Social media

Social media platforms can give you access to employment and company information, expand your network, and improve your job search. They also allow employers to recruit and screen job candidates for potential interviews, so it's important to have a social media account. 

Make your online presence as effective as possible to leverage your social media networking capabilities.

Your social media profile and posts

• Establish and manage your online presence. It is common for employers you contact or people you meet to search for you online. Don't post pictures, stories, political commentary or other information that you wouldn't want an employer to see. 
• Be sure to set and update privacy settings on your social media accounts to limit the information shared with the public.
• Keep your information accurate and up-to-date. Keep information on all your accounts aligned; your list of past education, jobs, dates, titles, and responsibilities on your LinkedIn profile, for example, should agree with the information on your Facebook profile.

• Build your networks, focusing on quality over quantity. Identify people who are likely to have relevant connections for your job search, then focus most of your efforts on communicating with them. 
• Use your social networks to locate employment opportunities, including the unadvertised openings and “talent hire” situations.
• Research companies you are targeting and the hiring decision makers in those companies. Look for social media links on companies' primary websites.
• Connect with hiring decision makers, either directly by using the messaging tools within a social media site or by asking for an introduction from someone in your network. Ask for recommendations from people familiar with your accomplishments.
• Allow social media sites to “work for you” by setting your job preferences and creating alerts to receive notification when your targeted types of jobs are added to the system.
• Watch for individuals and organizations to post about job openings, company news/updates, benefits, salary data, and “how to” videos that can help you find a great job fit.

Social media tips

Here are some specific tactics for making the most of two widely used social media site.

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)

LinkedIn is a useful site for people in professional jobs. Over 131 million people use it to keep up-to-date about their industry, have discussions, and find job openings.

• A basic LinkedIn account is free. LinkedIn offers Veterans a complimentary one-year premium subscription, including access to thousands of online classes. After one year the premium subscription costs $29.99 per month. Learn more about LinkedIn's offer.
• Build your profile, using a career-appropriate photo (not in uniform) and include your military and civilian work experience most relevant to the types of positions you are targeting. Translate military jargon.
• Locate and follow the LinkedIn sites of companies you are targeting. Stay current on their announcements, news and other indicators that they may be hiring.
• Join LinkedIn groups related to your desired occupation. Learn what thought leaders in the field think, and contribute to discussions. 
• Reach out to your LinkedIn connections to ask for contacts at companies you are targeting or for informational interview contacts. 

Facebook (www.facebook.com)

• Do not keep your job search or transition from the military a secret. Let everyone you are connected with on Facebook know about the type of work you are seeking and the skills and knowledge you can offer an employer.
• Use the Facebook job search tool. You can browse jobs and apply on Facebook, and submit a “cover letter” of up to 1,000 characters to explain why you are the perfect candidate for a job. There is no resume submission, but companies can reach out directly using Facebook Messenger.
• Ensure the information in the “About” section of your Facebook page is accurate, up-to-date, and professional. Monitor your own and others' posts to ensure you come across as able to fit in and succeed.  
• Use privacy features to make only your employment and education information available to everyone, including employers who may be researching you.
• If a company you are targeting has a Facebook page, “Like” the company and explore the content it has posted.

Ensure your social media helps—not hurts—your job search

What does your online presence say and show about you? Are you revealing things about your personal life that a potential employer might find offensive or distasteful? Remember what you post and share online can help or hurt the impression an employer has of you.

Try Googling your name and image and scan the first few pages of results. Do the same for any social media sites you participate in.

Take a look at your personal pages with an employer’s critical eye. Consider the following:

• Clean up what others will see when they visit you online to provide a more positive impression of you. Note how you represent yourself in photos that you post and are tagged in, as well as comments posted by others. 
• Remove photographs of you and your friends drinking, smoking or engaging in any illegal or questionable activities, even marijuana, despite the fact that it may be legal in some locations. Also mention of these in discussions on social media.
• Comments that may be discriminatory, inflammatory or interpreted negatively by others, especially racial or ethnic minorities, are a huge red flag for employers. Do not leave up posts that you think are “just a joke,” because others may not feel the same.
• Do not vent or speak badly about past, current or prospective employers. Do not share any confidential or inside knowledge about these organizations or people.
• Take a close look at the people and sites you “like,” include as friends, or follow. If somehow the impression is negative, remove them.
• Modify the privacy settings in your profiles to keep certain elements visible to only those people or groups you allow. 
• Similarly, restricting access to your albums to friends only will ensure that those photographs are not visible to the general public.
• Adjust your privacy settings to restrict tagging of yourself in other people’s photographs. Others can still share photos of you, but you can limit how that shows up in your own profile.