospective employers will almost always do a good job of scanning the Internet as part of their overall due diligence regarding candidates in whom they have some interest. This means “Googling” your name to find “what’s out there” about you along with taking a good, long look at what people are posting on your “wall”, what you are “tweeting” and learning about past work experiences on LinkedIn (have you noticed over the last year or so how many professional athletes are getting themselves into serious trouble via their “Tweets”).
Yes…all of this really does matter. Remember, from my frame of reference – if I can find and read all of this information about you, so can my boss and my company’s best client. So, I must be very cognizant of the image you have chosen to portray online. If what can easily be seen or read about you online might embarrass my company…why on earth would I consider hiring you? Remember, much of a hiring manager’s reputation comes as a result of the perceived value of the employees they have brought into the organization.
So…how can you avoid a personal online disaster and use the digital universe to your advantage? Here are a few tips that might wind up being tie-breakers or game changers for you:
• First and foremost, take an “inventory” of your social media accounts. Look at each as though YOU were the hiring manager looking at “you”, the candidate. What would be your first (and lasting) impression of this “candidate”?
• Don’t just add people to your LinkedIn profile to pump up the number of connections. Hiring mangers will look at your connections to see who is in your network. Are you “surrounding” yourself with strong business/professional contacts or “just anyone”? Quality vs. quantity here, folks. What’s the old axiom, “You are best known by the company you keep”…?
• Join industry-related groups on LinkedIn. Comment regularly on discussion topics of interest that can provide you an opportunity to be viewed/perceived as an industry expert and thought leader. This type of activity is great for helping to build your personal brand.
• Search for good industry related blogs and get to know the authors. Add them to your LinkedIn connections. You never know who these folks may have in their networks that might be able to help you get your foot in the door of a targeted employer. Blogs, like LinkedIn discussion groups, provide terrific opportunities for your name to become familiar/recognizable to others within your industry. How about writing your own blog? They are relatively easy to set up and most are free to use. I started writing this blog last July and now there are thousands of people reading it in over 22 countries around the world.
• If you regularly attend meetings for local job seekers’ groups, join their LinkedIn group and post job opportunities which might benefit other members. You help others to succeed in their job search and they often will turn around and do whatever they can to help you. This is a “win-win” if there ever was one. PAY IT FORWARD!
• It’s OK to ask people to recommend you on LinkedIn. Be smart about this…ask the people who are willing to recommend you to focus their comments on a particular accomplishment, which demonstrates a high proficiency with a specific skill set. Then, over time, these recommendations from former co-workers, supervisors and clients will tell a pretty complete story about how you are able to apply multiple skills to produce exceptional results. Five recommendations that speak to five different skills trumps ten recommendations that all describe only one of your many skills.
• Use the “Advanced Search” option in LinkedIn to look for employees of your target companies who have a profile. Find those people who are connected to your connections, then pick up the phone and ask the person in your network to arrange for an introduction. This might be one of the most powerful, yet most under-utilized tools on LinkedIn. Time spent on this type of activity is exponentially more valuable than staring for hours at online job postings.
• Although this again is something that I would like to assume everyone knows, it is still worth mentioning – Nothing ever really gets deleted from the Internet. Pictures, videos, emails….these things “live” forever in the digital world. Think at least twice before you hit “Send” or “Post”. Tweets, postings on Facebook “walls”, YouTube videos…what are you telling “me” about “you”?
Clearly the bottom line in all of this is to use these tools, and use them effectively. The only required investment is your time. To become a proficient user of Social Media is relatively easy. And, such proficiency goes a long way to getting your name on the short list of finalists for job opportunities.
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