A Job Seeker’s Guide to Becoming a Social Media Superstar
When was the last time you checked your social media profiles? Is your LinkedIn account updated with your latest achievements and skills? And can anyone see all your pictures on Facebook? Social media has rooted its way into many parts of our lives, and the job search is no exception. We asked IBMers for their top advice on navigating social media to stand out in all the right ways during the job search. Here’s what they had to say!
Manage your Online Footprint
“Be active on LinkedIn and Twitter. But it’s not just about blindly re-sharing content. Add your perspective. Question assumptions. Invite debate and feedback. Show that you’re going beyond just the surface level.”
Husein Shamshudin, Senior Manager, IBM Data and AI Development
“Connect with IBM on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.”
Yolanda Hernandez, Systems & Network Administrator
“Work on your digital footprint on LinkedIn and make meaningful connections that can help elevate your work. The people hiring you have no way of knowing your work otherwise.”
Thayna Bustamante de Oliveira, Business Analyst
If You Must Choose One to Master, Make it LinkedIn
“Recruiters LOVE seeing robust LinkedIn profiles. It helps to better understand you as a candidate and determine whether your skill set fits the roles they are recruiting for. But, don’t just regurgitate your job description. Make it personal, include your key skills (especially ones that are hot in the market), talk about special projects and responsibilities, your personal impact, and quantify whatever you can because numbers can speak for themselves. Do a little research about jobs you are interested in and think about what a recruiter would want to see on a profile when searching for a candidate. Recruiters search LI by key terms.
Additionally, in the “career interests” section on the dashboard of your profile, fill out as much as you possibly can. This includes locations you are open to relocating to – this will make you appear in location-specific searches. Writing a brief note explaining your current situation, interests, or anything you want recruiters to know is super helpful. Listing multiple job titles you are interested in can help a recruiter understand what direction you want your career to go in.”
Rebecca Labinger, Talent Acquisition Strategic Sourcer
Create Quality Content
“Keep it personal. You are not trying to get noticed by IBM, you are trying to get noticed by IBMers. Seek out IBMers, learn what topics they have interests in, find the overlaps with your interest areas, and then start a conversation.”
Bradley Holt, Program Director, Qiskit Developer Advocacy, IBM Q
“Don’t be afraid to be a parrot. If there is a topic that comes up over and over again from the company you want to join, brush up on it, post about it, try to do something in that space, and add it to your resume. Any recruiter will want to make sure that you can add value to what is important to the company.”
Fahd Osman, Head of Digital and Brand Leader
“Be consistent and constant on social media about IBM and general technology topics. Choose a platform that best suits you and find IBMers on that platform to interact and collaborate with.”
Emily Supil, Business Intelligence Lead
Network, network, network!
“Networking both in and out. Be active in the social channel sharing your technical expertise.”
Angie Krackeler, Global Developer Advocacy Program Leader
“Be assertive in your networking efforts, but be polite and respectful of people’s time.”
Bradley Holt, Program Director, Qiskit Developer Advocacy, IBM Q
