How to use social media to enhance your 2017 job search

There’s no escaping your personal brand. From the blogs you write to your status updates, the people and organisations you follow to the content you like, your collective online activity personifies your ‘brand’. From it, hiring managers glean a lot of information about you, such as the workplace culture in which you thrive, your values, your ability to adapt to change and the likelihood of you being successful in their organisation.

That’s why it’s so important to ensure your personal brand is working for you and paints a picture aligned to your career ambitions and unique selling proposition (or USP). One simple way to do this is to ensure you use platforms and online channels consistently so that every update, tweet and share is true to who you are and what you do.

For example, Instagram can be used to show your passion for your sector or industry and related interests. This could include your attendance at trade shows, events or networking groups, visits to relevant places, offices or facilities and use of new technology. Don’t forget to communicate through it examples of your work!

Through Twitter you can demonstrate your interests and expertise. For example, you can tweet about a webinar you found informative, a new industry development you are passionate about, or participate in relevant discussions.

Of course LinkedIn also represents a large part of your personal brand so make relevant connections, join relevant groups, share relevant updates and update your profile regularly (for more see Why you should service your CV as often as your car). You should also add links to your work throughout your profile.

In the video Your personal brand, Justin Gill, National Recruitment Manager at Mirvac, shares what makes a positive impression on a candidate’s LinkedIn profile: “It absolutely impresses me when someone includes work or a link to work that they’ve completed on their LinkedIn profile to make it easy to understand more about what this candidate is bringing to the role,” he says.

Make sure these links are aligned to your personal brand and exhibit the best of you.

Justin also advises jobseekers to ensure their online presence and LinkedIn information matches their CV. This is advice I strongly back. We’re seeing more and more discrepancies between online and offline information, which at least leads to thorough and specific questioning from a hiring manager in your interview or, at worst, sees you removed from their shortlist. So make sure you sync your CV and LinkedIn profile.

In our experience, all employers research you online to determine your personal brand and gain a well-rounded picture of the candidate they are about to interview.

• Four simple  ways to give your CV a digital makeover
• Three steps to perfecting your personal brand
• How to get social media savvy in your job search
• Six was you can use LinkedIn and Facebook in your job search
• How to market yourself in your job search
• Six ways to use technology more effectively in your job search

Author

Nick Deligiannis

Former Managing Director, Hays Australia & New Zealand

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Nick Deligiannis began working at Hays in 1993 and since then has held a variety of consulting and management roles across the business, including the role of Director responsible for the operation of Hays in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. In 2004  Nick was appointed to the Hays Board of Directors, and was made Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand in 2012.

Prior to joining Hays, he had a background in human resource management and marketing, and has formal qualifications in Psychology.