Social media is technology’s latest achievement.
The creation of a digital community through connections with family, friends and shared interests has exploded beyond the imaginations of the creators.
Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare – the outlets continue to increase in variety and popularity. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter alone expanded 1,382 percent year-over-year in February, registering more than 7 million unique visitors in the United States for the month.
As college students, we engage in social media outlets every day. For many of us, logging on to Facebook to check the statuses of our friends and classmates is part of our daily routine.
Though many might consider tools such as Facebook and Twitter useless activities to enjoy during spare time, the knowledge of these platforms can be beneficial when applying for jobs.
Companies are now looking at these channels to reach larger audiences when determining marketing strategies.
They are seeking employees with proficiency in social media to help create a target audience.
According to Harvard Business Review, Best Buy’s "Twelpforce" harnessed the power of Twitter, creating a faster way to provide customer service.
Twitter is now a bullet point for your resume.
Much of the time, we don’t use these outlets to their full potential.
We check to see who is getting married and having babies.
We waste our time on Facebook applications building farms and updating pictures on Dogbook.
Alternatively, we know the pitfalls of today’s social media outlets.
We heed the warnings of professors and colleagues and remove those inappropriate pictures and comments so future employers will not jump to judge us as immature.
We don’t, however, see the exponential possibilities of using these types of outlets to our advantage.
For guys like Doug Winfield and Hal Thomas, it was social media that helped them land jobs.
According to CNN Money, after realizing he exhausted all his job-searching opportunities, Winfield turned to Facebook to market himself to companies.
Not only did he post his resume on LinkedIn, he created a blog and fan page on Facebook and even used the side advertisements directly targeting certain companies, locations or keywords.
In a matter of two months, 1,382 people clicked on his advertisement, and 447,000 viewed his page.
He received several calls for interviews, and in January, MS&L in New York offered Winfield the position of vice president of digital corporate practice with specific responsibilities in communicating client messages via social media.
Thomas took advantage of an opportunity when he saw advertising and promotions agency BFG Communications was seeking applications for an assistant content manager position by way of Twitter.
The New York Post quoted BFG content director, Sloane Kelley, as stating, "We wanted to see how people think creatively and seeing what they do with 140 characters and the various tools that are out there really gave us an interesting glimpse."
Thomas got the job by separating himself from the competition creatively, crediting the unique opportunity solely to Twitter.
The goal of social media is to create a network, a community of individuals who share and communicate with one another.
Use it wisely. In his book, "Get the Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring," Ford R. Myers states that networking is not part of your job search, it is your job search.
In today’s job market, college graduates have to be savvy networkers, but not many of us have the opportunity to know someone on the inside.
This is where tools like Twitter and Facebook can give you an advantage.
Rather than tweeting to your family what you had for breakfast, follow those companies that you have your eye on and join in the conversation.
Post your resume or link to your portfolio on your Facebook page, and let people know it is there.
This is your opportunity to put your face and name out there and to sell yourself in a highly competitive job market, so use it to your advantage.
2 comments
And what a great idea.. using them to find a job. I love your column.