Using Social Media to Enhance Your Career

This newsletter is dedicated to leveraging social media to enhance your visibility, attract recruiters, and advance your career. Being discovered by recruiters on social media brings many benefits: it boosts your visibility and networking opportunities, showcases your skills, validates your credibility, opens doors to exclusive job opportunities, supports career growth, helps build a personal brand, and keeps you updated on industry trends. 

Here are key actions that can quickly make an impact. 

1. Keyword optimize your LinkedIn profile 

Keywords impact whether recruiters will ever find your profile. They also influence how  you’re ranked when you apply to job postings on LinkedIn.  

It’s important to understand how keywords boost your visibility in LinkedIn search results – its search functionality doesn’t interpret keywords in the way that Google does, meaning your profile either contains the exact keywords used in a search and will be shown in the search results; or it won’t appear in the search results at all, even if you have many similar and associated keywords on your profile. By strategically placing industry-specific keywords throughout your profile, you increase the likelihood of appearing in searches conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. This gives you a better shot at being seen as a top candidate in your field. The more frequently your profile appears in these searches, the more connections and notifications of opportunities you’ll receive. 

The key here is to incorporate keywords into your LinkedIn profile without making your profile seem keyword-stuffed. A good source of inspiration for keywords to include comes from job listings, where recruiters often list the skills and experience their ideal candidate would have. Look at multiple job listings and use these "must have" criteria as an ideas bank of keywords you should try to include (obviously, without misrepresenting yourself). 

Here are some strategies to integrate keywords seamlessly, while still presenting a substantive and engaging profile:  

Craft a compelling summary 

Your summary is a prime spot for keywords but should also tell a compelling story. Instead of listing skills, weave them into a narrative about your career journey, achievements, and goals. 

Detail your experience 

When describing your past roles, mention how you used your skills to achieve specific outcomes. This will result in you including keywords naturally and also giving concrete examples of your expertise.  

Endorsements and recommendations 

Encourage colleagues and supervisors to endorse your skills and write recommendations. This third-party validation includes keywords relevant to your skills, reinforcing your credibility without you having to overly self-promote. 

Professional headline 

Your headline should be concise, include key terms, and summarize your professional identity. For example: 

"Experienced Software Developer specializing in AI, Machine Learning, and Scalable Solutions." 

Skills section 

Use this section to list your key competencies, ensuring they align with the keywords you've included throughout your profile. This section can house many keywords without disrupting the flow of your narrative sections. 

By thoughtfully integrating keywords into these areas, you ensure your LinkedIn profile is search-friendly and rich in content that effectively tells your professional story.   

2. Be proactive in networking with others in your field 

Expanding your network with industry-specific contacts is another way to increase your visibility.This is because if two people conduct the exact same LinkedIn search, they will each be presented with search results that are most relevant to them based on the make-up of their respective LinkedIn networks. 

It then stands to reason that, the more connections you have in the industry and location you’re targeting, the more frequently you will appear near the top of search results. Building a tailored network of connections on LinkedIn will therefore help you rank higher in the search results of more recruiters. 

Here are three simple ways you can find people to network with: 

Utilize LinkedIn's 'People you may know' 

This feature recommends connections based on your current contacts, industry, and interests. Reviewing these suggestions regularly can introduce you to potential valuable connections that you might not have found on your own. 

Leverage alum networks 

Your educational background can be a rich source of networking opportunities. Connect with alumni from your university or college, especially those in your industry. Alums are often willing to help fellow graduates; this common ground can be a great conversation starter. 

Create a “hit list” of target companies 

You probably have an idea of some of the companies you would aspire to join, so use LinkedIn’s people search to find 2nd degree contacts at those companies - and then get out of your comfort zone and approach them with a connection request. 

By strategically using these methods, you can build a robust network on LinkedIn that enhances your visibility and opens up new career opportunities. 

3. Consider how you come across on social media  

Your LinkedIn profile should be professionally written, with a good, up-to-date profile photo and wording that conveys your expertise and a bit of personality. 

Social media also allows you to establish yourself as a thought leader by sharing relevant content such as industry news, interviews, and reports. Depending on your field of expertise and interest, this can showcase your profile and help you stay top-of-mind with recruiters. 

What you engage with and the comments you post also leave a trail of insights about you. It's worth reviewing your past social media activities to ensure nothing overly political or confrontational might deter a would-be employer. 

4. Utilize peer validation 

When former colleagues, business partners and clients have written recommendations about you, your LinkedIn profile becomes more persuasive and more likely to generate interview requests. 

So, take a moment to contact a few former colleagues, classmates, partners and clients to see if they'd be willing to add some social proof to your profile. Suggesting a couple of things you’re keen to achieve with your recommendations can also help the other person to write a recommendation more easily - and for the resulting recommendation to be aligned with what you would ideally have liked it to say! 

5. Join and participate in relevant industry groups 

One final way to use social media to enhance your visibility is by joining and actively participating in relevant industry groups. LinkedIn hosts a multitude of professional groups where members share insights, job openings, and advice related to specific industries or roles.  

Not all are active, so the trick here is to invest a bit of time up front to uncover those that really are active enough to be worth joining. Having done that, by becoming an active member of these groups, you can stay informed about the latest trends and opportunities in your field, showcase your expertise by contributing valuable comments and posts, and make meaningful connections with other professionals. This proactive engagement bolsters your visibility among industry insiders and displays your commitment and enthusiasm for your chosen career to potential employers. 

Final thoughts  

As this newsletter edition has hopefully conveyed, there is a lot you can proactively do to ensure that social media helps elevate your profile. These tactics will help you stand out, ensuring that you are well-positioned to be discovered by recruiters and win them over when opportunities arise. 

Remember, social media is a significant element of modern recruitment processes, so it's crucial to consider your interactions and privacy settings across all platforms to maintain a professional and appealing online presence. 

Please do add a comment if you think these tips could be helpful to other people in your network (and that’ll help it to be seen more widely). Thanks and all the best. 

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