Job Searching with Social Media
Contents
Digital Dirt
1.1 Personal Checklist
1.2 Privacy Settings
1.3 Clean Up
2 LinkedIn
2.1 Getting to Know LinkedIn
2.2 LinkedIn University
3 Twitter
3.1 Recommendations for Using Hashtags to Find Jobs
3.2 Our Twitter Accounts
4 Facebook
5 Blogs
Why add social media as a job search strategy? According to a recent Jobvite survey, over 90 percent(!) of U.S. companies used social media to find talent -- and according to NACE's Student Survey only 41 percent of recent college grads are using social media to look for a job.
On top of connecting with old friends and unearthing juicy updates, social media can be used to advance your career. In particular, the online tool can be leveraged to find jobs and co-op/internships. With the recent explosion of social media, many companies use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and blogs in their process of finding new talent. Likewise, job seekers can use social media to highlight their skills and stand out from other candidates.
Digital Dirt
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The Good:
68% of employers have HIRED a
candidate based on what they saw about them online
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Where employers find you:
65% of employers do an online background check of their candidates
91% of employers check social media
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The Bad:
69% of employers have REJECTED a candidate based on what they saw about them online
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Where they check the most:
LinkedIn and Google - 82%
Facebook - 76%
Twitter - 53%
Other - 8%
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The Ugly:
8% of companies have fired
employees from social media
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Checklist
See what dirt you find on yourself with this check list:
1. Google your name with your address, click web search AND images
2. Search on PeekYou.com (include social media usernames)
3. Go to each social media platform FROM PeekYou and see what the front pages show (Look at your recent tagged or uploaded pictures)
4. Use Spokeo.com or Google maps to see if you can find your neighborhood
Privacy Settings
You still have control over what people see, use that power!
Facebook:
-Make photos/account only viewable to friends that you accept
-Make individual pictures only viewable to certain friends (once again, groups)
-Review your activity log and edit it to the way you want it to be presented
-Make search engines not link to your account
Twitter:
-Approve who follows you
-Only allow certain people to view your tweets (this eliminates the “Retweet” option)
-Don’t allow people to find you via email or “people you may know” feed
LinkedIn:
-Control who sees your activity and what shows up on your feed
-Control who can see your connections
-Don’t allow LinkedIn to tell when you’re viewing others’ profiles
Clean Up
The damage has been done, but you can still help yourself out...
1. Unlike unwanted Facebook/LinkedIn pages and groups that you don’t want to associate with (anymore)
2. Untag inappropriate images or delete them. If they got a lot of likes, they’ll show up on web searches first, regardless of when they were posted
3. Lock statuses/tweets from certain people
-Make Facebook friend groups so you can organize who you want viewing certain things (make a group for family, work, school, etc.)
4. Make professional/personal accounts separately
-Make personal ones private
Keeping clean:
Now that you’ve cleaned your accounts up, it’s time to keep it that way...
1. Stay positive online; don’t complain or argue on the internet
2. Respond/comment/like/tweet/etc. in a way that shows you’re appropriately engaging and a good listener online; don’t b e a difficult, sarcastic or inappropriate
3. Make sure you post/tweet from the right account. Posting from the wrong account happens more often than you’d think
4. Don’t swear or be vulgar; it may be hard, but try and be polite
5. BrandYourself.com is a site to help you promote the online presence that you desire; it’s good to do once you’ve cleaned up your social media
Resources
http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jun/11/professional-reputation-social-media-tips
http://blog.thoughtpick.com/2010/03/fun-list-top-10-ways-in-which-social-media-can-get-you-fired.html
http://halliecrawford.com/careerblog/2013/career-transition/interview-tips/its-true-1-in-3-employers-reject-an-applicant-based-on-facebook-posts/
Check out our Digital Dirt events on campus, come in during walk-in hours and follow us on Twitter (@RITCareers) to look for our #DigitalDirt campaigns
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the Facebook for professionals. It is a place to connect and network with individuals in your profession. After a job interview, you can follow recruiters and professionals. Also, you can learn about professionals who work at your desired company. It is important to complete your LinkedIn profile 100 percent. This allows LinkedIn to rank your profile higher in search results, allowing you to be more visibility to recruiters.
Use the advanced search feature under Jobs to filter openings by company, experience level (includes internships, entry level), location, and more. Check out Linkedin.com/studentjobs because LinkedIn funnels entry level jobs to this portal.
Be sure to join RIT Career Services LinkedIn group which includes nearly 3,000 students, alumni, industry people. Don't overlook the RIT Alumni Group -- you immediately will grow your connections with professionals working at companies all over the country (and world).
Twitter
On Twitter, follow industry companies and leaders; engage in interactions with them. Interact through retweeting, favoriting posts, and responding to career discussions. Once you have established a relationship, tweet about your job search, professional achievements, and passion for the field. This is a powerful strategy to market yourself and attract company recruiters. Keep your tweets professional, concise, and eye-catching.
There are a number of Twitter accounts like Tweet My Jobs that are great sources of job openings. Find one that suits your needs.
Recommendations for Using Hashtags to Find Jobs
(From the NACE Spotlight for Career Services Professionals article)
As you probably know, the # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark a keyword or topic in a tweet. Using hashtags for the job search is a great way to get a tweet to appear in search results or a discussion that many are watching. Try #jobsearch
Here are some examples of hashtags for job searching:
#resume—Use the hashtag #resume with a description of yourself, or a link to your resume.
#tweetmyjobs— #tweetmyjobs has been tagged nearly a million times, so use it! You can also use TweetMyJobs (www.tweetmyjobs.com/) to receive new job openings when they are available. This is similar to a traditional job board, but culls the information and listings that are found on Twitter.
Job Listings—Find general job advice and lots of listings through hashtags like #jobs, #recruiting, #jobadvice, #jobposting, #jobhunt, and #jobsearch. To narrow it down, though, seek out more specific hashtags, such as or #prjobs or #salesjobs. You can even search for hashtags just by college major, such as #biology or #accounting, and job listings as well as conversations relevant to the topic may appear.
Industry Conferences—Most conferences these days have their own hashtags. When a relevant industry conference is approaching, get active with attendees using the hashtag. Whether you are attending the conference or not, you can contribute to the conversation. Many conferences also have live streams, so it's as if one is attending anyway! You can “live tweet,” which means to tweet while at the event. You can do this at panels and speeches you are attending or interested in, and connect with other tweeters along the way. By using Twitter for networking within an industry, you can increase your chances of getting hired down the road.
Our Twitter Accounts
Follow RIT Career Services on Twitter. Get tips or connect with recruiters and industry folks and share your experiences using #RITCF. The RIT Creative Industry Day event @RIT_Creativity uses Twitter too. Follow RIT Diversity Careers for updates and information on that topic.
Facebook
More often than not, before a company makes a job offer, they’ll do the obligatory online search of your name. Aim for an online presence that highlights your achievements and career passions. A search on Google should reveal things like your resume, LinkedIn profile, and Facebook page. Be most aware of your Facebook presence. Filter embarrassing photos, inappropriate comments, and senseless apps (e.g. Love Quotes). Even more, use your Facebook page to give yourself an advantage. Make your profile picture a clean image of yourself; link tweets and blogging to Facebook.
RIT Office of Co-op and Career Services is on Facebook too.
Blogs
Blogging allows you to connect with a community and exchange information and feedback. Develop a blog that details your career interests. Create a pictorial blog of your designs with interspersing text. Also, show your knowledge and understanding by discussing advances and trends. Create instructions and tutorials on relevant products and services; talk about new product releases. In addition, use your blog to share feedback and reviews. If a professor or colleague gives your work a good review, post it on your blog. This is a great way to draw attention to your strengths, without sounding forceful.
Read through RIT Career Matters posts on topics related to careers and job search strategies.
