By Chloé Rada, Senior Marketing Manager - Talent Acquisition at Sodexo
In last
month’s post on using social media to find a job, I shared five tips to develop your personal brand. Now that you’ve added a professional picture,
polished up your profile and replaced the most overused buzzwords, it’s time to make some meaningful
connections.
Don’t let fear of making a bad first impression or being a nuisance hold you back from leveraging the power of a social media connection. Employers on social media want to engage with you! In part two of this series, you’ll learn three ways to use social media platforms to get noticed and to reach out to potential employers.
Add Value
To add value
means sharing information in a status update or post that could be helpful to
others. Share industry trends,
whitepapers or local news articles about things that matter to you in your
field. Your activity puts your name out there as someone who is knowledgeable,
respected and engaged. The more you
participate, the more an employer will take notice.
Boost your Expertise
A great way to boost your expertise is to
answer questions and polls found on LinkedIn.
Not only are you demonstrating your skills to LinkedIn members, but to
billions of Google users, including recruiters, who may be searching for an
expert in your field. LinkedIn Answers appear in Google search
results along with a summary of your profile, giving you lots of additional
exposure. Make it part of your
routine and you’ll gain further credibility.
Participate in your Communities
There are
several benefits to participating in your online
communities
regularly. You’ll establish your own
voice while learning about the company, their job openings, the hiring process
and key players.
Within
LinkedIn Groups, you’ll further your reach and influence by participating in
discussions or starting one of your own.
Groups you may want to consider joining would be your college’s official
alumni group, past employers and companies you’d like to work for. Many organizations have specific careers
groups, like Sodexo USA Careers, where you can network with alumni,
new hires, former employees and recruiters.
It’s ok to
ask about the status of your application but it’s also important to comment on,
share or like press releases, videos, blog posts or status updates. In general, remain professional and polite
when reaching out to employers online.
Be thankful for their time and follow the advice when you receive an
answer. This confirms that you are listening and interested in developing a
relationship!
No matter which social media platform you
choose to make a connection, there is a difference between wanting any job and
wanting to work for that specific company. Let them know why you are pursuing
them. Twitter is a great vehicle, for example, to express your interest in
working for Sodexo USA. Compose a new
tweet and include @SodexoCareers in your message. You can also find more than sixty
members of our Talent Acquisition Group on the
stream who look forward to hearing from you!
Now you are ready to leverage the power of
social media to break
down the barrier between you and your dream job.
What tips can
you share to make a connection?
2 comments:
I also read the Buzzwords post, which I found extremely helpful. Making a positive online presence is important and this post can help you make small steps to do so. This presence can lead to a job! Using the resources of social media can add to your knowledge which will make you more desirable to a company. I plan on looking to see the companies I want to work for and checking their LinkedIn and other social medias to get my name to them before applying.
We are glad to hear that you are enjoying our posts, Rebecca! In the fast moving world of social media, it's a good idea to refresh your profile and your job search strategy often. Thanks for your comment!
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