Career Advice
Paul Brown
06.04.2022
Recently, I was re-watching the movie ‘The Social Network’. It’s the story of Facebook’s meteoric rise from an engagement platform for students to the multi-billion-dollar global company it’s become. The film was made in 2010 and Facebook itself was launched in 2004. It’s been nearly two decades since then. In this time, Facebook has diversified and acquired, among other businesses, multiple messaging and social media apps like Instagram and WhatsApp and changed the way we communicate around the world.
Facebook has paved the way for other social media platforms as well. According to a report published in January 2022, an estimated 58.4% of the world’s population uses social media. This represents 4.62 billion people of whom 424 million users have come online in the last 12 months.
Businesses around the world have been quick to recognise a unique opportunity presented by social media platforms. They can now market their products and services to wider audiences who are geo-diverse, amplifying their scope of revenue. In addition to its transactional value, businesses can also optimise social media to hire top talent.
In fact, 91% of UK employers are currently using social media for recruitment, and 21% of recruiters admit rejecting an applicant after looking them up on Facebook. This proves that the right profile on social media has the power to validate the credibility of a job seeker. So, if you’re looking for a job, there’s no time like the present to optimise social media for your search.
In this blog we’ll take you through the best social media platforms for job seekers and share our top tips for using social media on your job hunt.
Tips for Job Hunting on Social Media
According to a recent survey, over 90% of job seekers choose LinkedIn as their preferred social media platform for job hunting, followed by Twitter and Facebook.
1. LinkedIn
Professional networking platform LinkedIn is arguably one of the best sources to find jobs online. With 722 million members, LinkedIn provides an almost unmatched pool of resources for job seekers. Another fun fact: Three people are hired through LinkedIn. Every minute.
If you’re looking for a job, chances are you’re already using LinkedIn. If you’re not, start NOW! But here are a few things to note before you go job hunting.
Set up your profile
Set and complete your profile with a professional photo and relevant details about your work experience and education history. LinkedIn suggests writing ‘a summary to highlight your personality or work experience’. It further mentions that ‘members who include a summary receive up to 3.9 times as many profile views’.
An updated profile with all your relevant professional information allows recruiters to find you and lets LinkedIn recommend jobs. There are three main sections that you can add to your profile – Core, Recommended and Additional. The core section includes basic details like your current position, skills, and education. The Recommended section includes your licenses and certifications, any additional courses you may have taken and a Feature of your best achievements. The Additional section includes volunteer experience, known languages, test scores and more.
According to LinkedIn, ‘completing these sections will increase your credibility and give you access to more opportunities’.
Follow relevant companies
Once your LinkedIn profile is up and running it’s time to start following the companies you want to work for. By following a brand or business you can stay updated with everything that they post – from thought leadership articles to jobs.
Another great way to build credibility on LinkedIn is to ask your peers to recommend you. It works like an endorsement for your skills and shows recruiters that you are valued.
Follow FDM on LinkedIn.
2. Twitter
Twitter is admittedly a less obvious choice to find jobs on social media. However, given that Twitter has 217 million daily active users, it’s one of the most popular platforms for networking and for people to engage directly with brands. More and more recruiters are using Twitter for hiring on social media.
Like all social media platforms, to start using Twitter for your job hunt, you first need a profile, complete with separate profile and cover photos, your location and bio. Your bio should include a short description of yourself, perhaps your current job title and what you usually tweet about. For example – Software developer at XYZ Company. Follow me for all things #code
Using relevant hashtags automatically amplifies your tweet’s visibility. So anytime you tweet about #python, users searching for that hashtag will find your tweet. Those users could be recruiters looking to hire software developers.
On the flipside, you could also follow relevant hashtags to stay on top. Type in your chosen hashtag into the search box. This allows you to filter your search by the top and latest tweets, videos, photos, and people using that hashtag in their bios. This is very helpful in finding out who’s hiring. For example – if you search for #dataanalystjobs, it will show you results for everything from infographics on data science to actual job postings.
It’s important to follow the companies you’re interested in. By staying updated with the projects and events a company is involved in, you also get a feel for the company culture and can decide if it’s the right for you.
Follow FDM on Twitter.
3. Facebook
Facebook has recently confirmed its decision to withdraw its Jobs feature that allowed employers to distribute free jobs via a partner integration with the Jobs on Facebook API. This affects employers and jobs seekers outside the United States and Canada. Ever since Facebook introduced its Jobs on Facebook feature in 2017, employers could post job vacancies on their official business pages. You could apply directly by just clicking a button. However, you can still optimise Facebook for your job search.
There are numerous groups on Facebook that advertise job vacancies. These are public groups and industry or domain specific. For example – Software Testing Jobs, Project Management Professional and SQL, Data Analytics & Business Intelligence are Facebook groups with members ranging from 40K to 270K. Recruiters and hiring managers regularly post new job listings on these groups. You just need to join the groups that are relevant to your career pathway and get a chance to engage directly with recruiters.
While using Facebook for your job search, remember to keep your profile professional and updated. This includes having a professional photo that is preferably consistent across all your social channels. But it doesn’t all have to be so cut and dried. It’s great to share things about yourself that reflect your personality. So, photos from a trip or pictures of your pets are great.
It’s great to share links to interesting articles or even your own thoughts on a trending industry topic – demonstrating your interest and knowledge in your domain.
However, refrain from posting anything that may be deemed inappropriate. A good rule of thumb is to think of your social account as a scrapbook that you take to an interview. If there’s anything on there that you wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with your interviewer, delete it. Better still, don’t post it at all.
Check out FDM on Facebook.
Other Sources
There are other ways to find jobs on social media as well. Engage with brands directly on their Instagram accounts and YouTube channels. Ask questions, comment on their content, and join the conversation. Are you an active blogger? Tag a company in a relevant blog post.
For example – a company you follow posted a video on the use of RPA in business on their Instagram account. Leave a comment on the post with the link to your blog on automation.
This is not just great for catching their attention but also shows your domain knowledge. Remember, job hunting is one side of the story: yours. The other side is an employer actively seeking talent to fill a role. So, if you position yourself right, chances are you’ll at least get a second glance.
Here are some more useful resources for job hunting:
- How to write a CV without experience
- How to ace a video interview
- How to prepare for an interview
- 12 questions to ask after an interview
- Why are extracurricular activities important to employers
- FDM interview process and questions
Kickstart Your Career with FDM’s Graduate Programme
The FDM graduate programme can help you kickstart your career. At FDM we have two distinct training pathways, the Technical Graduate Programme and the Business Consulting Graduate Programme. In each of these pathways, you will have the opportunity to progress into specialist roles such as Software Development, Robotics Process Automation, Business Analysis, Risk, Regulation and Compliance, Business Intelligence and much more. You will receive structured training in your chosen career stream, followed by a placement with some of our prestigious clients.
Find out more about FDM’s Graduate Careers Programme and how you can you apply.