How Social Media Can Help You Find A Job

Steve Nicholls, author of Social Media in Business, explains how to work every room in the country without leaving your couch.

With employment levels at 7.9% it is critical to call in all favors, work all rooms and use all tools available to get people back to work.  In the age of the Internet revolution, Social media has actually become a critical, if not primary way for employers and job seekers to connect. However, be careful, because while social media makes it easier for job seekers to find employers, it is also easier for them to find you.   

Steve Nicholls, author of Social Media in Business, international speaker, and social media strategist offers the following tips that will help you use social media to your advantage, connect you to the right people and help you find the right job.   

1.  GOOGLE YOURSELF: If your resume has piqued their interest, the first thing they will do is GoogleSo Google yourself to see what they will see. If there isn’t enough about you, creating valuable content is your next step. If there are Spring break pictures everywhere then it may be advisable to disable some links and increase your privacy settings, and make available the more professional information about you.
2. GET YOUR NAME TO THE TOP ON LINKEDIN SEARCHES: LinkedIn is the primary social media site forWhen an employer does a search for job candidates, the most robust profiles will come up first.  It is crucial to get to the top of that list.  Start with the obvious – a complete profile that lists all your skills and that has a professional photo.  Join LinkedIn Groups that pertain to your field and within those groups, participate in the discussions and spot individuals who may be able to help you. Be helpful to others by posting comments, providing answers, and bringing new content so that they can, in turn, be helpful to you. Reach out to your most important friends and ask for recommendations about your work.
3. JOINING FACEBOOK ISN’T ENOUGH; BE ACTIVE:  Proud of yourself because you created a profile? Settle down, even your grandmother is on it. Use Facebook to stay in touch with as many people you know and engage inYou can work every room in your city without moving from your couch.  Again, being cautious with content on your page is important — keep Spring break in your minds and hearts but not your profile. Being active and ‘liking’ others’ posts is equally important because what goes around comes around and they will promote you too. 
4. MAXIMIZE TWITTER JOB FEEDS AND STAND NEXT TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE:  Sign up for all the job feeds in your industry and you will get real time updates of job openings no matter where youYou can also follow the organizations you are interested in professionally, find out who they are following, and follow them too.  These associations will make you look good.  Tweeting and being active with re-tweets are ways to demonstrate your intelligence and to enlarge your number of followers to boost your profile.
5. USE FREELANCE PLATFORMS: Elance, Odesk, Mechanical Turk and Fiverr.com among others will help you find freelance projects until your dream job comes to fruition. Doing so will not only line your pockets, but will enhance your resume, create more connections and brighten your
6. NEXT GENERATION SOCIAL MEDIA SITES: Use newer social media platforms like Foursquare, Pinterest and though not new, YouTube, to share your ideas and show your creativity – this will also allow you to furthermore increase your online exposure.
7. CREATE YOUR OWN BLOG:  Since you are unemployed and have the time, create your ownGoing back to No. 1 above, if you lack content online, this will help you to add some and make you more visible to potential employers.  If done right, it will serve as a platform to showcase your skills and impress.  

About Steve Nicholls

Steve Nicholls is the author of the best-selling Social Media in Business, international speaker, and social media strategist who helps business executives implement a winning social media strategy into their organization.  

Steve grows client revenue dollars by millions with his proven approach that social media needs to be implemented at the senior level and integrated into the DNA of the entire organization.  Steve tailors social media strategy to help companies maximize benefits while identifying and mitigating risks. 

Steve has designed and implemented advanced Internet applications for many leading global organizations including British Telecom, Ciena Corp., Capitol One, Arise, GSK, John Laing and NSPCC, among many others.  He has been featured as a social media expert in CNN, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, BBC, among many others. 

As a former business executive, Steve is unique among social media experts in his ability to bridge the language gap between those developing new technology and the senior executives who need to implement them to keep their company’s competitive edge.

After beginning his career as a project manager in skyscraper construction, Steve earned his MBA at Henley Business School in 1992 and his Masters of Science in Organizational Development and NLP from the University of Portsmouth in 2008.  His background as a project manager, combined with his extensive experience in the business and technology industries, has given him the unique ability to help companies lay their own blueprint for social media success.