You can post messages about what you’re doing and what you’re looking for.
You can receive and read messages from others.
It doesn’t cost anything!
You can use social media to your advantage in other ways, too. If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, follow or connect with the organisations you’re either applying to join or would be interested in joining; you’ll get a feel for the organisation’s style and key issues and concerns, and it’s a way of demonstrating enthusiasm, creative thinking and a degree of understanding of how the digital world works. It may be of benefit to start your own blog – maybe about your job search itself. Bloggers are the internet’s thought leaders, and you can link your blog to your profiles on LinkedIn® and Facebook. This would then, for example, go out to your connections on the weekly update email. If you search or connect with companies you’re interested in, you can look for employees of that company who are connected to those in your own network. You could then ask your connections for a connect request with those people you have identified.
A couple of other tips:
Regularly update your status to inform your connections across all social media of any relevant activities, such as training, achievements, articles you’ve read, book reviews. It will help them remain aware of your job search and interests.
Similarly, post regular updates on your progress on all your social media sites; you may want to update your contacts on what you’re looking for, interviews you’ve attended, people you’ve met.
A word of warning, however: be very careful about what you post on social networking sites. There have been cases where individuals have had to resign over inappropriate postings on social media sites. Many employers and recruiters check the Facebook and Twitter accounts of job applicants. You can’t go far wrong if you never post anything publicly on any form of social media that you wouldn’t want a prospective employer (or interviewer) to see. This applies to activities you write about, pictures that you may not want the wider public to see, and also the language you use. You can set up Facebook so it informs you of picture tags to enable you to view them before they’re published. You can’t stop them being ‘out there’ but you can stop them being identified with you. Likewise, be careful about what you post on anyone else’s Facebook page or website too – you will no longer have control of it and you may even need them to delete it for you.
If you are worried about anything that’s already in the public domain, some websites suggest moving those items off that profile and setting up another profile (a social media alias using a different name) so that you end up having both a professional and personal online profile. The first profile, with your correct name, then becomes your professional profile with content that you are happy to share with prospective employers.
You can type your name into any of the major search engines to find anything you may have forgotten about – and remember, if you can do this, so can a prospective employer, and more of them are starting to do so.
Networking in the field
Sometimes we get the opportunity to attend a function (such as a seminar or conference) where networking is one of the main reasons to go – or at least, a very useful side issue! The trick is to have a well-practised script to fall back on to help you get your key message across and to reduce the fear of running out of small talk.
Before you attend the function, prepare. If you had only 20 or so seconds between floors in an elevator to get the essence of ‘you’ across to a stranger, what would you say? This is the ‘elevator pitch’.
Remember that people love to talk about themselves, so first ask what they do and why they’re there, what they have enjoyed and what they’re intending to see, and then move on to talking about yourself and what you’re looking for.
Sounding pro
Usually, once a networking conversation has started, it looks after itself – it’s the getting going that feels like the most difficult part. Remember these basic rules:
Have an elevator pitch rehearsed.
Even if you don’t feel like it, smile!
Introduce yourself confidently, then ask about the other person.
Ask questions and make comments about the nature of their job and their organisation, if you can.
Turn the topic of attention to you at an appropriate point.
When the conversation reaches a natural close, end it politely and smile again! If it’s appropriate, give your contact details and ask them to get in touch if they hear of a suitable opportunity. Use your judgement. Did the other person seem to enjoy the conversation? Were they interested in what you had to say?
| Introducing yourself | Hi. I’m Jon. Nice to meet you. … |
| Using questions and comments to show interest in the other person | What have you enjoyed so far? / What were you hoping to get out of this event? / What do you do? / Where do you work? / That sounds like a really creative place to work. |
| Turning the topic of conversation to you | That sounds very interesting. I’m currently looking for my next opportunity. I’m here because I’m looking for a sales role in the technology industry. |
| Ending the conversation | It’s been very nice to meet you. / I’ve enjoyed meeting you very much. |
For more information on networking, see Successful Networking in 7 Simple Steps, published by HarperCollins.
Where else to find jobs
It’s fair to say that a large number of people get jobs – or at least hear about them – through their networks. Increasing the size and scope of yours will help you hear about those opportunities as they arise. Of course, you can’t only rely on your network – both real and virtual – to find job opportunities, even though it is a good strategy. Try to widen your search, and improve your chances of success, by considering avenues such as these:
Newspaper adverts: Look in all local papers, and even papers local to an area you would consider moving to.
Professional or specific industry magazines: As well as scanning advertisements, it’s a long shot to read an article and send a speculative letter, but you never know …
Libraries: These are a greatly under-used resource by job hunters. Some libraries have job advertisement areas, and some larger ones hold job-seeking seminars.
Job centres: One of the more obvious ways, but it’s definitely worth registering your interest and checking regularly. Bear in mind that it’s often jobs in the trades that are advertised in job centres.
Two of the most commonly used avenues are worth exploring in a bit more depth. Many people register with recruitment agencies, either specialist sector-specific ones or more generalist ones, and increasingly, job hunters are turning to internet job search sites to find opportunities.