In a recent article published in reCareered, Phil Rosenberg writes about the 5 ways social media can help job seekers defy the crummy economy and stand out from a crowd.
Rosenberg writes, “While most job seekers recognize Social Media’s help in networking, few take advantage of Social Media’s power in branding, Subject Matter Expertise, research and differentiation.”
Let’s find out what those 5 advantages are, shall we…
1. Networking
Most people find their professional network on LinkedIn. And that’s good. But what about Twitter, Facebook or Myspace?
Twitter is becoming a major source for job announcements, not to mention the branding factors. Twitter is analogus to a megaphone for networking opportunities.
Facebook has several advantages, it’s size and viral information spreading patterns (that’s a mouthful). Though I don’t condone Facebook for job seekers, if you use it, it’s a great place to build relationships with potential hiring managers.
Myspace is the place for artists, visual or sound, to share their work. Use it to find potential collaborators and hiring managers.
2. Publishing
Social media allows anyone to publish their work. These platforms allow for easy and fast distribution to many people in an instant.
Flickr and Youtube lets photographers and videographers publish their portfolio to large numbers of people.
Blogs with back links from Facebook and Twitter get the traffic artists need to be seen.
3. Commenting
One of the best ways to show your expertise and stand out from the crowd is to have something to say. Use commenting to share your opinion.
Places to comment are in LinkedIn groups, blogs, and Twitter. Share links, express views and get seen as someone associated with your target industry.
4. Sharing
Social bookmarking allows you to answer that question of, “What Motivates You?” by telling people what sites you like, what articles you read or what bloggers you follow. Use services like Digg, StumbleUpon and Delicious to rank and share your online arsenal.
5. Information
The first part of any branding strategy is knowing what keeps your target audience up at night. Job seekers can use online tools to find out what their target companies are struggling with, and then craft messages that appeal to them.
Follow the VPs and Hiring managers at your target companies on Twitter. Listen to what’s on their minds.
Find them on LinkedIn, and join their groups to read their posts. Can you add value?
Rosenberg points out that the common thread here is that social media allows us to find similarities with other people. This in turn helps us to form more meaningful relationships.
You can read Phil RosenBerg’s full article here: http://reCareered.blogspot.com.
As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.
Ooops, I see you’ve already covered this subject in related post # 3 above, “Social Media Guidelines for Your Online Job Search” another excellent guide.
.-= Liz´s last blog ..Three Ways to Get Paid and Travel to Corsica =-.
Ooops, I see you’ve already covered this subject in related post # 3 above, “Social Media Guidelines for Your Online Job Search” another excellent guide.
.-= Liz´s last blog ..Three Ways to Get Paid and Travel to Corsica =-.
This is good information. I suspect many job seekers are not yet fully take advantage of these networking tools, since they’re still trying to learn how to use them effectively.
Finding a job this way also requires some planning and careful management of one’s online reputation. It wouldn’t be wise to re-tweet “How to Quit Your Job”, “Why I hate the 9-5 grind”, or show photos of your wild trip to Cancun and then use the same profile to seek clients or work. Perhaps this could be a topic for a future post.
Thanks for posting.
This is good information. I suspect many job seekers are not yet fully take advantage of these networking tools, since they’re still trying to learn how to use them effectively.
Finding a job this way also requires some planning and careful management of one’s online reputation. It wouldn’t be wise to re-tweet “How to Quit Your Job”, “Why I hate the 9-5 grind”, or show photos of your wild trip to Cancun and then use the same profile to seek clients or work. Perhaps this could be a topic for a future post.
Thanks for posting.