I was asked to appear on MSNBC today to talk about how social media is being used in the job market. I realized that I hadn’t really put a blog post up about this, so here we go. I’m going to lay this out for Job Seekers first and then at the bottom I’ll cover some tips for Employers/Recruiters.
For Job Seekers
Free Resources for Places to check job posting
Twitter:
You don’t have to have a Twitter profile to search Twitter and most companies post links on Twitter that will take you back to a site with information. One of the best ways look at tweets containing information about job postings is to go to http://search.twitter.com and type in key phrases like “now hiring”, “open position” and “job posting” Tip: Put quotation marks before and after your key word phrases like above and the results will be more accurate. It forces Twitter to search for the word exactly in that order. Also search for the hashtag #job or #jobs.
LinkedIn:
Many companies have “LinkedIn exclusive” postings that you would never see unless you actually have a profile on LinkedIn. However, you can browse the list of public available job postings at http://www.linkedin.com/directory/jobs but you will need to have a profile on LinkedIn to view details and respond to postings. You can also dig deeper by joining groups and seeing postings within groups.
Craigslist:
Still free to search for jobs and can be easily narrowed down by location and job type. You can go to http://www.craigslist.org to start your search.
Some more commonly known sites:
Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com
How to prepare
- Update your resume – Get your resume ready for the web. You will be asked to email, post, cut, paste, scan and upload your resume so have it in electronic form!
- Secure a professional email address – Gmail, hotmail and Yahoo all offer this for free. Avoid personal emails that are silly, degrading or unprofessional. Your first and last name should be perfect.
- Make yourself known – Set up profiles on the major social media sites so that you are easy to find and communicate with…Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter at least.
- Clean up your past – Google (search) your full name and see what comes up! Are there out dated profiles floating in cyberspace that you need to update or get rid of? Are there pictures of you out there that may not be a good representation of you?
- Secure your name domain – The most important brand you represent is YOU. Protect it and buy your name domain ie.
www.amyjantzer.com so that no one else can. If you have the means and time, go ahead and create a site about yourself…About Me section, downloadable resume, past work history, portfolio, etc.
For Employers/Recruiters
For posting jobs…
Twitter:
FREE! Similar advice as above to jobseekers. You’ll need a Twitter profile to do any posting, and you’ll probably want to post from the “Company” Twitter profile. Use key words to identify location, industry and include “now hiring”, “open position” or “job posting” along with the hashtag #job and your post will be easily found.
Craigslist:
FREE in many states. You can see pricing at http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/posting_fees
LinkedIn, Monster, CareerBuilder:
NOT free.
For Searching and researching candidates…
- Check Social Media Profiles – Make sure to scour the social media networks for potential candidates. Also use
these networks to research your candidate. Search by name, email address, past employers, etc. - Dig into their past – Google (search) candidate’s full name and look for articles, profiles and mentions about the candidate.
- Check your own personal network and profiles – With all the technology, most networks can tell you what connections you share in common and how you might be able to get a personal reference on that candidate.
