Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

 

Job hunting has changed dramatically in the past ten years. Both companies and people seeking jobs have moved away from traditional print advertising to the Internet and its many forms of social media to find the perfect employee.

 

Meanwhile, online resources like LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook are surging in popularity and all age groups have quickly adopted these as tools to aide in the job search process.  Using the latest digital forums can be a great way to supplement your search.

 

If it’s on the web, it’s public!

Some of today’s savviest job seekers are using social media outlets such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn to get their foot in the door and become the top candidate in a search (through networking, blogs and video resumes).

 

But just as using these sites can help a search, social media outlets can just as quickly harm a search … if the content on the web is viewed as unprofessional by employers.

 

Employers are using the web for more candidates and, thanks to the information available online, they can conduct instant background checks - commonly by “Googling” an individual.  Personal information on job candidates is everywhere these days … from websites and chat rooms to alumni sites and more.

 

What is social media?

According to Wikipedia, social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other.  A few prominent examples of social media applications are MySpace and Facebook (social networking), YouTube (video sharing), Second Life (virtual reality), Digg (news sharing), Flickr (photo sharing) and Miniclip (game sharing). These sites typically use technologies such as blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs to allow users to share experiences and keep in touch with one another.

 

How social media sites are used by employers and job seekers.

Social media sites such as MySpace and Facebook are used by millions as networking tools.  Users connect with hundreds of friends with whom they can share photos, blogs, personal statements and comments.  Wildly popular with both Generation Y and Baby Boomers, these sites can be open to the public or set to “private view” … where only a person listed as a “friend” can access the information. Video sharing on YouTube and photo sharing on Flickr are just as popular and also provide a look into a person’s private life, while in a very public domain.

 

Currently, about one in ten employers will use social networking sites to review a job candidate’s information.  More than 60 percent of employers who review the sites say that the information they get there will have at least some influence on their hiring decision.

 

Many companies that recruit on college campuses have started using social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Xanga and Friendster, where college students often post risqué photographs and provocative comments about drinking (or worse) in what some mistakenly believe is relative privacy. When this information is seen by corporate recruiters or admissions officials at graduate and professional schools, these pages can make students look immature and unprofessional.

 

Using social media to your advantage – 12 Essential Strategies.

Auditing your Internet profile is an important step in it not being used against you in a job search. Follow these steps to cleaning up your Internet profile so you can use social media to your advantage and prevent it from harming your hunt for a job.

 

Protect your online persona.  For people with profiles on social networking sites:

• Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want a prospective employer to see.  This includes derogatory comments, revealing or risqué photos, foul language and lewd jokes.  These are a reflection of a person as a whole and managers want to find employees who have all-around professional characteristics.

• Set your profile to “private” so it is only viewable to your selected friends.

• You can’t control what others say about you, so consider a “block comments” feature.

• Check your profile regularly to ensure it remains professional and appropriate for a potential employer to see should they search and find it.

 

Keep tabs on what the Internet has to say about you:  Do a Google search and find out what the web has to say about you.  This will give you a good idea of how you appear to others online.  If there are items online that are not flattering, you can contact the web page’s controller to try to have it taken off. 

 

Getting rid of negative material can be difficult.  It is easier to create positive content about yourself and post it.  The more positive content you post, the more likely that it is going to be pushed to the top of Google and other search engines … and more likely read than older information pushed to the second or third page of a search.

 

Create a positive virtual presence.  A blog is an important component of who you are virtually and, for many, may be as important as your resume.

 

A resume is a great tool to get you in the door and may put you on the long list of candidates, but the blog is a tool that really helps you come out on top of a search.  A blog helps you be seen as a thought leader in your particular field. It helps define you as an expert on your topic and can be instrumental in building relationships with others in your industry who are thinking about and talking about the same topic and who may be hiring or know people who are hiring.

 

Ways to help grow your virtual presence include seeking out blogs in your industry or field that interest you, becoming a member of and contributor to a blog hosted by another leader in your industry, or simply starting one of your own.  There are dozens of free websites – such as WordPress – that offer free blogs.

 

Build relationships.  Search the Internet to find out if there are people at companies you want to work for, or in your career path and above you in level, who have blogs.  Get to know their blog and start networking with them.  Post a positive comment on their site to start a conversation with them.  You can also reference an article of theirs in your own blog or site (it’s likely that the person is monitoring their blog and will respond to you).

 

Use social media sites, such as LinkedIn, to help you connect to a network of hundreds of people with similar interests and skills.

 

Use MySpace and Facebook to your advantage.  Censor your risqué photos, delete any information that a potential employer may deem unprofessional and leverage your virtual network of friends to help you land a job.  Post a bulletin to all your friends about your job search.  The bulletin goes to your entire network of friends who can subsequently let you know of openings at their companies.

 

Be cautious of turning over your personal information.  There are a number of fake job search sites out there that are exploiting personal information for illegal uses.  Beware of sites that don’t name the people behind them, do not offer contact information, or that have an inadequate privacy policy (or none at all).

 

Use a separate email for job searching - not a personal one that says too much about you.  For example, nanzrocks@partyscene.com isn’t appropriate, whereas cnanz@gmail.com is.

 

Be careful of what you say and what you show online.  Clean up your social media sites and be prepared for someone checking up on what you have put out onto the web.  Make sure it doesn’t contain anything you wouldn’t want a potential employer knowing about you.

 

Beat a potential employer to the punch.  You know there is a chance a potential employer will check up on your social media sites.  Add information to your sites and blogs about your work experience and volunteer work in order to help highlight your achievements.

 

Use the Internet to your advantage.  Go online and research a potential employer as well as the people who are interviewing you.  It’s important to go to an interview knowing the background of the company and the individuals you may be working with and for.

 

Pick and choose the social media sites you join.  When joining a networking site as a means to find a potential career opportunity, seek out and find the ones most fitting to your career plans.

 

Populate your resume with words and phrases that are most commonly used in your profession. With the growth of online job boards, electronic resume submission is more prevalent … leading to an increase of electronic resume review by employers.  Sometimes when important words and phrases are missing from a resume, the electronic screening program will not pick up a potentially worthwhile candidate and you won’t get a call for an interview.

 

Don’t conduct your job search at your current employer’s expense.  Many companies monitor computer use and email and will know if you are job searching on their dime.

 

“Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today’s jobs with yesterday’s tools.”
-Marshall McLuhan

 

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