The Social Media phenomenon has gathered so much speed in the past few years that most candidates I come across struggle to get to grips with how to harness its various uses and reach to their benefit. I mean, most people have some contact with this energetic and high-speed information landscape, whether it’s facebook, linkedin, twitter, posting a c.v. on freehire.me or as simple as uploading some holiday snaps through picasa or flickr. But how does that help any of us when there are so many people online, all clambering for attention? As a recruiter who started his career before email (I know, it’s hard to imagine these days), I have a few tips that might help prospective job seekers rise above the noise of the online crowd, and get you noticed.
Firstly, you have to deal with the fact that social media isn’t going away – therefore it is something that you have to come to terms with and get to know your way around. If you don’t already, get online and create accounts on the social media sites and start navigating your way around. Spend some time looking at other peoples profiles and be critical. It will become very obvious which profiles stand-out for the right (and the wrong) reasons. Tip #1 – Get involved!
Next, once you have found your way around a little better, start crafting your profile. The beauty of being online versus the old days of print, is that you can start with one draft and then see how it is received. If you come back the next day and it doesn’t seem as good as when you wrote it, then change it and commence a process of continual improvement. Naturally the facts have to remain in place, but the delivery and presentation can make a big difference. Tip #2 – Quality over quantity.
Lastly, now that you have begun (or are continuing) your social media involvement, you need to develop a simple strategy so that you become more visible. There are many forums online in most of the sites – join groups, make comments, tweet interesting articles and make friends. One of the little known facts about search rankings is that it is the number of links back to your site (or profile) that is assessed rather than who you link to that counts. In other words, if you are active and the traffic starts to flow back towards you, then you will receive a higher ‘trust’ ranking and over time become more visible. Tip #3 – Have a strategy and be consistent.
Social Media gives us an unequalled chance to contact people who we didn’t previously know existed, in positions of influence or simply to expand our own horizons. You may not realize it yet, but the opportunity to become influential online is the same for everyone, but, as with most things, it will only happen for those people who take the chance and use it wisely. Don’t get discouraged and give up – this will take some time. But then, everything worth having does, particularly in your career.
Best beginner places to start include; www.twitter.com, www.linkedin.com, www.facebook.com, www.freehire.me
Best things to help manage it all include; www.hootsuite.com, www.crowdbooster.com (beta)
David Whitaker is the Managing Director for Nakama Hong Kong