5 Ways To Land a Job Using Social Media

Most of the young people and even the aged have already joined social media in Kenya,however most people only use social media to chat with friends but do not realize how internet is an important tool for job searching and even networking with potential employers.

Below are tips you should try online and you might get a job

1.  Get a Grip on Your Privacy Settings

With the rise of social media ,recruiters are always interested in conducting background checks on candidates and let’s be honest – there’s little worse than getting to a job interview only to find out they’ve seen that picture of you doing something you obviously know is not what you would want them bringing up

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should completely censor yourself on the web. However, if you’re using your social accounts for behavior you’d rather they didn’t know about, make sure you take steps to restrict it to you and your friends’ eyes only by tweaking your privacy settings.

A tip to see how you fair in the eyes of a nosey employer is to Google yourself! Put your email address and/or name into Google, and see what comes up.

No matter how strict your privacy settings, people will always be able to see your Facebook profile picture and cover photo, so make sure these are respectable

2. Brand yourself

You need to decide exactly what you’re looking for out of your social networks. For example, if you want to be a journalist, an awesome idea would be to create a simple website or blog showcasing your work, as this is the ideal way to market yourself online.

From here, you’ll be able to link frantically to your work on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.Try to post and share content that reflects the industry you want to break into.

Read Also>>>> My Proven Trick to Get Recruiters to Send You Job Opportunities on LinkedIn

3. Create an online CV or portfolio

An online portfolio is a great way of giving potential employers the opportunity to get a detailed picture of you with just one click.
Whatever you choose, make it look professional, try to do something a bit different and link back to it from every social media channel you own! You never know who might come across it.

Another advantage is that LinkedIn uses keywords from your CV in order to generate job opportunities, and recommend you for certain positions to companies looking for candidates. That means your pursuit of gainful employment can continue even in your sleep.

4. Engage in conversation

Following and liking companies and people you want to impress is something you should be doing as a given. But very rarely will this result in them approaching you with an opportunity.

There’s always loads of interesting discussions going on across social media concerning every industry. Even if you’re looking to get into a less trendy industry there’s probably something for you.

Keep an eye on debates by setting Google alerts for key topics, search hashtags on Twitter and look for industry-relevant groups on Facebook and LinkedIn – and that’s just to get you started.

Engaging in these debates, and doing your research to make sure you know your stuff, is a sure way to impress. Make sure your comments are articulate, well thought out, considerate of others and written in perfect English.

Posting relevant articles you find interesting, and keeping up with the sorts of developments and challenges your industry is facing is also excellent preparation for any upcoming job interviews.

A Must Read >>>> How I Got My First Job From A Matatu Conversation

5. Do not Create a Desperate impression

Using social networks to find a job is the aim of the game, but you don’t want to appear totally desperate for any job going. A constant stream of “please hire me” tweets will reflect negatively on you, and drown out any intelligent discussions you may have had previously.

The key is to put you out there as a proactive and knowledgable person, keeping an eye on opportunities and engaging directly with relevant people along the way.

If you’re trying to get your foot in the door, try something inventive. Pitching an idea, story or project that would be of interest to the company is a great tactic, and demonstrates you’re a self-starter.

Victor is a content writer at  Career point Kenya contact him victor@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke