Using Social Networks to Your Advantage

Posted December 20, 2013 & filed under Interviewing, Job Search, References

When job seekers are in the interview process, social networks can be a critical tool to their advantage. If you have an upcoming interview, you can still spend time with your typical social network activities (uploading pictures, writing creative status updates, and chatting with friends) but you should also make sure to balance that out with job related searches.

LinkedIn is the main social networking site that comes to mind when people think of the professional sphere. Recruiters use LinkedIn for candidates and testimonials and job seekers can use it to show off their resume and look for job openings. But professional social networking doesn’t have to be limited to LinkedIn. Facebook and Twitter may not strictly be used as professional social networks but they can be more than just your source for celebrity updates and pop culture trends if you know how to use them.

Many companies have Facebook and Twitter accounts, as do their hiring managers and employees. With a simple search of the company, you can begin to dig for further information on the business, the company culture, and even the employees you will be interacting with regularly.

• When you search for the company…

• Look for product promotions, new additions to the company, and fun cultural events to give you a better picture of the company.
• Identify executives (VP, CEO, etc.), HR professionals, and employees in your department so you can connect a face with the name.

• When you search for managers and employees..

• Use Facebook’s search engine to look for people in your area who work at that company.
• Once you find someone, go to his/her page to find out any vital information. Don’t add them as a friend, send a message, or do anything else that can be misconstrued as creepy. The point is to get insider information to use to your advantage.
• If they have public status updates, quickly scan them to see if any of are about the company or his/her role in general. Check for positive and negative statuses. REMEMBER: No matter what you see about the company, good or bad, take it with a grain of salt. Don’t automatically get excited or disappointed from one post.
• Check out as many pages as you can to get a variety of information.

Remember to think outside the box for help with an interview. Simple things can definitely give an upper-hand in the interview.

-Kaitlin Daniel