FutureLearn Blog
Active Member
In this guest post, Safeera from Hotcourses shares her tips on making sure your social media is fit for employers.
You’ve brushed up your CV, practiced your answers to those tough interview questions and have prepared your own to ask at the end of your interview. By anyone’s standards, you’re pretty set to go. But have you thought about giving you social media a quick glance?
Last year recruiting software company Jobvite revealed that one third of all recruiters use social media to select candidates. As this becomes a popular way to screen potential employees, you may want to spend some time ensuring your profiles are employer-friendly.
Facebook
Facebook remains a firm favourite among employers. People who hardly pay attention to those privacy settings are inviting recruiters in to pry into their private lives before they’ve even met them.
We’re not saying you should tailor your Facebook profile to suit recruiters, but that photo of you on that wild hen weekend may be better placed in a private album. Be sure to scroll through your timeline and be sure that there isn’t anything on there that you wouldn’t want future employers to read or see. If you want to fully proof your profile then checking what your friends have tagged you may be worth those extra few minutes. If you don’t fancy scrolling through every part of your profile, then why not simply change the privacy settings on your profile so that no posts are visible to the public?
Twitter
We love Twitter. There is so much opportunity on this social network. You can connect with peers, have a sneak peek into what’s happening through their ever changing trends and you can openly rant and rave. Just be aware that ranting and obscene language can build up an image in your employer’s head prior to the interview. If your profile is open, you may want to use this opportunity to shine rather than channel any kind of negativity. Spruce your account up with a nice header image and profile picture and take the time to curate a catchy biography.
LinkedIn
This is probably the second most popular social network employers will refer to when doing their research on you. Treat this as you would your own CV. You want to be sure that you have all your achievements, additional training and development and job responsibilities properly documented. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to add things like voluntary work and also testimonials from your connections too which gives employers great insight into what it’s like working with you. If you don’t have a blog, their Pulse feature allows you to publish posts which can be a great way to showcase your enthusiasm and knowledge over the area you’re interested in finding work in. Aim to get your profile to an ‘All-star’ status.
Instagram
This won’t tell employers much about your working endeavours but it’s definitely another social network that can be used to build up a picture of the type of person you are. For creatives this a great way to show off how you curate content and images. You can definitely get a sense of your personality through an overall profile.
Your own blog
A blog is not only a wonderful passion project to dedicate your time to; it’s an effective tool when it comes to applying for jobs. Be sure to include a link to your blog where you can; whether it’s your CV or on your social networking profiles. You’re really able to express yourself through a blog and show your knowledge in a particular subject. If you’re seeking a job that involves writing then this is a great way to build up your own portfolio as well as expand your network. Not only does it show employers that you’re passionate about the subject you’re writing about, it demonstrates other admirable qualities like commitment and innovation.
Brush up your knowledge with social media courses on Hotcourses today.
Or if you’re looking for job advice check out our Improve your Job Prospects collection.
The post How can you make sure your social media doesn’t stop you getting that job? appeared first on FutureLearn.
Continue reading...
You’ve brushed up your CV, practiced your answers to those tough interview questions and have prepared your own to ask at the end of your interview. By anyone’s standards, you’re pretty set to go. But have you thought about giving you social media a quick glance?
Last year recruiting software company Jobvite revealed that one third of all recruiters use social media to select candidates. As this becomes a popular way to screen potential employees, you may want to spend some time ensuring your profiles are employer-friendly.
Facebook remains a firm favourite among employers. People who hardly pay attention to those privacy settings are inviting recruiters in to pry into their private lives before they’ve even met them.
We’re not saying you should tailor your Facebook profile to suit recruiters, but that photo of you on that wild hen weekend may be better placed in a private album. Be sure to scroll through your timeline and be sure that there isn’t anything on there that you wouldn’t want future employers to read or see. If you want to fully proof your profile then checking what your friends have tagged you may be worth those extra few minutes. If you don’t fancy scrolling through every part of your profile, then why not simply change the privacy settings on your profile so that no posts are visible to the public?
We love Twitter. There is so much opportunity on this social network. You can connect with peers, have a sneak peek into what’s happening through their ever changing trends and you can openly rant and rave. Just be aware that ranting and obscene language can build up an image in your employer’s head prior to the interview. If your profile is open, you may want to use this opportunity to shine rather than channel any kind of negativity. Spruce your account up with a nice header image and profile picture and take the time to curate a catchy biography.
This is probably the second most popular social network employers will refer to when doing their research on you. Treat this as you would your own CV. You want to be sure that you have all your achievements, additional training and development and job responsibilities properly documented. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to add things like voluntary work and also testimonials from your connections too which gives employers great insight into what it’s like working with you. If you don’t have a blog, their Pulse feature allows you to publish posts which can be a great way to showcase your enthusiasm and knowledge over the area you’re interested in finding work in. Aim to get your profile to an ‘All-star’ status.
This won’t tell employers much about your working endeavours but it’s definitely another social network that can be used to build up a picture of the type of person you are. For creatives this a great way to show off how you curate content and images. You can definitely get a sense of your personality through an overall profile.
Your own blog
A blog is not only a wonderful passion project to dedicate your time to; it’s an effective tool when it comes to applying for jobs. Be sure to include a link to your blog where you can; whether it’s your CV or on your social networking profiles. You’re really able to express yourself through a blog and show your knowledge in a particular subject. If you’re seeking a job that involves writing then this is a great way to build up your own portfolio as well as expand your network. Not only does it show employers that you’re passionate about the subject you’re writing about, it demonstrates other admirable qualities like commitment and innovation.
Brush up your knowledge with social media courses on Hotcourses today.
Or if you’re looking for job advice check out our Improve your Job Prospects collection.
The post How can you make sure your social media doesn’t stop you getting that job? appeared first on FutureLearn.
Continue reading...
