How Social Networks Can Help You Find a Job

Discover how social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help you find a job. Learn tips to maximize your online presence.

A social media profile can sometimes tell us more than a personal diary – we share life events, achievements, and thoughts with our subscribers. But social media not only expands our social circle, they can also help in our careers. We tell you how to manage your account in a way that is beneficial for your work.

Table of Contents

Tell us about yourself in your profile

Employers often ask to indicate social networks in a resume because they want to get to know the applicant better in absentia: to find out what his hobbies, lifestyle, and interests are.

How to create an account

If possible, put your photo on the avatar. It will inspire more trust.
Please provide your real name. This will make it easier to find and remember you. It would also be a good idea to provide your current or previous place of work and contact information.
Don’t be shy about sharing your career achievements in your profile, post links to your projects in your feed or stories. This will demonstrate your professionalism.
Publish the professional achievements you are most proud of in highlights or pinned posts. This way, a potential manager will find them faster.
Keep your profile information up to date.

It wouldn’t hurt to “brush up” your account before you start looking for a job, but don’t forget that your social media image is your personal business. Be yourself and don’t focus too much on your potential employer.

I often look for employees through social networks, because I need people in the digital sphere. I try to work on my image, and I need “my own”, and it’s easier to find them through social networks.

In the applicant’s profile, I look at where he worked and what he wrote about it. This is important, because he will also talk about our company. The main thing is that he doesn’t write anything bad about clients. And other personal matters – alcohol, parties or nudes – are not interesting, because these are social networks, and a person can do whatever he wants with his page.

Follow companies and potential bosses

If you have a dream company in mind, follow its profile or find those who manage it. This way, you will learn about the company’s news and better understand what skills are required of applicants. Sometimes, managers post vacancies directly on social networks. You will be able to quickly respond to an open position.

In addition, you can avoid waiting for vacancies and try writing to the manager or to the company profile to ask about an internship or freelancing – especially relevant at the beginning of a career.

It is normal to write directly to companies’ social networks. It is better for those who actively maintain a profile: post stories, posts, and respond to comments. This means that there is a person there who can pass on your proposal to management.

How to compose a message

Dasha gave some tips that will increase your chances of getting a response from a potential employer.

Say hello and introduce yourself.
Briefly describe your education (if it is relevant to the profession), work experience, and basic skills: “I graduated from…”, “I worked (where and as whom?)…”, “I can…”.
Show that you support the company’s values and dream of getting there. For example, if you want to write for a certain publication, tell why its agenda is close to you and what you would like to write about.
Attach links to your work or portfolio.
Write politely, and most importantly, sincerely – this is immediately noticeable. And it is also noticeable when it is a copy-paste mailing for several companies – it is unlikely that they will respond to this.

Thanks to social networks, I got a job at VKontakte — I wrote to the guys from the marketing department. At that time, they had no vacancies, but they offered to do a paid test. I wrote an article, which they published, but there were no new tasks for me. I came back a year later, but there was still no vacancy. Six months later, I tried again, and they hired me.

In addition to telling about yourself, you can come up with a small task and complete it. For example, a guy wrote to me who wanted to edit videos. He wrote a good letter, analyzed my videos and suggested improvements to the editing. Good reception! Just do not demand payment for the work done, because it was your initiative.

What to do if you don’t get a response

Check the status of the message – whether it was read or not. If yes, find out whether the employer is interested in your offer. Don’t be shy – perhaps the SMM specialist had a bad day and absentmindedly forgot to pass your message on to the manager.

If a few days have passed and the message has not been read, do not despair. Try using additional communication channels, such as email. If you still do not receive a response, then there is no position for you at the moment. But you can continue to follow the company on social networks so as not to miss vacancies.

Publish a post about job search

If you ‘re looking for a specific position and the company isn’t that important, write a job search post right on your profile.

What to write in a post

Tell us about your skills, experience, and what you expect from your future job.
Don’t limit yourself to a simple listing – this is not a resume, the post can be made more interesting and lively. For example, tell what you do in your free time, what you like most about your profession, what cool projects you have already completed.
Attach your photo.
Attach a link to your full resume/portfolio or specify that you are ready to send it upon request.

To increase your chances, post on several platforms – Facebook*, Instagram*, VKontakte. Ask your subscribers to repost – the more people see it, the higher the probability that someone will be interested in you.

I was looking for a job that would allow me to maintain a work-life balance. On the advice of a friend, I posted on Facebook*. At the same time, I was looking for vacancies on other resources. And so I go to an interview for a film producer at some store, look at my phone, and there is a stream of messages from a friend – she says, Olya Sidorova from Mail.Ru Group saw my post and is interested, now she will invite me to the office to talk. She really wrote, offered to meet, and I went right then. There, the boss of my dreams was waiting for me with a dream job – I was offered to lead a media project for young girls, and after two rounds of interviews, I became the editor-in-chief of Curious.

I still consider Facebook* one of the coolest tools for finding a job, especially in the media, because most of our colleagues and potential bosses are there. When your publication is reposted by a cool professional from this field, he automatically recommends you to others, as if guaranteeing that you are good. Therefore, many employers prefer this platform for finding employees.

Start a blog

A blog is not only a search for popularity, but also a way to demonstrate your professionalism. Thanks to a blog, an employer will see that you have the skills he needs and know how to present yourself.

Company executives may accidentally find your account and “hunt” you. Therefore, you should leave your contact information. In addition, the blog itself can bring additional income over time. If you fill the account with content, launch advertising and find a loyal audience, the investment will pay off.

How to start a blog

Think about your content plan: what knowledge you can share, how best to present it.
Look at how other bloggers design their accounts and collect references. Using them as a guide, you can create a visual for your profile.
Make a list of initial topics to avoid breaking the regularity of your posts. To start, you can tell what your profession is, what life hacks help, what new things you learn in your field.
Talk about your current work tasks and achievements. For example, if you work as a graphic designer, post your work so that your followers can see your knowledge in practice.

The most important thing is to calculate your strength. A blog requires a lot of time and psychological investment. You need to monitor the design, publish posts regularly, tell interesting stories and hold the attention of subscribers. It is better to work on a blog if you have enough time and energy to do side projects.