How (and How Not ) to Use Social Media to Job Search

Social Media Dos and Don'ts During a Job Search

How (and How Not) to Use Social Media to Job Search

BY ALISON DOYLE

Social media, including sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, can help you find a job and connect with people who can assist you with growing your career.

However, it works both ways. Social media, when used the wrong way, can backfire and jeopardize a job offer or even your current job. It’s important to be careful and consider what you should do on social media to aid your job search... as well as some bad habits that are best avoided.

Do Create an Online Presence

When you're looking for a job or positioning yourself for career growth, it's important to have an online presence to showcase your skills and experience. Your online social media pages will also help you connect with contacts who can expedite your job search and assist you with moving up the career ladder. Take the time to ensure that all your work-related social pages are updated and ready to be reviewed prior to starting a hunt.

Do Be Consistent

Does the employment history on your resume match what's on your LinkedIn profile? Does the information you have on your Facebook page (if it's public) match up with the information you have elsewhere online? It's fine if you rework your job descriptions , for example, because targeting your resume is a good thing when applying for a job. What's not okay is if your job titles, companies, and dates don't jive. That's a red flag for prospective employers.

Don't Get Fired

Employers check out candidates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites. And, it's pretty routine for connect with colleagues on social media sites, too. That means that anything you post may be read by your employer or co-workers. If you share company business (good or bad) or post inappropriate content, you could get in trouble with your current manager, and it could even cost you your job, especially if you post on social media while at work. It's not just your current employer — hiring managers often screen candidates' social media, and will avoid interviewing or hiring candidates who post inappropriately.

Do Google Your Name and Check What's Online

What shows up when you search your name? Most likely, there's a ton of information, from tweets to photos. It's quite easy for employers to find information you may have preferred to keep private. Much of it can be found by Googling your name. Be aware of what shows up, and if any photos or posts could handicap your job search, change your profile settings or delete the individual posts.

Do Be Careful What You Tweet

Be really careful what you tweet. You don't know who might read it. Just search Twitter for "I hate my job" for an example of what I mean. Hiring managers and bosses are using Twitter, too, and if you say it someone will probably read it. Tweets show up in Google search and you don't want to lose your job because you didn't think before you tweeted, even if you hate it.

Don't Forget Your Facebook Privacy Settings

You may think you're only sharing those photos from last night's very late party with your Facebook connections, but often, people you don't know can see your photos that you're tagged in or read your posts. Take some time to review what strangers, as well as friends of friends, can see.

Do Network Before You Need To

Build your network well in advance of when you need it. Make connections in your industry and career field. Follow career experts. Talk to your contacts on Twitter or the other networking sites. Join Groups on LinkedIn and Facebook, then post and join the discussion. Be engaged and proactive in your communications. By building a network in advance, you won't have to scramble if you unexpectedly lose your job or decide it's time to move on.

Do Give to Get

In a nutshell, give to get. Networking works both ways — the more you are willing to help someone else, the more likely they will be to help you. Take some time every day to reach out to your connections. Write a recommendation on LinkedIn, offer to introduce them to another connection, share an article or news with them. Giving to get really does work — your connections are more likely to return the favor when you've offered to help them.

Don't Connect With Everyone

There is a school of thought that says you should connect with everyone when you’re using social media. However, quality is more important than quantity when it comes to connecting. The first question you should ask yourself when making connections is how can the person help me? The second question is what can I do to help them? Before you ask someone to connect, consider what you have in common. That common denominator, regardless of what it is, is what's going to help with your job search.

Don't Spend Time Online on Your Boss's Dime

The temptation, of course, when you're job searching is to spend time looking at job postings, perhaps uploading your resume to apply, talking to contacts, or posting about the trials and tribulations of your job search on a Facebook page. If you were to do that, you certainly wouldn't be the first (or the only) person to do so. Many people job search from work but given the way companies monitor employees, it's not wise to use your work computer or email account for job searching. Or, if you do, be really careful how you do it. 

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-social-media-do-s-and-don-ts-2062712

How Hashtags Can Help Your Job Search

How Hashtags Can Help Your Job Search

Use Hashtags to Find Jobs and Career Advice JOB SEARCHING BASICS

BY ALISON DOYLE 

Are you using hashtags to expedite your job hunt? Hashtags are a useful tool for networking, finding job opportunities, and sharing your own job search to get noticed by employers who are using social media to recruit.

How do hashtags work, and what’s the best way to use them? If you use social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, you are probably familiar with hashtags. A hashtag is the pound sign (#) followed by a word or phrase. When you click on a hashtag (or search for a hashtag), you can see all the posts on the platform that have included that hashtag. It is a way to identify and group messages on a similar topic.

Learn the do’s and don’ts of using hashtags to job search. If you use hashtags in a creative and thoughtful way, you can give your job search a boost and impress hiring managers.

Ways to Use Hashtags to Help Your Job Search

Learn About a Company

If you want to know more about what it is like working at a company, you can use hashtags to get insider information. Many companies have a hashtag that employees use to share stories about life at the company. For example, Target launched a #TargetVolunteers hashtag to allow employees to share photos and information on their volunteering experiences. Searching this hashtag can help potential employees learn about how Target encourages employees to give back to local communities. If there is a company you are interested in working for, check to see if they have a company-wide hashtag.

Find Available Jobs

Many employers use Twitter, Facebook, and even Instagram to post jobs. Often, they will include various hashtags related to the position or the job search in these posts. Search on social media sites for particular hashtags related to job listings (including #jobs and #jobsearch). To get more specific, you might search for exact job titles (#teachers or #teacherjobs) and locations (#NewYorkCity or #Ohio). Twitter also has a #HireFriday hashtag that some employers use. On Fridays, some companies will post job listings and include the #HireFriday hashtag.

Promote Your Job Search

Help recruiters find you on your social media and LinkedIn pages by using hashtags that promote your job search. For example, if you are posting something related to your job search (such as a message about your work experience, or a link to your resume), you can include a relevant hashtag, such as #jobhunt, #employment, or #resume.

How to Use Hashtags to Network

General Networking: Whether or not you are actively looking for a job, you can always use hashtags to find people in your industry to network with. First, you can use hashtags to participate in conversations related to your field. Look up key people in your field on social media and see what hashtags they use. When appropriate, include these same hashtags when you post things on social media that are related to your job search or your work. This is a great way to join an online conversation with people in your career network.

Helpful Conversations : You can use hashtags to converse with people in your field and find and participate in Twitter chats . Twitter chats are regular (usually weekly) conversations that take place on Twitter. Each chat is about a particular topic and is designated by a particular hashtag. By finding and participating in Twitter chats related to your industry, you can connect with people in your field.

Professional Events : Another way to use hashtags when networking is to use them when you attend a professional conference . Most conferences and networking events have a hashtag that you can use when posting pictures and sharing information about the event on social media. You can use the hashtag to share your thoughts on the conference, learn about conference events, and connect with other conference attendees.

Tips for Using Hashtags for Job Searching

Use hashtags that are already common. Don’t create new hashtags and hope that people start to use them. Make sure to use hashtags that are already popular among the groups you are interested in getting to know. To know which hashtags are popular, check out what influential people in your industry are using on their social media platforms. Ask colleagues which hashtags they use or follow, and whether they participate in any Twitter chats.

Be careful which hashtags you use. Similarly, make sure you use hashtags that are not only in use, but are used by people you want to be associated with.

For example, if you include the hashtag #hunt to try and convey that you are job searching, you will link your post with hunting enthusiasts rather than employment recruiters! Before adding a hashtag, do a quick search to see who else tends to use the hashtag.

Use hashtags to share professional content. Make sure that, when you include a hashtag related to your job search on a social media post, your post is professional. Do not include a hashtag like #jobsearching on a post about your pets, for example. Keep both your hashtags and your content professional.

Use hashtags sparingly. While hashtags are a useful new tool for job seeking, don’t go overboard. You don’t want to include dozens of hashtags in every LinkedIn article you post or every tweet you write. Select two or three hashtags that will be particularly useful for your specific job search needs. Similarly, remember to continue to use more traditional job search methods (such as using job search engines and participating in face-to-face networking events).

Best Hashtags for a Job Search

Here are some popular hashtags that you might consider either using in your own social media posts, or searching for on your various social media platforms.

Hashtags for Job Searching

#Jobs

#JobSearch

#JobSearching

#JobSearchTips

#Resume

#HireMe

Hashtags for Recruiting

#JobOpening

#Hiring

#JoinOurTeam

#NowHiring

#Recruiting

#Employment

#TweetMyJobs

Hashtags for Career Advice

#Careers

#CareerSuccess

#PersonalBranding

#PersonalDevelopment

#ResumeTips

 Note: You can also search for these hashtags on LinkedIn , which now has searchable hashtags. When employers post articles on LinkedIn about job openings, they sometimes use relevant

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-hashtags-can-help-your-job-search-4686298