instructor: kevin niemi...the tools and tips you need to start building a successful personal brand...
TRANSCRIPT
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 1
Instructor: Kevin Niemi
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 1
The tools and tips you need to start building a successful personal brand online
Kevin Niemi◦ [email protected]
Background in Computer Science
and Business
Instructor at North Island College
in the Interactive Media and Graphic
Design program, for eCommerce and Web Technologies
Started KNMG Solutions to provide consulting and training on Social Media and IT
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 2
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 2
What is your name?
How comfortable are you with social media (Facebook and Twitter)?
Do you have a LinkedIn account?
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 3
Facebook and LinkedIn basics
Why is Social Media Important?◦ How what’s out there will affect you
Advanced Ideas◦ Privacy
◦ Best practices
Personal Marketing Strategies◦ Leverage your social media to find job opportunities
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 4
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 3
A social platform◦ Employers understand that Facebook is social, and
they expect to see personal content
◦ Your posts, your pictures, and the posts and pictures that your friends share about you create an overall impression
◦ They use this information to try to decide whether you will fit in with the company culture
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 5
A social platform◦ Company culture is different depending on the type
of company and job you are applying for
High tech companies tend to be young, fast paced and edgy
Banks and law offices tend to favour reserved and responsible attitudes
◦ No company is going to be impressed by bad spelling, unsocial comments and behaviour, negativity, etc.
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 6
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 4
Social Media “Rule of Thumb”
Would you post it on the lunch wall at work, or email it to your boss?◦ If the answer is no, then you shouldn’t post it or
share it online.
◦ Best to assume everything you share on social media will be public.
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 7
Overview and basics◦ Profile
◦ News feed
◦ Timeline
◦ Posts
◦ Messages
◦ Tagging
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 8
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 5
A professional networking site
Very important to create as complete a profile as possible
Roughly 90% of recruiters actively search for and research candidates through LinkedIn
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 9
Overview◦ Profile
◦ Connections
◦ Companies
◦ Groups
◦ Jobs
◦ Updates – the LinkedIn version of posts
Added to your activity in your profile, and shared to connections
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 10
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 6
For a complete profile, include at least the following:◦ Industry and postal code◦ A current position with description◦ Two more positions (past experience)◦ Education◦ At least five skills◦ Profile photo◦ At least 50 connections◦ A summary◦ Work samples or projects◦ Volunteer experience
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 11
Connections◦ Get started with a few key connections◦ Visit the ‘People you may know’ section
Suggests people to connect with from your current friend network
Activity Suggestions◦ Easy way to stay in touch with connections◦ Professional version of ‘happy birthdays’
Like, Comment and Share other people’s updates
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 12
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 7
Updates◦ Short blurbs about things happening in your life
Posts ◦ Essays or opinion articles
◦ Should be high quality
◦ Stay organized in a library for others to browse
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 13
Potential employers are searching social media before hiring◦ Over 50% of employers now search social media as
a standard practice when evaluating a potential employee
◦ How can candidates make this work to their advantage?
◦ How could this hurt their chances to land their dream job?
A candidates public profile acts as an informal cover letter
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 14
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 8
People Like Shortcuts (& recruiters are people)
Scenario:◦ Two equally qualified candidates apply for a job and
their resumes and cover letters are good
◦ Candidate A has a great social media presence: the hiring manager can see they have a good personality and their activities supports their application information
◦ Candidate B has no online presence
◦ Which candidate will be invited to an interview first?
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 15
Your public social media presence can either
support or discredit all the claims you
make on your resume and in your cover letter
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 16
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 9
You claim to be punctual, but your status updates regularly mention being late and disorganized
You claim to be ambitious and motivated, but your timeline is full of updates about how you just spent 3 hours playing Farmville, Candy Crush, or the latest fad time-waster
◦ A disconnect between your resume and social media presence casts doubt on everything you say.
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 17
You claim to be community minded, and your tagged in photos at charity fundraisers and community events
You claim to be a team player, and your profile shows you’re an active member of sport and social leagues and you coach a junior league team.
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 18
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 10
Begin a campaign of positive impressions◦ Post positive status updates that celebrate successes and
highlight the personality attributes employers would like to see
Edit the following:◦ Your photos◦ The pages you like◦ The groups you belong to◦ The apps you have installed◦ Untag yourself in ‘questionable’ content posted by friends (you
can’t remove content posted by others, but you can disassociate yourself from it)
This information can often be found even if you have your privacy settings restricted◦ Facebook privacy settings also change often enough that it can be
hard to keep up with them
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 19
Join groups and like pages for things that will reflect well on you from the perspective of a potential employer
Share status updates reflecting actions you are taking to improve your skills
Courses you are taking
Books you are reading
Personal goals you are achieving
“Like” and “Follow” companies you would potentially like to work for
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 20
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 11
Privacy Settings◦ It’s complicated
◦ It changes pretty regularly
◦ Don’t risk posting ‘questionable’ content
You can’t be certain who will see it
◦ Read the details here:
https://www.facebook.com/help/325807937506242/
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 21
Privacy Settings◦ Privacy Checkup
3 steps to set up basic privacy settings going forward
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 22
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 12
Privacy Settings◦ Use the “View as” functionality to see what you timeline
looks like to the public, or to a certain person
◦ Turn on Timeline review for everything
Allows you to review everything you’re tagged in, before it appears on your own timeline.
Does not stop the post from happening
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 23
None of these settings prevent information and photos about you from being shared online◦ Preventing yourself from being tagged in a photo
just makes it less likely to be found by a potential employer
◦ Best to be safe and minimize actions in public that will not be received well by prospective employers
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 24
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 13
Tips for Success
Be active◦ Home page
Share status updates and relevant posts
Use the ‘keep in touch’ box to like and comment on relevant milestones of your contacts
Follow Companies and Groups that relate to your desired career
Look at other people’s profiles to find interesting groups and companies to follow
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 25
Skills and Endorsements◦ Enter as many skills as is reasonable
◦ Similar to a resume – use skills relevant to your industry and desired job
◦ Your connections are then invited to ‘Endorse’ you for the skills you have picked
◦ Your skills typically appear in order of most to least endorsed
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 26
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 14
Skills and Endorsements◦ Only endorse people for skills you actually know they
have It can be considered ‘bad form’ to endorse everyone for
everything, and also to ask for endorsement from people who have never worked with you professionally
Recommendations◦ Written testimonials from your connections◦ Hold a lot of weight◦ Write a few for contacts whose services you’ve used◦ Okay to ask for recommendations, but only do so from
people who you have actually worked with professionally
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 27
Job Suggestions◦ Based on your skills and work experience, LinkedIn
will recommend job opportunities currently available
◦ Employers pay to advertise positions
Recruiters and hiring managers also actively mine LinkedIn to hire candidates directly
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 28
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 15
The advertized job market◦ 20% of jobs, 80% of searchers
The hidden job market◦ 80% of jobs, 20% of searchers
Which one holds more chance for success?
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 29
How do you find the hidden jobs?◦ They don’t appear by magic
Help people help you find them◦ Personal Branding
◦ Networking
◦ Informational Interviews
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 30
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 16
Personal Branding◦ Help people have a clear understanding of who you
are
◦ Talk about your interests, professional ambitions, projects you are working on and courses you are taking
◦ By having a few ‘defining characteristics’, you will more likely be ‘top of mind’ when a friend or associate hears about an opportunity
◦ Better chance of finding a job that is a unique fit for your strengths and personality
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 31
Personal Branding◦ Example. You:
have a passion for training your own dogs
participate in dog-related activities with other people
constantly sharing fun facts and tips with your friends about dog behaviour
Regularly share videos of your dogs doing cool tricks
announce to the world online that you’ve just completed your certification in canine obedience training
Ask if anyone knows of any job opportunities for dog training in your area.
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 32
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 17
Personal Branding◦ Result?
Your friends and connections know you’re passionate about dogs
They’re confident you’ll be a great fit with any companies that focus on dog training
You’ll be top of mind if anyone hears of any employment opportunities related to dog training
You may receive leads for opportunities you hadn’t even considered yourself:
E.g. your cousin runs into an old friend and finds out he’s on the marketing team for Kong Dog Toys. She mentions you love dogs and are trying to change careers to fit your passion. He mentions that his team might be expanding, and ask for your contact info…
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 33
Networking◦ Asking for help is scary, but very effective
◦ Don’t be afraid to put it out in the world that you are looking for new opportunities in a certain type of work.
◦ Be positive and focus on the skills or characteristics of the work that you’re interested in rather than specific job titles - people may know of opportunities you haven’t considered but would enjoy.
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 34
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 18
Facebook is primarily ‘social’, so be conscious of that when communicating◦ Don’t flood your friends’ Facebook news feeds with
requests for job leads. They will get annoyed.
LinkedIn is focused on professional life, so it’s appropriate here to be more focused on asking for opportunity leads
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 35
LinkedIn “Advanced Search” Strategy◦ Can search by 1st and 2nd connections
◦ Locations
◦ Current company
◦ Industry
◦ Past company
Great way to find opportunities for an introduction to someone who is in the field you want to be in
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 36
Social Media for Job Searching 2016-03-23
KNMG Solutions Ltd. 19
LinkedIn Advanced Search Strategy◦ Don’t fill in any basic information
◦ In the advanced area, search for 2nd connections in the company or industry you want to get a job in
◦ Ask the connection you have in common if they’d be willing to make an introduction
◦ Meet that person, add them as a 1st connection
◦ Rinse and repeat
Copyright 2015 KNMG Solutions 37