6 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search

6 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search6 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job SearchSocial media isnt just for sharing vacation pics and pinning your favorite inspirational quotes on a virtual board. As a job landseeker, social media can be a very powerful method to helping you find a job. From networking to researching potential employers, there are a few smart ways to use social media in your job search.Here are six excellent ways to get a jump on your Internet image and use social media to your advantage in a job search1. Present a positive picture of yourself. Sure, social media can be hilarious for funny face swaps, but its also important to portray yourself in the most positive (and professional) light possible. Use your LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Facebookprofiles to create a convincing image of you as a very likeable- and hireable- personIf you have social media accounts already, go over them with a fine-toothed comb to make sure they are employer-appropriate. Delete or hide any old posts or photos that are questionable. Or go one step further and create separate profiles that represent your professional interests. As you proceed, consider everything you add to these accounts with an employers perspective in mind. The more thoughtful, knowledgeable, interesting, and above-board your Internet image is, the better.2. Research companies youd like to work for. Of course you can go straight to a companys website to get a sense of who they are and what they do. But also check out their social media profiles, and any other places you might find them on the web. Read their blogs, posts, and tweets to get a sense of the tone in which they are written, and their focus. You can learn a lot about a company by their daily, constantly changing social media messages- much more so than with a static web page. Keeping up with the company on social media can also come in handy should you be called in for a job interview, since youll have more current knowledge that you can reference.3. Showcase your skills. Once you have your professional social media profiles in place, its time to let yourself (and your skills) shine Just finished getting a new certification? Tweet about it in 140 characters or less Did you finish a pet project that relates to your career field? Instagram those pics and post them online Remember, you can use social media to notlage only look for a job or a company to connect with, but to also highlight those special skills, education, and experience that recruiters and hiring managers are looking for.4. Do some networking. Its all fine and good to be connected with everyone from your high school graduating class, but what about forming connections with people who can get you a job? While you can really use any social media channel to network, if done properly, LinkedIn can be a networking dream.So take the time to fill out your profile properly. Write personal notes to the people with whom youre connecting, rather than optin g for the standard Id like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. line that they offer you. The more personal you make your interactions on LinkedIn, the more youll get from it.5. Boost your professional knowledge. You can also use your social media profiles to increase your industry knowledge. While you can certainly learn something new from any social media channel, some, like Twitter, can be an amazing source of up-to-the-minute news and information for any industry you can think of. Simply search for terms that relate to you (your industry, job titles, etc.) and see what comes up. Follow people who regularly comment on your profession, and visit every day to see the latest news and peoples opinions of it.6. Do some personal sleuthing. The overwhelming majority of employers regularly go online to research potential employees. Thats why job seekers should make it a point to Google themselves to see what might come up in the search results. Enter your name and also vers ions of it, including nicknames and/or common misspellings of your name. You should even Google your maiden and married name if youre a female job seeker. If you find anything erroneous or egregious, try to fix the issue before a potential employer spots it. That way, youll hopefully have something professional and relevant pop up as soon as an employer Googles your name.Jennifer Parris contributed to this post.