Earlier this month, Facebook announced that they want to help you find a job – I do NOT recommend this! Job Hunting and Social Media CAN be a good combination – read on to learn how to mix properly.
Social media CAN be a helpful tool when looking for a new job but I do not recommend using the Facebook community as it may compromise your privacy and possibly allows potential employers access to information that may not be ‘work’ appropriate.
Unless you are going to go back and scrape your FB account for any and all past posts and images that you do not want an employer to see, I think that you are better off just keeping your work life out of that personal account.
Professional networking is what LinkedIn was built for – use each platform for their intended purposes and you can have the freedom to post all the late night party photos you want on Facebook (and Instagram and Snapchat, etc) and still maintain a professional presence on LinkedIn.
Here is a quick rundown on how I suggest you use Facebook and LinkedIn.
I suggest using your:
Facebook Personal Page for keeping in touch with friends and family, posting your personal photos and for distractions such as cute animal videos and the like.
You can also directly follow any number of high quality news sources to get your news and commentary.
Be cognizant of your share settings – I suggest sharing with only ‘friends’ or even smaller custom groups if you are concerned with privacy.
Facebook Business Page for promoting your business and establishing your firms industry expertise.
Facebook Business pages can also be a trusted source of industry specific news. BRAND your content whenever possible and be sure that anything you post is set to share publicly. This increases visibility and allows others to amplify your content.
LinkedIn Personal Profile Page for BUSINESS networking, industry news and establishing your personal expertise.
Did I sufficiently emphasize that the content should be appropriate for BUSINESS colleagues? Yes, you can periodically post life events and content that is personal in nature, but it should only be things that you would share with professional colleagues or in a networking context. When in doubt, put it on FB, not LinkedIn.
I recommend sharing all LI posts to the public, to increase visibility and to allow for amplification but this depends on how you are using the tool. If necessary, you can post to ‘connections only’ or even use the tool to solely view content.
If you are a job seeker, THIS is where you should look for new positions. Ideally, you should build your network BEFORE you are job hunting so that you have a strong community in place – people who already know, like and trust you – to help you find that new job.
If you are able to, let your profile reflect, either in the heading or summary, that you are looking for a new position and ask people (via status updates and direct messages) for any leads or introductions. An active, professional network of friends and colleagues can be an invaluable resource when looking for a new job. Build that NOW if you have not already done so!
LinkedIn Business Page for promoting your business and establishing your firms industry expertise. LinkedIn Business pages can also be a source of industry specific news. Be sure that you BRAND your content and that anything you post is set to share publicly. This increases visibility and allows others to amplify your content.
If you need any further clarification or would like to create an effective plan for how YOU can use these various tools, please give me a call or message me here!
