The Art of using social media to get recruited! or fired ?
“Social Media”:
A generic term to our life today. I do not recall a single day for the last 5
years at least that passed without hearing “Facebook”, Instagram, Google or
twitter… it has become an integral part of our daily life.
Social media now is in everything. In the past we used to say “Politics” is in everything. Today Social media is taking that title . It is in politics, in economics, in marketing, in media and most of all in our
professional life.
Many times
people ask me: should we create a personal profile to post updates related to
our personal life and a professional account (mainly on twitter) to tweet about
work and professional updates?
Well the answer
is no! You cannot be schizophrenic in general, and moreover when it comes to
the use of social media platforms.
You have to
maintain a solid, clear and sustainable presence online. Whether you are having
fun with your friends at the beach or trying to promote your participation at
an event related to your field of expertise keep this in mind: Never post
something online unless you are 100% that it is okay if everyone sees it.
According to
statistics 1 in 3 employers rejected a candidates for work because of their
misbehavior online, in other terms because they found something “twisted” about
them on their social media platforms.
Moreover, a study
in 2015 showed that 45 % of companies screen their employers and judge them
according to what they find about them online.
So before
telling you how to find a job using social media, I should warn you about
keeping your current one and not messing around with social media in a way that
might influence your current job.
Even if you
were not an employee yet, and still a university students, you might risk all
your career because of a post or status update that isn’t “politically correct”
according to the standards of the university.
In order to get
straight to the point, there are many steps to do online to get the chance to
be promoted at your work or simply to find yourself a job.
1-
Are you satisfied with what’s written about you?
Rule number one
in personal online branding is to “google” your name, if you are satisfied with
what’s written about you, then keep doing what you’re doing. If you found
nothing written about you, start focusing on ONE platform and create an online
strategy that enables you to promote yourself and your work mostly.
Example: if you
love Instagram, keep posting good content and focus on the hashtags to get more
chances to be visible. But don’t use whatever hashtags you have. Remember it’s
about the quality not the quantity.
2-
Find your passion. Tweet / Post about it.
What drives you
most? Football? Food? Cars? Politics?
Focus on one
target, tweet about it as a pro. You will start realizing with time that you
will become a reference in this field.
3-
Always be / think professional:
There’s nothing
called “whatever” post. Any post you want to write has to be professional and
look professional. Avoid using the internet/chatting slang language in your
posts.
4- Earn
credibility more than followers:
Do not search
for being popular rather than being credible. Always take care of the sources
you mention and be sure everything you say/write is verified. Otherwise you
can’t afford one mistake. All your credibility will be questioned if you fail
one time.
5- Mind
the content and the quality:
Never use low
resolution photos / videos in what you post. Remember it’s always about
content.
There are many
more things to tell you about the topic. It can’t be summarized in one article
or blogpost, but if you have a particular question follow @philabouzeid and I
will be happy to help you be more professional on social media.
Philippe Abou Zeid – Social Media Expert.
