5 ways to improve your chances of getting hired using social media

More and more companies are relying on social media to find the right candidates for their companies.  IT giants in India such as TCS have almost completely shunned third party recruiters and use social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to find prospective employees, at least at the junior to mid level. (Read: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/jobs/TCS-using-Facebook-LinkedIn-for-hiring/articleshow/36445525.cms)

Others like Cognizant and Wipro are not too behind in utilizing this highly effective channel for their recruitment requirements. Social media thus has gone beyond the platform of choice for hanging out with friends online and it’s essential for professionals to understand the nuances that will equip them to rise above the competition and land their dream job.

As part of their due-diligence, recruiters do look up your social profile! Following are some of the social media activities that every professional must incorporate:

1. Create Meaningful Profiles – While LinkedIn is the platform of choice for creating professional profiles, and hiring managers do take a close look at your LinkedIn profile as part of their research on you, other popular platforms such as Facebook and Google+ should also have relevant and consistent information. This not only affirms your credibility, it goes a long way in establishing an impression that you are thorough and detail-oriented. At the least build a compelling and thoroughly completed LinkedIn profile that gives enough insights on your previous jobs. Not only should you highlight your experience but also give details of your strengths and how you can add value to a company that hires you.

1. Keep it tidy – While as a rule most of us keep our LinkedIn (Professional) profiles very professional and free from non-sense, many a times we give in to the temptation of posting something funky on our person social media profile, such as Facebook and to top that problem, we don’t even tweak our privacy settings to not let un-authorized people from accessing our profile. That could lead to trouble when a recruitment executive decides to do an audit on your online profiles and sees something (An inappropriate photo of yours or an unwarranted comment) that may seem like a red flag to them. That is why it is very important that you avoid posting junk even on your personal profiles and do those privacy settings adjustment if you don’t want strangers to get a peek into your private life.

1. Make connections – Networking with people, whether it be offline or online is one of the most important things that contributes towards your success as a professional. Make connections with successful and influential people in your field. Don’t try and impose yourself on highly successful people who may be too busy to consider your request to connect. However, before you ask them to connect, try and contribute something towards their benefit so that you get their attention.

For example, adding a relevant comment to their posts and offering more value to the information that they have shared on their professional profile will get you their attention if you are consistent and are really posting relevant comments and come across as well informed.

1. Be consistently engaged – You must keep your profile updated; follow relevant companies, groups and individuals to get automatic alerts on the activities they engage in. You will keep yourself up to date with the latest information from the potential employers and be better prepared for applying for the jobs openings that they may choose to post on their social media profiles.

1. Contribute –Contribute by commenting and engaging in conversations. Not only will this increase your chances of making connections with the right people, it will also demonstrate your intellect to anyone that reviews your profile. It also give you an opportunity to show what value you can bring to a potential employer.

One thing you shouldn’t do at all is pitch yourself directly for a job through the social media channels. It’s important to present yourself in front of the decision makers and create the right perception on you in their minds through regular status updates, showcasing your achievement etc., so that they know who to consider when the right opportunity comes along, but never ask anyone for a job position directly on the social media.

Do you know of more ways in which you can utilize Social Media to land your dream job? Please share with all our readers by commenting here. If you found this article useful, please share this with people you know on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social platform of your choice.