Benefits to Social Media and the Job Search - Individuals
If you're a job seeker actively in job search mode, social media can help you in many different ways.
First, understand that when seeking a job, you are marketing your skills. Some of the basic benefits to marketing with social media include:
- Cost.
- Thought Leadership.
- Brand Awareness.
- Connection to Employers.
- Lead Generation.
How do these apply to job seekers and employers? Read on below to learn more.
Cost
Understand that all the basic platforms we recommend cost the same to sign up. This applies whether you are a college grad or an experienced worker seeking a career change.
Most social media sites let anyone create an account for free. As a job seeker, you can use certain strategies to find a new job or recruit efficiently. Follow the tips in our article on Establishing Your Presence.
Thought Leadership
When looking for a new job, you'll want to express your informed opinions about different topics in your career field. Employers will want to find someone who can solve their problems when seeking a new hire. This is called thought leadership – being valued for your knowledge in a given area.
For example, blogs are a good place to express opinions. Another good platform to use to express "Thought Leadership" is LinkedIn. In addition to posts, LinkedIn also lets you write and post articles. This is great if you want to express thoughts on the site in a more "formal" manner. If you're interested, check out this page.
Another great option for expressing your thoughts is Medium, a "social journalism" site. If you've ever wanted to write and publish editorials, this site might be for you!
On the other hand, you don't have to write long, formal articles to create thought leadership. One of the greatest things about social media sites is that they give you the power to share bite-sized updates. These small bits of info can tell employers a lot about you. Feel free to take advantage of them!
Also, remember that potential employers may search for your name and read what you have written. Controversial opinions may be a turn-off for them.
Brand Awareness
When you look for a job, you are selling something for employers to buy. These, of course, are your skills and abilities. Like a business, you have a target audience: the new employer. Overall, it's important that you know your "brand" and keep it consistent when looking for jobs. Read more about branding in our article on Branding Yourself on Social Media.
Connection to Employers
With social media, are more connected than ever. Family to family, friends to friends, and even job seekers to employers. With social media, you can follow and directly reach out to employers you're interested in.
Lead Generation
In the job search, generating leads is what it is all about! You may not find the perfect job through a job board like CareerBuilder, Monster, or Indeed. Instead, online and face-to-face networking may help you find the perfect match.
For more information, look at the tips in our Networking article.
Other Benefits
Other benefits that vary by user include:
- Mobility – Social media are built to be used on any device. You can easily make updates no matter if you're on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.
- Advertising – Social media sites let you set your own limits for advertising.
- Flexibility – You can pick a platform to use based on your needs and what works best. Social media sites are similar in concept, but so many of them are different.
- Visual Appeal – Social media marketing is a highly visual. It makes use of multimedia (photos, video, etc.) in addition to text. This doesn't mean you need to regularly produce your own video and photo content. However, having a visual element goes a long way. Whether that's a good profile picture or posts you've shared from others, it's something to think of.
- Spontaneity – Social media sites let you share your achievements at the click of the mouse or tap of a finger. This "in-the-moment" ability is useful because employers are seeing real-time updates. However, be cautious of expressing certain opinions while job hunting.
Be sure to read the other pieces in our Social Media guide.