The Good, The Bad & Social Media

As a graduating college senior enthralled in all things social media I began to wonder if I could use my social interests to my advantage. Turns out you can! All the time I spend updating my #Twitter and stalking Facebooks pages can actually help me develop my life in the "real world" a.k.a. get a job. It is just all a matter of what type of content you produce. Here are the suggestions I felt were most helpful:

Twitter:It is not just for sharing what you ate for breakfast or how you feel about the weather, it can be used as an effective networking and job search tool. The CEOs, HR reps, and recruiters of all your favorite companies are on Twitter and communicating with them directly is at your finger tips!

1. Friendly and Professional Profile - don't use your old aim snfrom middle school where you were "HoneyBun101" (that was not mine, jfyi) and don't put music lyrics in your biography section (unless, maybe you work in music). Use the bio section to tell the twitter world what you do and what your goals are. You want to be easily found and followed by people that share your interests
2. Following and Followers- Use Twitter to find and follow new people. It is very easy for them to follow you back
3. Posts - Make your posts public, there's no use in using twitter as a tool is important people can view your posts. Be consistent; post often and about interesting (and appropriate) information. Use hastags, # on key words like #job, #jobsearch, or with the company's name your trying to work for "Looking for an amazing and fulfilling #internship. #bgsd, do you have anything available for summer?".
4. Link your resume to your Twitter - in the website section place the link to your online portfolio or resume. If your like me and haven't created one yet, use the link to your public LinkedIn profile.
5. Promoting - this is a tricky one, as much as you want to promote yourself first, it is best to promote others before yourself. In return they may do the same for you!

Facebook:

Now, we all know Facebook is the best/worst culprit of prolonging procrastination in students and today's youthful workforce. There is just so much to look at and so many people to "creep" on. I never would have guessed it could be used to help find my next job, but some sources say if you play your Facebook cards right it can. I'm not completely convinced I should mix my Facebook life with my professional one, I like to have a little separation, but here's the how-to.

1. Follow Co.'s Facebook Pages - this can give you more of an idea of the company's personality and culture. They sometimes post job listings as well - be the first to see them!
2. Contact Employers Directly - Facebook, like twitter, puts you on a level playing field with employers. Using Facebook you can directly message them, instead of just being another resume that is submitted online.
3. Job-Proof your page - Let your network know you are on the search for a job. Make sure your job search information is available to everyone and everything else is only available to your friends. Make sure to fill out your employment history. If you have a professional site you'd like to share it can easily be added to your information field, and some application, like Slideshare now even let you showcase past work.
4. Other suggestions I haven't played around with: Consider using Branchout to professionally network with Facebook friends. Another idea is to utilize Facebook Ads to target and gain attention from certain employers.

Hope these help!

If you have any questions you can find me on twitter @_sadiesades

~Sadie (Ad Intern)