Be Strategic, Be Smart: Tips on Using Social Media While Job Searching
North Carolina Central University School of Law’s Success and Careers blog recently featured a guest post from Tara Rethore on leveraging social media to manage your law career. If her name sounds familiar, it’s may be because Rethore did a well-received presentation at this year’s Equal Justice Works Conference called “Social Media Tools for Public Interest Law Professionals“. If you missed it, no worries – check out a sampling of her tips on how to use social media as an effective job searching tool:
Everyone looks for a job – at least once – and it can be frustrating! Lately, new tools and technology have changed the look and feel of job search. Nevertheless, whether you have searched in this century or the last one, the fundamentals of job search remain the same:
- Tell a compelling story – résumé and positioning statements are just the start
- Fit with the organization’s culture – if it isn’t right, it isn’t right!
- Interact with and engage with others – real people take decisions, not technology
That said, social media offers new – and potentially, very powerful – tools for managing your law career. It’s also an opportunity for employers to learn more about you, perhaps in ways you never intended. For some, that means rethinking how you use social media. For others, it means rethinking how you manage your career.How? Be strategic. Be smart.Be Strategic:There are many online tools to support your job search. Some are akin to job boards – essentially, online classified ads that let you search for specific opportunities (e.g. Monster, Indeed.com, CareerBuilder). Other tools emphasize interactive or social connections (e.g. YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+); these can also be incredibly useful for job search – but only if you use them strategically:
- Choose what you use – Which site is best for your preferred career?
- Know why you are using it – What’s your objective? How will you leverage this tool?
- Stay on message – What do your profile and interactions say about your qualifications?
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Be Smart:In any job search, be proactive rather than waiting for jobs to come to you. That requires connecting with real people. During a job search, how and why you connect also matters. With social media, your choices become far more visible to prospective employers. It also creates opportunities to show your interest and highlight your expertise. Five steps to connect with others effectively, particularly on LinkedIn:Be mindful of the image you present above the fold (Click ‘Profile’ to edit or view)
- Ensure your tag line, the information in the grey box, and summary reflect your positioning statement
- Update your status at least weekly – be professional and target your audience
- Worry less about chronology – be truthful, but your LinkedIn profile must be more than an online resume
- Adjust sections to highlight your most important attributes – for your next job
To read the full article, visit NCCU Law’s Success and Careers blog.