So much has changed in the last decade with social media alone. LinkedIn and other social media profiles now allow us to market who we are and find exciting new career opportunities. It’s time to adapt and move away from the idea of searching and searching after job postings when it’s far more essential to develop a career marketing campaign about yourself that will have recruiters coming to you.
The most significant shift in finding talent is that companies can now search for the best fit based on a talent search over social media. We live in a digital age where your career’s digital footprint is your LinkedIn profile, and it’s crucial in today’s career marketplace.
86% of people looking for employment are doing so over social media. And on the other side of the road, 78% of those hiring expect prospective employees to be marketing themselves over social media, and 92% of recruiters use social media to find candidates, with LinkedIn being the top platform. A whopping 1 in 5 reports being not likely to consider candidates who do not have social media accounts.
So now that we can no longer make our first impression face to face, how do we develop our portfolios – our social media accounts, resumes, and cover letters – to get the best attention of recruiters that will also impress prospective employers?
There are no rules or magic tricks to get you noticed by recruiters, but there are some best practices. We will give you the run-down on why, how, and when to use social media and how to build a career marketing campaign that gets you hired.
Why Recruiters Prefer Scouting on Social Media and LinkedIn
The first tip to understanding how to market yourself over social media is understanding how it works and why it works. Employers and recruiters love using social media to find qualified candidates because they can cast their search net so much further.
The talent available to recruiters has expanded exponentially, and the social media platforms themselves can be leveraged to spread the word on job postings or even brand marketing. But it’s not just recruiters who are benefiting: 37% said they found information on a candidate’s social media page supporting their application that they may not have found out.
However, 57% of recruiters reported finding something on a candidate’s social media that caused them to pass on the candidate, so there are some do’s and don’ts to social media marketing. We will talk about what not to do toward the end, but first, let’s talk about what makes for a great career marketing campaign.
Your Career Marketing Campaign
Often resumes read like obituaries of past jobs. Recruiters want to see what you did, not just what you were supposed to do. Job descriptions are dry enough to read, and recruiters will gloss over the information presented this way.
What recruiters and prospective employers most want to see is what you did. They want to see what solutions you brought to the table, what problems you faced, how you benefited the company, and what makes you passionate about this line of work. They are looking for your success stories about how you moved the company closer to its objectives, what you are proud of, and what you ultimately accomplished.
If you have a creative advantage, use that appropriately to bolster your application. Visual material will impress everyone, so having infographics or well-designed portfolios can go a long way. Almost everyone has a skill or talent they can leverage (or further develop) to wow recruiters. Consider what best showcases you and your natural strengths.
Playing active online and recruiting social media channels will also get you noticed. Recruiters want to see that you are passionate about your field and actively think about and contribute to it with your thought leadership by writing your content and engaging thoughtfully in discussions. Recruiters will often welcome people to reach out to them, and that’s an excellent opportunity for getting noticed and having a conversation about what you are looking for in your career.
Once you have your marketing in place, make sure to do the heavy lifting once you get an interview. Research the company you’re interviewing at, research their positions, and put some thought into identifying where you feel you would be the best fit.
Tips for Standing Out From the Pack
- Build a stellar Linkedin and other SM profiles that showcase the best of you.
- Ensure your LinkedIn is rich and dense in keywords that matter towards your next role, and feed the LinkedIn algorithms.
- Include a happy headshot, branded headline, distinctive banner image, and a conversational about page showing your top attributes.
- Ensure your career history highlights your successes, contributions, solutions, and proud achievements vs. content that reads like a job posting.
- Build your online presence by putting pen to paper and developing written content (blogs) on issues and topics you are passionate about.
- Strategically piggyback subject matter expert posts and articles.
- Join LinkedIn groups and build a community.
- Build a LinkedIn network that’s relevant and strategic to your career future.
- Stay active and provide continuity.
- Show your strengths with success and contribution stories, but make sure to include your personality.
- Ask previous employers and key connections to provide glowing referrals.
What Your Career Social Media Page Should Not Include
What not to put on your social media (especially while you are job hunting) should be pretty obvious, but somehow people will still put up those posts or leave up those ancient accidents day in and day out.
So for clarity’s sake, here are the obvious offenders: postings of discrimination of any kind against others; provocative or inappropriate photos; information about drinking or drug use; unprofessional handles; anything about previous jobs like lying to past employers, being disrespectful of colleagues or slandering the company.
These no-nos are pretty obvious, and most people wouldn’t prefer to present themselves in such ways. But some even sneakier social media habits can reflect negatively on job seekers without your realizing: posting too frequently; showing poor communication skills (66% of employers say they pay attention to the grammar on your social media posts); showing personality issues (like negativity or rudeness); and, aggressive political or social statements that are contentious and offensive.
A Final Thought
So get ahead of the pack with your job search by developing a career marketing campaign of your own. For those who are not as experienced with marketing or those without as much time on their hands, acquiring the services of certified professional resume writers and career experts like those at Career Thinker can be a big help out with your campaign. But either way, whether with advice or on your own, jump-start your search with the tips from this guide.
🧿 Schedule your complimentary resume and LinkedIn profile review, click on my online calendar, answer a few basic questions so we can prepare for our call, then schedule a time via our appointment link ▶
✅CPRW (Certified Professional Resume Writer)
✅CCMC (Certified Career Management Coach)
✅NCOPE (Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert) LinkedIn Instructor
✅CEIP (Certified Employment Interview Professional)
✅CDCC (Certified DISCstyles™ Communication Consultant)
✉ TomPowner@careerthinker.com
#jobsearch #linkedinrecruiter
Leave a Reply