The world of recruitment is changing. More employers and recruitment agencies are turning to social media to find PR talent. If you are looking for a job in PR how should you be using social media tools to find your next role?
I wouldn’t recommend having an open profile on Facebook. Most people use Facebook for keeping in touch with friends, family and the occasional colleague and are more inclined to write things on their status updates that potential employers would not be impressed with. If you are going to make your profile completely open stay away from status updates that say “I hate my boss”, “God, work is boooooring” or “completely hungover, cannot be arsed to go to work so am pulling a sickie”.
If your profile is secure employers can’t search for you, but that’s okay. There are other ways to use Facebook to network. There are a couple of groups you should join; PR Job Watch and The PR and Communications Network. If you are not currently employed put a note up on the wall saying what your areas of experience are and what you’re looking for. You can also have a look at the posts from employers who are looking to hire their next PR.
First of all, sign up! I am constantly amazed by how many PRs are still not on Twitter. It’s an amazing source of breaking news and a brilliant way for you to network with your peers without having to step out of your front door. Follow the right people. If you haven’t a clue who they are then this list of social media power players should help. You should also follow some PR recruitment agencies who will regularly tweet their jobs (Unicorn Jobs is @UnicornJobs) Then get yourself known. Tweet regularly and retweet other people’s comments when you think they may be useful. Once you are part of the PR tweeting community you are much more likely to be approached by a recruiter about a new role. You could also follow the hashtags #PR and #PRjobs which will throw up a surprising amount of jobs that you won’t see advertised elsewhere.
This seems to be the tool that most people are confused about. LinkedIn is probably the most formal of all the networking sites and as such can be really useful when looking for new jobs. Set up a profile making sure that you give details of all your past employment – it acts like an online CV and gives potential employers a chance to check out your skills and experience. Unlike Facebook you should make your profile public, making it easier for recruiters and head hunters to find you. Then connect like crazy. Add everyone you have ever worked with, friends, family and acquaintances. The more connections you have the more likely it is that a recruiter will be able to find you. LinkedIn’s job search engine is worth a go too. When you view the results concentrate on the ones that you are no more than two degrees away from – which means you know someone who knows the person who is hiring and will therefore have a better chance of being able to get in touch directly with the hiring manager. You can also search for a specific company and see what jobs they currently have posted. You will also be able to see their recent hires so if you are feeling brave you could get in touch with them and ask how they got their jobs there – if nothing else it might lead to a new connection.
Out of the three of them. I have found Twitter to be the most helpful. It’s where I got most of my internships and a lot of feedback from. My Facebook isn’t full of me drunk and slagging of previous bosses. Although I do follow the groups you mentioned, I still find Twitter to be the most useful of the three platforms.