5 Effective Social Media Tactics When Looking for a New Job

GUEST ARTICLE BY FELICIA STANLEY

In today’s digital world, potential employers often use the internet and social media to observe candidates and gain insight into their personalities. This can be both negative and positive. As a result, when seeking new employment, you must be aware of the below social media tactics to help promote yourself in a favorable light.

MANAGE YOUR FOLLOWERS AND THOSE YOU FOLLOW

Who you follow and who follows you on social media speaks volumes about your personality and work ethos. Prospective employers occasionally check who you follow and, depending on their views, this can give them a less favorable impression of you. As a result, you may want to consider pruning your followers and who you follow - remove any spam, and consider if any profiles could negatively impact your career potential.

CONSIDER THE MULTIMEDIA YOU POST AND SHARE

Many of us share photos, memes, and videos on social media platforms like Facebook. For the most part, this is harmless - we share them because we want to make others laugh, and we find them funny or insightful, for example.

However, not everyone will share your view! Potential employers may feel like you lack a sense of professionalism if your Twitter feed is packed full of memes and YouTube reaction clips.

WHAT YOU POST AND YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMPRESSION

While what we say and do has implications online, what we like and share also shows a lot about our personalities and ethics. For example, you could share posts that support a particular political party or a strong viewpoint. Unfortunately, not everyone will agree with your views, and the content you like and share could be negatively perceived by potential employers.

As a result, be incredibly careful about what you share and like! Think about how these actions could be perceived and how they may affect your image.

CURATE YOUR POSTS AND PRUNE OLDER CONTENT

Your past posts and likes can surface in a damaging way. Employers sometimes scrutinize your old social media posts. These could be posts from years ago - a time when your views and behavior differed.

It is therefore a great idea to prune your social media posts dating back to when you joined each platform. By deleting older posts and removing any content that could be misconstrued, you can reduce the chance of negative backlash and perception.

FOLLOW RELEVANT PROFILES FOR THE TYPE OF JOB YOU WANT

Another great way to show that you are genuinely interested in the job you are applying for is to follow the social media profiles of businesses and individuals in the industry of the job you want. This actually has a dual benefit, too.

Firstly, you can learn new things and develop your personal knowledge of that industry. Secondly, potential employers will see your enthusiasm and engagement within their industry. You could also consider creating media relating to the industry and using it in your social media profile. For example, you could use a platform like LogoCreator to produce graphics you can use on profile pictures or headers.

ASSUME EMPLOYERS WILL SCREEN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA

As you can see, social media can significantly affect your job prospects! It is important to curate your social media profiles and look at what you say and do. Avoid assuming that a potential employer will never look at your social media - for better or worse, it’s now common practice as employees’ social media profiles can potentially harm their professional brand perception and reputation.

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