Get that dream job via social media

An illustratrion
| credits: Chukky Nwakky

In this concluding part, TEMITAYO FAMUTIMI writes that the relationships one builds on social media platforms are pivotal to successful job searches

You might have been missing out on your chances of getting a dream job if you are still employing the use of various traditional methods for  job hunting.

One of the basic features of employing social media as a tool in job search  is that it allows one to find out unadvertised job opportunities.

For so many, social media platforms are playgrounds – a place to catch a lot of fun! But, you can have a turn around and utilize your knowledge of it to get that dream job you have been longing for. All you need do is to  treat your social media accounts as an extension of your personal life.

However, job search through the social media, which still remains unfamiliar to many job seekers, requires time, energy, attention, assertiveness, and a positive mental attitude for one to be successful.

Here are more tips that will help you in your job search via the social media.

Engage productively

After finding those contacts that could be beneficial to you on the various social networking sites, then it’s time to establish a long lasting online relationship with them.

You will need to communicate closely with the relevant players in your area of specialty and key heads of the companies you would like to work with. This can be made possible by closely following and contributing to the discussions they start in LinkedIn and Facebook page and replying their tweets when they ask for help. This will help showcase how knowledgeable you are in that field and make an impression on the prospective employer.

That could earn you the opportunity of discussing with them your job search and your skills. When they tweet about a vacancy, signify your interest.

Share links

Share links that reflect your professional and personal interest and reflect you in good light. You can start a blog on an interesting subject area in your field and post the link to all social networks you have an account with. Your potential employer who might have read a previous post about your job search could read your blog, get impressed and call you up for an interview.

Value your contacts

Never underrate the usefulness of the network you build on social media platforms. A tweet to  your followers on Twitter about your prospect for a job can get you a reply or direct message from a hiring manager with whom you have built a relationship with well in advance of when you need him/her.

Track your progress

You can measure your prospect of securing a job via social networking sites by tracking your progress on the various platforms. If your career-oriented tweets are getting retweeted and the number of key players in your chosen field of endeavour following you keeps going up, then you might be getting close to clinching that dream job.

Also, the comments and number of times your LinkedIn profile is viewed by your industry players have a direct bearing on your job search prospects.

It is worthy of note that there are no strict rules on how to connect and position oneself to securing a job via social networking sites. An applicant only needs to use his discretion to make the right connections with people in his/her industry and career field.

To enhance your prospect of finding your dream job, start networking now. Don’t wait until you are badly in need of that job.  By doing this, you will be getting yourself positioned for companies and their human resource managers to find you on all these social media sites.