This week we’ve watched as a fresh crop of new grads prepare for the realities of job-hunting in the age of social media.
The job-hunting landscape is a lot different from when I graduated college 20 years ago. Recruiters and employers today are using social networks to screen job candidates. There are plenty of stories about companies rejecting applicants based on their social media profiles.
Building Your Online Profile
New grads everywhere are starting to prepare for the realities of today’s current job-market. Social media continues to play an increasingly important role in the way businesses operate and new grads must be conscious of their online presence.
Here’s a quick list of social media tips and tricks that new grads can apply to create and build their online presence while job-hunting:
- Research yourself. Take inventory of what can be found online about you – a simple Google search can go a long way.
- Sign up for Google Alerts so you know when something new has been posted about you online.
- Quit Facebook groups that would look bad to an employer.
- Update your privacy settings. Make sure that photo of you at your college frat party is set on private!
- Â Create a professional profile, using sites such as LinkedIn and BrandYourself. Not as much fun as Facebook but a lot more professional.
- Find, visit, and like Facebook fan pages for any company that interests you. Interact there. The companies you want to work for are building careers pages, too. Join their communities. Ask good questions.
- Use Facebook and LinkedIn updates to show what you know. You likely don’t have a whole lot of work experience, but research your field online and share links to articles in your status updates. Start sharing ideas.
At Conveyance Marketing Group, we ask to see our applicants social media assets, including Facebook, Twitter and blogs. This is becoming the new norm so before you go on your job hunt, be sure you are ready!
This post was adapted from Mashable: Social Media Tips for New Grads