Taking Advantage of Social Media in Your Job Hunt

Do you use social media sites for your job search? You may not believe it but nowadays most hiring managers are investigating job applicants through these sites. They take a look at your personal pages on Facebook, Twitter and even MySpace. Honestly, most employers nowadays think that they can make sensible decisions by watching on how an applicant builds his or her online brand.

The impact of social networking sites on a job search is getting more obvious. As such, more people build their social media profiles entirely for increasing their career opportunities. Sites such as LinkedIn however are strictly for career related information whereas Facebook and Twitter can be exploited for both personal and professional use.

Unfortunately, as of now, only few people have been taking advantages of social media such as Facebook in their job hunt. Nevertheless, this is quite the reason why you should make social media as your job hunt ally. You have more edge if you do so. So, how can you contemplate your strengths and not your weaknesses on these sites? And how can you ensure that the employers seeing your pages would be excited to meet you and hire you?

· Know what Your Potential Employers Want! This is a basic step in using social media as your job hunt ally. Let's consider it this way: a customer is lusting for an apple. If you want to attract his attention, you should give him an apple instead of an orange. Know what your prospective employers want to see and read. Upload a photo that emits positive vibes. Furthermore, make your online photo albums pleasing to hiring managers.

· Use keywords to Your Advantage. Frankly speaking, you can only increase your rank on searches if you use the right keywords that your future employers are using to search for applicants. Aside from this, also discover keywords that will help you reflect your strengths and skills. Use them to your full advantage. For instance, project management, strategic planning, budget control, and so on. However, do not forget to set yourself apart from other job candidates.

· Avoid Negative Contents. Typically, social media sites allow users to change their privacy settings. For purely personal pages, modify your settings so that your friends are the only ones who can watch and read them. However, if you want to make a page public, you should eliminate the negative messages that could damage your job search. Tip: be conservative.

· Simplify Your Pages. Content is more essential than your page's graphic layout, unless you are a visual artist. In some social media sites, layouts can cause visual jumbles. Moreover, too heavy layouts can step-up uploading time, which is not beneficial on your part. Thus, remove excess and distracting graphics.

· Update Your Profile As Much As You Can. The more updated your profile is, the better. This includes updating your profile photo, and revising your description as much as possible. Make recruiters and your online contacts know that you are ready for new opportunities. Assess what prospective employers presently are looking for and draw the necessary changes.

Landon Long is the founder of InterviewMastermind.com. You can download his FREE "Resume Rebel" Video Course to learn how to write a resume and stand out in a slow economy.