Social Media and Your Career Transition
Social Media and Your Career Transition
Transcript
Let's talk about how to leverage social media and particularly, LinkedIn in your job search. There are three ways to think about using social media to find a new job. The first is to use social media and LinkedIn, in particular, to define and enhance your professional image.
Even if you're somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of using social media for self-promotion, LinkedIn is that one place on the internet that is a guaranteed professional billboard-- so to speak-- for you and your credentials. It's a place for you, in addition to your resume, to own a spot online where other people can research you. Obviously, recruiters and employers, in particular.
Number two is to use social media to conduct employer and industry research. Learning about all the potential jobs, potential companies, and of course, networking connections who can support you in your job search.
One of my beliefs about job hunting is that you may not or likely have not heard of the particular organization that you will ultimately work for. And social media allows you to find many ways to enhance your knowledge about all of the potential employers available.
And number three, of course, LinkedIn and other social networks allow you to build and maintain your professional relationships. That includes your friends, your family. Certainly other people who are veterans. And anyone you have professional connections with.
Another thing to think about with social media is that it's not a replacement to all of the job hunting strategies that you need to use in the real world-- IRL. So networking, having a very strong resume, being professionally dressed for interviews-- all of that is still tremendously important. This is not a free pass to spend all your time in front of the computer during your job search. LinkedIn and all social media is always going to be additive to all of the other efforts that you're making to find the job.
I also believe that details matter. Every choice you make during your job hunt and particularly, on your social media profiles, are going to add to the overall impression that an employer or a networking contact gets about you. Keith Ferrazzi-- the networking expert-- has said, little choices make big impressions. And I think that's particularly true.
With how you phrase the note that you send to a potential employer on LinkedIn. With the order in which you present your experience in your summary statement on social media. The words that you use in your headline on LinkedIn. What you choose to wear in your photograph on your profile on LinkedIn. All of those details matter and we'll talk about all of them in this session.
My first tip or takeaway when it comes to building your social media profile for a job search is to find role models. Who are the people who have the job you want or the kinds of jobs that you're looking for? The reason is that in different industries, and for different job functions, and even in different geographic regions, there are going to be different rules or different parameters for how you want to present yourself.
So for instance-- if you're looking for a very corporate job in a large organization, you're probably going to want to wear a suit in your LinkedIn profile photograph. You're probably going to want to be very formal in the way you describe yourself in your summary statement. So if you start to look on LinkedIn for people with project manager jobs in the financial services industry. Start to notice what words they use.
How they write their profiles. What they look like in their photographs. And use that as information for building your own.
If you're more interested in a tech startup, in a small business, in a non-profit organization-- you may find very different examples. So first homework assignment is to find at least five people who have the kind of jobs that you want. And look at how they portray themselves on LinkedIn. Doesn't mean that you'll do exactly the same thing, but it will give you a sense of what the guardrails are for building a profile for the kinds of roles that you're looking for.
Even if you're somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of using social media for self-promotion, LinkedIn is that one place on the internet that is a guaranteed professional billboard-- so to speak-- for you and your credentials. It's a place for you, in addition to your resume, to own a spot online where other people can research you. Obviously, recruiters and employers, in particular.
Number two is to use social media to conduct employer and industry research. Learning about all the potential jobs, potential companies, and of course, networking connections who can support you in your job search.
One of my beliefs about job hunting is that you may not or likely have not heard of the particular organization that you will ultimately work for. And social media allows you to find many ways to enhance your knowledge about all of the potential employers available.
And number three, of course, LinkedIn and other social networks allow you to build and maintain your professional relationships. That includes your friends, your family. Certainly other people who are veterans. And anyone you have professional connections with.
Another thing to think about with social media is that it's not a replacement to all of the job hunting strategies that you need to use in the real world-- IRL. So networking, having a very strong resume, being professionally dressed for interviews-- all of that is still tremendously important. This is not a free pass to spend all your time in front of the computer during your job search. LinkedIn and all social media is always going to be additive to all of the other efforts that you're making to find the job.
I also believe that details matter. Every choice you make during your job hunt and particularly, on your social media profiles, are going to add to the overall impression that an employer or a networking contact gets about you. Keith Ferrazzi-- the networking expert-- has said, little choices make big impressions. And I think that's particularly true.
With how you phrase the note that you send to a potential employer on LinkedIn. With the order in which you present your experience in your summary statement on social media. The words that you use in your headline on LinkedIn. What you choose to wear in your photograph on your profile on LinkedIn. All of those details matter and we'll talk about all of them in this session.
My first tip or takeaway when it comes to building your social media profile for a job search is to find role models. Who are the people who have the job you want or the kinds of jobs that you're looking for? The reason is that in different industries, and for different job functions, and even in different geographic regions, there are going to be different rules or different parameters for how you want to present yourself.
So for instance-- if you're looking for a very corporate job in a large organization, you're probably going to want to wear a suit in your LinkedIn profile photograph. You're probably going to want to be very formal in the way you describe yourself in your summary statement. So if you start to look on LinkedIn for people with project manager jobs in the financial services industry. Start to notice what words they use.
How they write their profiles. What they look like in their photographs. And use that as information for building your own.
If you're more interested in a tech startup, in a small business, in a non-profit organization-- you may find very different examples. So first homework assignment is to find at least five people who have the kind of jobs that you want. And look at how they portray themselves on LinkedIn. Doesn't mean that you'll do exactly the same thing, but it will give you a sense of what the guardrails are for building a profile for the kinds of roles that you're looking for.