How social media will land your dream job

Well, maybe won’t land the job of your dreams but social media can definitely be a great help. Social media is now an extra tool used by companies as part of their recruiting selection process. 

Depending on how you restrict and control your privacy on sites like Facebook, a recruiter or manager can learn a great deal of information that could, and probably will, influence his/her decision to interview or even hire you.

So it’s very important that you get out there and see what your social media profiles and presence looks like through a recruiter’s eyes. Have you tried googling yourself? Have you done it on other major search engines like Yahoo and MSN?

In a previous post, My Top 4 Social Media Profiles for Professionals, I mentioned Linkedin, Google, Facebook and VisualCV as tools to develop an online identity and reputation; in this post we'll have a look at different tools.

Twitter is a great for job searches, not only because of the great keyword search functionality, but also because you can easily form connections with others in your industry across the world.

Connect with friends and others in your niche.  Do a Twitter search for keywords that pertain to the industry you are looking to work on.  There are many job recruiters on Twitter who post jobs daily, so follow and interact with them.

Check out Twellow to find people who work at companies you’re researching. It is the Twitter yellow pages and quite useful when looking for someone or something on Twitter.

Start blogging about your industry. Having your own blog about your industry is a great way to impress potential employers. A blog will not only give you the opportunity to establish your personal brand, but it will help you become seen as an expert in your field.

There’s no better interview preparation than teaching your readers about your field. Having this blog has definitely helped me out in many ways, so here, I’m speaking from experience.

Check if the companies you’d like to work for have a blog. If so, comment and be active; not only will it get you on their radar, it will also arm you with knowledge about the company that will be good interview fodder and help you learn more about where that organisation stands on particular issues, which might avoid awkward answers in the interview room.

Slideshare allows you to upload presentations, with videos and audio if you like, and share them with others. It is one of my favourite tools and I’ve been learning a lot from it. Create a presentation about your area of interest that teaches something and surely people will download it and share it helping you spreading the word. Additionally you can share your Slideshare presentations on Linkedin and Facebook.

And lastly, don't forget your friends. "Hey guys, I'm on the lookout for a new challenge, any of your companies looking for a young and motivated marketing assistant?" Posting a message via several social networks is definitely worth a try and a good way to get leads especially for fresh grads or students looking for internships.

If you have any tips please add them here.