A sad side effect of the pandemic that I have noticed lately is that a lot of folks have lost their jobs. As a result, they’re using their social media to start looking for a new opportunity. And that’s smart! However, there are a few pitfalls I’ve seen several of those people falling into. So here are a few social media tips for job seekers.
- Remember that your post may be the first impression someone has of you. And that person may have hiring power.
- On a related note, spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in your posts feed into that impression. Yes, you may be feeling emotional about having to ask for help. Yes, you may be trying to get as many messages out there as you can in a short period of time just to reach as many people as possible. But these errors can speak to your ability to do a job (hello – you’re looking to do social media posts for a business and your own post has 12 misspelled words?!?!?!) and may cost you opportunities.
- If you’re posting to ask if anyone knows of any opportunities, be sure to mention the types of work you’re looking for. If you have no skills in manufacturing, you probably aren’t interested in hearing about those jobs.
- If you have a certain area of town you want/need to keep your commute to, that would be helpful information to share, too.
- Be sure to update your LinkedIn profile and use the new-ish function they’ve added to let recruiters know you’re interested in hearing from them.
- Speaking of LinkedIn…Go back through and review your past jobs, too. Look for skills (read: search terms) that you’re missing or that could be tweaked.
- Before putting up any posts looking for help finding a job, review ALL of your social media posts. Maybe even have another person or two that you can trust to be brutally honest to review things, too. Are your posts public? Do you come across as helpful or combative? Use a discerning eye to decide what posts should stay, what posts should have their public-facing status updated, what posts should be hidden, and what posts should be deleted altogether. Most companies these days have a policy in place that employees’ personal posts are also a reflection on their business, so many include a social media audit as part of their hiring process.
If you’re one of those folks affected by COVID-related layoffs and downsizings, our hearts are with you. We hope these tips help, and we wish you the best of luck finding your next step!
Image by athree23 from Pixabay