how to use social media to market yourself and land your dream job

How to use Social Media to market yourself and land

your dream job

Guest Lecture at IT Tralee

Delivered by Evan Mangan

Jan 20th 2016

Lots of people post updates on Facebook that they shouldn’t

There used to be a site (weknowwhatyouredoing.com ) that showed all

the latest posts that people shouldn’t be posting but it was taken down

People tweet stuff they shouldn’t

It’s easy to quickly check someone’s account to see what they’re tweeting

It’s easy to quickly check someone’s account to see who they are following ie what they are interested in

What do employers do when recruiting staff?

They look at your

•Education

•Qualifications

•Word Experience

•References

But their big questions is …

Would you be a good fit?

Are you really who you say you

are in your CV and in the

interview?

Recruiting the wrong person is

costly for a company,

In the old days (pre 2005)

employers were largely

dependant on references..

Now …

Now they simply check your digital footprint

Now with a few quick searches

they can get a much more

rounded understanding of “the

real you”

Your digital footprint i.e. your

online presence tells the real story

about you.

Not just the you you are trying to

project in your CV and interview.

There are two parts to your digital footprint

Shadows:

Are what other people share

about you

•FB posts that mention you

•Social media images that you are

tagged in

•Articles that mention you

There are two parts to your digital footprint

Footprints

Are what you share about yourself

•Your social media profiles

•Your social media updates

•Your blog posts

•Your images

•Your comments on sites eg.

thejournal.ie

Shadows and footprints show the real you

By having a quick look at

shadows and footprints,

employers are now able to build a

picture of the real you.

Depending on what you have

shared or what people have

shared about you, it might be a

picture that you don’t want them

to see.

Do employers use Social media for vetting?

It might be tempting to think

that employers don’t really go

to the trouble of searching

about you ….

There are lots of studies which

show that employers are using

social media to screen / vet

potential recruits

Source: Reppler

At which phase of the recruitment process?

Source: Reppler

Do they reject candidates based on what they see

Source: Reppler

What turned them off the candidate

Source: Reppler

What prompted them to hire the candidate

Source: Reppler

So - What should you do?

Realise that …

You Are A Brand

And What Kind Of Brand Do You Want Employers To See?

or

Your Action Plan

2. Audit and

clean up your

online brand

3. Create a brand

that will attract

employers

1. Understand

how employers

check your

footprint

Step 1: Understand how employers

check your footprint

Step 1: Understand how employers check your footprint

Employers will

•Use a “people” search engine to find

your accounts, blog, comments

•Google your name, email address,

mobile number

•Google your name, town / school

•Google your name + Facebook, or

Twitter or Instagram

•Search for you on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, Linkedin to see your

updates

•Search for you on Twitter using your

email address

•Check what kind of accounts you are

following on Twitter and Instagram

Step 2: Audit your own footprint


Search for your name on Yasni.com

It will throw up accounts on FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogs, newspaper

mentions, website comments plus lots more.


Search for your name on Google. Look at web, image and news results

Repeat the search using your name and your town

Repeat the search using your name and your school

Repeat the search using your name and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram


Are there Google results appearing on

page 1 that you wouldn’t want

employers to find?

1. Can you approach the website owner

and ask them to remove it?

2. Push the results down to page 2 by

creating your own pages / profiles in

your name eg.

• Buy your domain name and put a blog

on it.

• Write blog posts and put your name in

the page meta ttile

• Create a linkedin profile and customise

the url with your name

• Get a Twitter account with your name

• Create a Google +account


Also be aware of the “Right to be

forgotten” directive.

If you can demonstrate to Google

that the search listing is “irrelevant,

outdated or inappropriate” you can

apply to have it removed in EU

search results.

How?

1. Use a service like forget.me to

manage the application process

2. Or apply directly using this link

https://support.google.com/legal/

contact/lr_eudpa?product=webs

earch

https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_eudpa?product=websearch




Have you been using your Twitter

account for personal tweets and are

there tweets that you wouldn’t want

employers to see?

1. In settings change your @username

from your real name to a nickname

2. In settings, disable the ability for

people to find you using your email

3. Review your profile description.

4. Use advanced search and delete any

inappropriate tweets

5. Look at all the accounts you are

following and un-follow any accounts

you wouldn’t want employers to see

you following.

https://twitter.com/kaamilaa_14


5. How to remove yourself from a

photo tag

If someone tags you in a photo and you

want to remove yourself, tap into the

detail view of the tweet, and then tap the

ellipsis (…) and select "Remove tag from

photo."

You can also stop an account from

tagging you by blocking the user. If you

do so, your tagged name or username

will no longer be shown on the photo.


Ensure your FB privacy is locked down

You want to ensure that if an employer

finds your FB profile they

•Cannot see your posts

•Cannot see your photos

•Cannot see posts that you are tagged in

•Cannot see your friends.

•Therefore, go to your settings on

Facebook and then edit your privacy

settings so that only your friends can see

these

•Also go to the about section of your

profile and manually change who can see

your info.


Are there photos / videos on your

Instagram account that you wouldn’t

want employers to see?

1. In settings change your @username

from your real name to a nickname

2. In settings change the visibility of your

photos / videos to private – now they

won’t appear in search and won’t be

visible to people viewing your profile

3. Delete any inappropriate photos

4. Look at all the accounts you are

following and un-follow any accounts

you wouldn’t want employers to see

you following.


5. Have you been tagged in photos?

Photos other people tag you in appear

on your profile. You can

choose to manually or

automatically include thesephotos on

your profile.


6. How to remove yourself from a

photo tag

Tap on the photo

Tap your name

Tap More Options > Remove Me from

Photo


Ensure you are continuously

monitoring your online mentions

Setup alerts for your name using tools

like

•http://www.talkwalker.com/alerts

•https://www.google.ie/alerts

•http://topsy.com/

•https://en.mention.com/

Step 3: Proactively Build your brand


When you are seeking a job you are in

a competitive market.

You need to think of it in terms of

marketing a product. Employers get lots

of applicants and most of them are very

similar. What is going to

•Differentiate you from the other

candidates?

•Make employers realise that you are the

obvious choice for the job?


Decide what category of job you want

eg.

•Digital marketing

•Web design

•TV

•Computing

•Programming

And then position yourself as passionate

and knowledgeable about the topic.

This will differentiate you from the vast

majority of candidates. You’ll be a purple

cow

How do you do this? Read Purple Cow by Seth Godin


Keep up to date

For example, if you want a job in digital

marketing /need to keep up to date with

what’s happening in this area – the latest

trends, tactics, changes to platforms etc.

How?

•Create lists in Twitter

•Subscribe to other people’s lists

•Follow industry leading blogs on

Facebook

•Join industry groups on Linkedin


Create your own blog

•If you haven’t already, buy a domain

name – ideally yourname.com or .ie

•Get a very professional looking premium

theme from themeforest.net for around

$50 and setup a blog

What to blog about?

•You don’t have to write opinion pieces

•Write “how to” guides

•Create tutorial “how to” videos

(For inspiration search for blog posts on

buzzsumo.com)

This content will position you as

knowledgeable and employers will see

it when you apply for a job


Put your CV on your website / blog

•Add your CV to your site eg.

Yourname.com/cv . You can keep this as

a direct link if you wish i.e only people

with the url can access it.

•Add multimedia elements to this CV eg

your portfolio, projects, videos

•When you apply for jobs tell employers

about your online CV – they will then

also see your blog posts.


Use Twitter to build your reputation

•Tweet links to your blog posts

•Retweet quality content

•Then set yourself a goal of getting a

thousand followers – people who are

interested in the topic you are tweeting

about. How?

• By getting retweets

• Following the followers of related

accounts (but use

manageflitter.com to manage your

following / followers ratio)


Then Use Twitter to build relationships

•When you have built up your followers and

a history of sharing great content, build

relationships with potential employers.

How?

•Find / Connect with people on Linkedin, and

search for them on Twitter. (tip - get their

email address from linkedin )

•Put them in a list and keep up with what

they are doing on Twitter.

•Get on their radar by following them,

retweeting, liking or replying to their tweets

(occasionally)

They will eventually follow you and will see

your tweets and your blog posts.


Ensure your Twitter account appears

prominently on your CV and on your

Linkedin profile

When you apply for a job, reference that

you are so interested in this area that you

have a blog and that you have built a

following on Twitter. Suggest that they

check out your Twitter account.

When employers see an account with a

thousand followers and you actively

sharing the latest trends / news / tips in

this sector, you will immediately

differentiate yourself from most other

candidates.


Get the basics right on your Linkedin

profile

When employers Google your name they

will definitely look at your Linkedin

profile.so you have to get the basics right

•Upload an appropriate cover photo

•Upload a business style profile photo

•Write a great Summary section – this is

your 30 second elevator pitch

•Don’t just list work experience – go into

detail about what your responsibilities

were and also objectives / results

•List all your qualifications

•Add the skills that you want to be

recruited for.


Then take your profile to the next level

to differentiate you

•Embed a video on your profile – a 60

second overview of your skills,

qualifications, your blog, some sound

bites from lecturers

•Embed your portfolio (images / videos /

slideshare)

•Request recommendations from

lecturers and previous employers.

•Get endorsements for your skills –

endorse other people

•Prominently reference your blog and

your Twitter account. Also list them in

the contact section.


Then build your linkedin Network

•Connect with peers, lecturers, past

employers, alumni, potential employers.

•Use advanced search and also look at

your connections connections.

DO NOT send the template text when

asking to connect – write something

different that shows you genuinely want

to connect.


Then post updates which go into the

newsfeeds of your connections

•Post links to your blog articles

•Write posts on Linkedin’s blogging

platform to get a wider network

•Share interesting posts from Pulse

This means your connections, which

includes potential employers are now

exposed to your personal brand and

will see you as knowledgeable /

passionate about the sector


Then become active in Linkedin

groups

•Join groups to keep up to speed on what

is happening in your area

•Post links to your blog articles

•Answer questions and get involved in

conversations

This activity will feed through to your

connections newsfeeds.

This means your connections, which

includes potential employers are now

exposed to your personal brand and

will see you as knowledgeable /

passionate about the sector.


Understand how to use Linkedin Jobs

section

Understand how to search for jobs and

how to create a job alert.


Be consistent across all networks

For all your social media accounts that you

want to be found when people search for you

•Use the same photo

•Use the same username

•Use the same profile description

•Cross link your social media accounts so

people can see what you’re sharing on other

platforms.


Are there specific people you’d like to

get a job with?

Consider some clever ways to advertise

yourself in order to get noticed by these

people


Alec Brownstein – The Google job experiment

He setup Google ads on 5 people's names... getting interviews with 4 of

them... job offers from 2... All for $6 in Google AdWords spending.


Ian Greenleigh – Used Facebook ads to get a job

Ian targeted marketing managers in his area. Quickly, his weekly job

rejections turned into interviews, including one with his dream employer–

Bazaarvoice. His dream job interview produced a job offer


You could advertise to your Linkedin

connections in their Facebook

newsfeed.

How?

1. Connect with potential employers on

Linkedin

2. Download your Linkedin connections

to excel – including their email

address

3. Upload the email addresses to

Facebook as a custom audience and

Facebook will match against email

addresses used to setup profiles

4. Target that custom audience with a

promoted post

How to target your Linkedin Connections

1. Login to your Linkedin account

2. Under “connections” click on Keep

in touch

3. On the connections page click on

the wheel near the top right


4. Click on the option for export Linkedin

connections

5. Select the option for download as

CSV file

6. Open the CSV file and you will see a

column which contains email

addresses for your connections


7. In Facebook, go to Ads manager and

on the top right click on create

audience. Select Custom audience

8. Then select customer list


9. Select the option for copy and paste

your email list

10. Highlight all the email addresses in

your csv file , right click and select

copy and then paste it into the box

and click create list


11. Give your audience a name eg.

“Your Linkedin connections” and

click Next

Your list will be created within 30 – 60

minutes of processing and will be

available to use when targeting your

campaigns

In Summary

1. Get the basics right

Audit your footprint – is it messy?

Clean it up if it needs cleaning

In summary

If you still insist on “being yourself” then

ensure

• You change all your usernames to

nicknames

•Ensure your social media accounts are

impossible to find using your email, mobile

number etc.

•Constantly monitor if these are coming up

when people search for you

But really, it’s time to start building your

professional brand.

Ditch the Walter White brand

In Summary

2. Don’t think that building your

brand, blogging, tweeting is just

more work

The right career path will bring you

1. Years of job satisfaction

2. More financial security in life

If you get on the right career path, by

the age of 30 it could be worth an

extra €20K in your salary per annum.

Over 20 years that could be €400K

You might never get a better chance than now

how to use social media to market yourself and land your dream job

Recruiting & HR