This document provides guidance on using social media for job hunting. It discusses maintaining a professional online presence and profile, using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to search for jobs and network, and tips for cleaning up profiles to remove unprofessional content. Employers are advised to have a clear headshot, avoid inappropriate photos and posts, and ensure their social media content highlights relevant skills and interests for prospective roles.

1. +
Social Media for Job hunting

2. +
This Session
 Using Social Media for Job Hunting
 Feedback
 Break
 Workshop

3. +
Social Media
 We’re going to quickly look at using social media for job
hunting, before using the rest of the session for feedback,
and ‘workshop’ style approaches.
 While we’ve covered social media for personal and business
use, it can also come into its own in other areas.
 We’ve also covered the risks involved in using social media,
so putting all of this knowledge into practice, we can try to
see how your profiles can help, or hinder, when looking for a
job.

4. +
Job Hunting
 There are two sides to using a profile when looking for a job.
 The first is the actual seeking part – you can use the
platforms to look for advertised positions, as well as
networking with other professionals to find out about
positions or opportunities as they arise.
 The second is maintaining your ‘brand’ – you want your
profiles to look clean, professional, and positive, to give a
good first impression to any prospective employers who
might look you up.

5. +
Job Hunting
 According to surveys, 86% of job seekers have some form of
social media presence.
 It’s advisable to clean up your profiles, which we’ll cover
later, but bear in mind that it’s difficult to truly remove things
from the internet.
 However, at this stage of your ‘online life’, the things you
remove will probably be superficial and it’ll be easy to get
your profiles to work on your behalf.
 So how do you use social media to find jobs?

6. +
Job Hunting - Facebook
 Facebook is difficult to use for job hunting, but not
impossible.
 If you’re out of work, post a status stating you’re looking for
work – give an outline of what you can do, and what you’d
like.
 Fill out your Work & Education sections in your profile.
 Maintain your network and group presence to keep abreast
of job opportunities. Make sure you join local groups related
to your industry too.
 Use Facebook Pages to research a company if you have an
interview there – it could give you info to ask questions
about. Some companies post job ads on their Pages.

7. +
Job Hunting - Twitter
 Follow recruitment companies! They often tweet their job
ads. Do the same for the companies you’d love to work for.
 Search Twitter for tweets containing words like vacancy, new
job, requirement etc – check the locations before you reply!
 Try twitjobsearch.com.
 Build a network of people in the industry you want to work in
– you’re more likely to be passed opportunities if people
know who you are.
 Use your tweets to demonstrate your abilities so that your
profile helps to advertise you and what you can do.

8. +
Job Hunting - LinkedIn
 Maintain a high profile by being active in groups and posting
useful content to your industry.
 There are groups dedicated to job hunting – try joining
them.
 Join groups related to your field – people may post
opportunities there if they are particularly specialist.
 Add contacts but only when there is a viable reason to do so
– having connections for the sake of it is counter productive.
 Use the skills field to show off your specialties.
 Try the job search feature – you can be as specific or as
vague as you need to be.

9. +
To Hire or Not To Hire
 The top reasons to hire after researching online…
 Good personality (50%)
 Professional image (57%)
 Wide range of interests (50%)
 Background info was accurate (49%)
 The top reasons not the hire…
 Inappropriate content (50%)
 Info about candidate using alcohol or drugs (48%)
 Bad mouthing previous employer (33%)
 Lied about qualifications (24%)

10. +
Profile Spring Clean
 45% employers admit to checking out candidates on social
media. 1 in 3 admit to rejecting candidates based on
something they found online.
 Make sure your social media is working FOR you, and not
AGAINST you.You might be brilliant in interviews and write
the best covering letters, but your profile might sell you
short.
 If in doubt, consider whether or not you need the profile. It is
probably better not to have the profile at all than to risk
having one that makes you look bad.
 This also applies to universities, so make sure teenagers are
also aware of how their boozy night out photos make them
look.

11. +
Profile Spring Clean
 Consider your profile from the point of view of an employer.
 What are the visible photos like? If your profile shot is you
brandishing a glass of wine, or pulling a silly pose on
holiday, then it’s probably best to change it.
 A clear headshot is advisable; choose an uncluttered
background, aim for good lighting, and remember to SMILE.
 Most people deliberately choose photos for LinkedIn that
make them look professional, so do the same on the other
platforms.
 You won’t look boring – you’ll look reliable and dependable.

12. +
Profile Spring Clean
 When choosing a profile picture remember;
 A default image looks lazy
 Images that aren't actually you will damage your brand - so
no photos of your cat or car.
 Pixellated or blurry images look unprofessional.
 Distasteful or offensive photos are a big no-no.
 Try not to post photos of yourself with your children either –
it’s probably best to keep photos of them set to friends only
until they’re old enough to decide they want their image
online.

13. +
Profile Spring Clean
 Now consider your content.
 What were your last five tweets about?

14. +
Profile Spring Clean
 Make sure your tweets advertise your interest in your
specialist area – so if you’re applying for a job in the
cosmetics industry, retweet makeup blogs, post articles
about makeup on your blog, or have discussions with
makeup artists or fans.
 Feel free to tweet about your interests but make sure they’re
the same interests you might list on your CV.
 If you have an unusual interest, like rock climbing or baking
for charity, then make sure you tweet about these as well.
They make you look like an individual with a life beyond
social media.
 Try to keep your tweets positive!

15. +
Profile Spring Clean
 If your Facebook profile is public, then consider what you
have posted so far, and how it reflects upon you.
 Consider turning your profile to Friends Only, but leave
selected posts as Public, such as news stories you have
shared, or businesses you have supported.
 You can always ‘claim’ an individual username on Facebook
so that you have a personal URL – this will demonstrate to
employers that you have a grasp of your personal ‘brand’.
 Rethink some of the photos that you have posted, do they
really need to be online?

16. +
Profile Spring Clean
 In essence, you need to consider yourself as a brand that you
are trying to sell to a prospective employer.
 If in doubt, get someone else to look at your profiles and give
you their opinion about how you come across.
 You want to appear as an engaged, approachable and
confident person – even if you don’t feel you are!
 At the same time, you don’t want to spend hours filling up
your profiles – employers might look at the time stamps and
think you have nothing better to do!

17. +
TASK
 Log into one of your profiles and begin to consider its
content from the point of view of an employer.
 Do you have photos? Have you shared content by other
people?
 How could you improve your profiles?
 Spend some time editing!

18. +
THE END
 We’ve covered a lot in this course, but hopefully now you feel
confident about using social media, whether it’s blogging on
Wordpress, tweeting, or looking for jobs on LinkedIn.
 If you have any questions after today, feel free to tweet me
@ianclimb8, or send me an email: ianclimb8@icloud.com
 Now we’ll do feedback on the course.