Will Your Social Networking Profile Help You Get A Job?

You've probably heard a number of horror stories by now about how profiles on social networking sites can end up being one of the main reasons a job seeker was not hired. Whether it's because of inappropriate photos or information inconsistent with the candidate's resume, social media profiles can be dangerous for your job search.

They can also be a huge boon, if handled correctly.

An appropriate social networking profile will portray you as a professional who is ready to take on all challenges. This will make you attractive not only to potential employers, but also networking contacts who can help you land a great nonprofit job. Not sure where to start? Following these five tips will get you on your way to a great online presence:

• Be Consistent: Your persona needs to be consistent across all of the platforms you use. For example, if you are portrayed as a driven fundraiser on LinkedIn, you shouldn't act like an introvert on Google Plus.
• Master the Basics: The first part of your profile that an employer is likely to check is your "About Me" section. This is the most basic part of any social networking site but the first impression is very important. Write a brief paragraph that sums up your work history and goals.
• Build Your Network: Sites like LinkedIn provide a great opportunity to make new contacts. They don't call it "social networking" for nothing. The size of your network will depend on your preferences, but it's a good idea to have at least 50 followers on your page.
• Links: Showcase your skills by including links to your blog and portfolio assuming they are relevant to your career path. 
• Use Keywords: Making use of strategic keywords throughout your profile will help ensure that your profile comes up in search engine results. Examples of keywords include your area of expertise, desired job titles, and industries.

Social Networking Etiquette And You

Most people think of Facebook and other social media sites as a great place to catch up with friends and watch that latest hilarious cat video. But did you know they can also be helpful for your job search?

Networking is the key to improving your chances of landing a job, and there's no better place to do it then using social media. Using sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, you can quickly find contacts who can give you the inside track to your dream job. Sounds easy, right? Not exactly.

Before you go to your online contacts for help, make sure to follow these six social networking etiquette tips:

• Don't post just to post.
• Stay professional while you are networking. That means you should avoid abbreviations and inappropriate content.
• Keep an eye on your post count. You don't want come across as a spammer.
• Post different things across the many social media channels. Give people a reason to visit your individual pages.
• Keep your content fresh. No more than a month should go by without new updates.
• Follow-up with everyone who responds to your posts. This will show people that you care about what they have to say, and will go a long way toward building new connections.

Social Networking For A Nonprofit Job

Originally Posted on the NPT Jobs Career Center


Networking is key when it comes to getting a nonprofit job. You can apply for work all you want, but you’ll have a greater chance of success if you can make connections with people in the organization. Thanks to sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, making these connections is easier than ever.

Social networking sites are extremely useful for keeping up with the latest trends in the industry and finding connections at jobs you are interested in joining. If you leverage your profiles correctly, the benefits can be huge. The key is to show the world the best version of your professional life. That means you should get rid of content that is not appropriate or interesting to potential recruiters. For example, it’s probably a good idea to take down any embarrassing photos from your friend’s bachelor party.

Once you’ve cleaned out your profile, you can start getting down to networking. Here are five tips that will get you on the right track:

• Don’t post for the sake of posting. Make sure all the content you create is fresh, interesting, and relevant to the type of job you are hoping to land. In this case, it will be helpful to write a lot of nonprofit-centric posts.
• Be interactive. If you are browsing a LinkedIn group, answer other people’s questions so that other professionals will see your profile. You will never harness the full potential of social media if you are just expecting people to come to you.
• Avoid spamming. You want people to notice you, but posting too frequently can backfire. At the same time, you don’t want months to past before you make a new post, so you’re going to have to strike a balance here.
• Make your content unique across all platforms. It’s OK if you occasionally post the same content to Facebook and Twitter, but don’t make a habit of it. You want to give people a reason to follow you on the various social network platforms, and they won’t want to if you carbon copy your content.
• Follow-up. Respond to every message, connection request, or question in a timely manner. This will let your followers know that you truly care about them.

LinkedIn Strategies For Job Seekers

There are many social networks out there, but LinkedIn might be the most useful for job seekers. They just have to make sure to use it correctly to make use of its full potential.

Job hunters can gain many advantages by using LinkedIn including, but not limited to: Information on the types of people employers hire, the name of the hiring manager at a particular job, and -- perhaps most importantly of all -- the potential to make a personal connection at the organization you are interested in joining.

Making connections is the key aspect of the social networking site, and this is easily done on LinkedIn through the "request an introduction" feature. Sent to both an existing contact and someone he know, this feature facilitates connections to individuals who can help your job search. You can't just make your introduction out of the blue, though, so here are some tips on how to go about doing this in the best possible manner:

• If you already have your contact's e-mail address, shoot them a message letting them know you are sending an introduction request. This has two benefits: It's the polite thing to do and it ensures they will actually get the request; some people don't always check their LinkedIn notifications.
• Remember that the message is going both to two people: Someone you know and someone you want to know. Even if your relationship with your existing contact is casual, your message still needs to be crafted in a professional manner.On a related note, you should be sure to mention how you know your existing contact.

Speaking of LinkedIn, we are going to start posting some arguments in our group. If you haven't already linked to us, head to our page and join before the fun starts.

3 Ways To Boost Your LinkedIn Profile

There's a very good chance that you, as an active job seeker, already have a profile on LinkedIn. There's an even greater chance that you are not using it to its potential.

LinkedIn is an amazing job search resource that can easily connect you with individuals who can improve your career network and get recruiters to contact you. If you don't have a complete profile, however, you will not get the results you want. Below are three ways to improve your profile:

• If you've only filled in your profile with the basic information -- your name, college education, and work history -- you will not get the sort of action for which you are looking. Just like a website, your LinkedIn profile will get more exposure the more relevant key words are in it. Make sure you include these in the form of your career skills so that employers can more easily find you.
• Some LinkedIn users are not aware that there is an option that allows you to add more information to your job title. The default setting makes your current job title as your profile headline; but if you un-check the box that says "Update My Headline to Job Title," you can fill-in a more customized headline. For instance, you can change "John Smith, Director at ABC Nonprofit" to "John Smith, Director at ABC Nonprofit -- Growth, Management, Technology." This will describe more accurately what your position entails, and also will increase the hit rate on your profile.
• Waiting for someone to contact you on LinkedIn is not a good strategy. Join lots of groups that are relevant to your interest, and strike up conversations with its members. That is the best way to make networking contacts. Also, make sure the contact information you have listed is up-to-date.

Any of these issues sound familiar? If so, make sure you correct them as soon as possible.

You Can Never Have Too Many Social Networks

There used to be a time when Facebook was the major social network on the Internet. While it's still extremely popular (and profitable), there are many other options now. Whether it's Twitter or Google+, people have many choices at their disposal.

If you were ever wondering which site you should use to enhance your job search, I have just the answer for you: All of them.

If this seems like a lot of work it's because it is. Having a presence on all of the major social media sites is extremely important simply because you will get so much more exposure than if you were just using one. The more information you provide on each of these sites, the easier it will be for employers to match your skills and talents with those that are being sought by the organization.

Here are some other social media tips:

• Be consistent. Don't feel like you have to use different tones on each site. On the contrary, it's much more useful to present one personality so employers won't have any questions about your sincerity.
• Be wary of recommendations. Sites like LinkedIn allow you to recommend other members in your network for jobs. This is a very useful feature, but make sure the person the recommendation is being done in good faith. In other words, don't engage in any quid pro quo dealings.
• Decide what you want to share. Most social network sites have settings that allow you to control what you want to share with the public. Familiarize yourself with these settings so you are only sharing information you want prospective employers to see.

Can Pinterest Help Your Job Search?

It seems like there is a new social media craze every year. Near the end of 2011, the newest fad was Pinterest, an online pin board where users can post pictures that relate to their interests. The site has continued to gain steam and many businesses and nonprofits are starting to use it.

While it doesn't seem like the kind of site that could help your job search, it can actually be just as useful as sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Since pictures are the main focus of Pinterest, you can use it to get a good sense of the culture at the nonprofits for which you want to work. What's their dress code? Where are they focusing their marketing efforts? These are all questions you can answer by browsing an organization's Pinterest board. Use this information to craft a tailored resume that shows you did a lot of research before applying.

Your job search efforts on Pinterest don't just have to be focused on employers; you can make pin boards to advance your brand. Sean Weinberg from Mashable posted an article in February with this great idea: Post your resume as a picture. All you have to do is create a board (call it "About Me" or "My Credentials") and post a picture of your resume. You can also link that picture to your online portfolio if you wish. You should also include photos of the various activities you do to help solidify your brand. As with any social networking site, you need to make sure many people see your board -- so make sure to share it in as many places as you can.

These are just a couple of ways you can use Pinterest to enhance your job hunt. Have any other ideas? Feel free to share them with us.

Tweet Your Way To A Nonprofit Job

Do you hear all that tweeting?  It's not the birds, it's the sound of millions of people using the popular social networking site Twitter.  The site was launched in 2006 and it has been an Internet sensation ever since.  It's most useful for connecting with celebrities and to drive traffic to website, but it's also useful for the job search.

How exactly can you tweet your way to a nonprofit job?  It takes a lot of work but it can be done.  After you have created your account, chosen an appropriate profile picture, and written a description of yourself, it's time to start following people.  There's aren't that many nonprofits that aren't on Twitter, so it should be very easy to find their Twitter handle.  You can look on their official website for a link to their profile if you are having trouble.  Organizations will often send out a tweet if they have open jobs, so it's good to keep an eye on their tweets.

That's not the only reason you will want to follow nonprofits on Twitter.  It's also so you can start grabbing their attention with your tweets.  In order to get your messages sent to the appropriate targets, you will have to make use of hashtags.  These are represented by the "#" symbol, and are placed before a word that describes the subject of the tweet.  Twitter users will often search for tweets by a specific subject, and making use of multiple hashtags will increase your chances of being seen.  For example, using the hashtag #nonprofitjobs would be appropriate to get noticed by recruiters.

You must always remember that Twitter is a social platform.  You want to build yourself up but you also want to participate in conversations.  It's not easy to say everything you want to say in 140 characters or less but with time, you will get better at it.  Here are some other helpful tips to help you tweet your way to a nonprofit job:

• Try to send out 2-5 tweets (or more) per day.
• Follow the hiring managers at nonprofits.  They will be the ones going through the job applications and, if you are impressive enough, you could be given extra consideration if they recognize your name from Twitter.
• Introduce yourself to people who follow you through a direct message.
• Get to know Twitter lingo.
• Send out links to your LinkedIn or professional Facebook profile (make sure to use link shortening tools like bit.ly).

Hiring Via Social Media

As social media continues to increase in popularity, nonprofits are turning to it for their hiring needs. The ability to reach out to countless users makes it a perfect match for recruitment. If you haven't yet considered using this medium for your recruiting efforts, it's time to start brainstorming.

One of the great things about social networking sites is the ability to quickly share information. A brief scan of Twitter or Facebook feeds will reveal tons of links to information the user finds useful. You can use this ability to maximize the exposure of your job postings. The minute you have a new position open, use Twitter to send the link to your followers. I find Twitter to be the most useful of the social networking tools because of its ability to reach everybody, not just the people who follow you.

That's not to say Facebook or LinkedIn are not useful. What I especially like about Facebook are the applications you can make to enhance your page. For example, we have a full-fledged career center app on our Facebook page that lists all of the postings from the Nonprofit Job Seeker. You can explore similar applications to increase your followers' awareness of your most recent job postings.

Finally, use your social network to give an inside view of your organization. Share photos of a recent office party, or something else that will give prospective employees a better idea of your organization's culture. It's important to remember that this remains an important factor when people choose a job; nobody wants to work in an office that doesn't seem enjoyable.

Has your nonprofit had much success using social media as a recruiting tool? Share your experiences in the comments section.

Using Social Media To Get A New Job

Social media is the flavor of the month right now.  Everybody seems to have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or whatever new site pops up.  But can you really "like" or "tweet" your way to a new nonprofit job?

It's important to keep in mind that social networking should only be used as a compliment to traditional networking but, having said that, it can definitely help you with your job search.  One of the best things about social media is that it makes researching an organization much easier.  Reading the company website is useful, but only social media will give you the best idea of the company culture.  Look at pictures of recent company outings and see how representatives interact with their followers to get a better idea of how you would fit in at the organization.

I mentioned above how social networking should be used in conjunction with traditional networking.  There is no better example of this than using social media to get in touch with former colleagues or old friends.  By making a simple status update on Facebook or sending a tweet on Twitter, all of your contacts will know that you are looking a job.  Who knows, one of your friends may know someone at an organization you are looking to join.

Once you get a job interview, you can utilize social media sources to learn more about your interviewer.  Knowing this person's background will help you customize your talking points and come prepared with better interview questions.  It can also make for some good small talk, which can never be underestimated.  For example, you could discover that your interviewer graduated from the same school as you.  Even if you don't get the job, the interviewer may be motivated to help a fellow alumni.

How do you use social media in your job search?  Tell us your experiences in the comments section.

Adapting To Job Search Trends

The employment landscape is changing.  Whether it's for the better or worse is up for debate, but there is no doubt that employers are using new tools to streamline the hiring process.  It is up to you to adjust to some of these new job search trends if you want to move ahead in this market.  Let's go over how you can adapt to these new fads:

Resume Scanning.  Many organizations are now employing resume scanning technology to quickly parse through applications.  These devices will search resumes for specific keywords.  Those that don't contain them will be rejected.  You need to put these words into your resume, but you can't just insert them at random.  Each of your employment descriptions should have keywords strategically inserted to make the best impact.

Social Media.  You won't get ahead in this job market if you don't use social media.  You should have accounts on all the major social networking sites.  Some of the best candidates are found on these sites, so companies are increasingly searching them for potential employees.  An added benefit to this is you will gain more expertise in using these sites.  Nonprofits are increasingly looking to move their services into this new realm, so having social media knowledge will give you more marketability. 

That's all I have for now.  Have you noticed any other trends in job seeking?  Feel free to list them in the comments section below.

Online Reputation: How Does It Affect Your Job Search?

We live in an age where nearly everything we do is done online.  Want to talk to some old friends?  Log in to Facebook and get caught up.  Don't feel like going out for food?  You can order pizza on the Internet.  And nothing is more online-centric these days than the job search.

Employers also use the Internet for their research of candidates.  By simply Googling a prospective employee, they can find out almost everything they need to know.  What they see can speak volumes and, whether it's fair or not, you will be judged based on your online reputation.  Reputation management has become a big thing these days, but there's no need to pay money present a cleaner image of yourself.  You can do it all on your own.  Here are some tips:

• Do a Google search of your name.  If you ever made any "unfortunate" comments on Internet message boards, they will likely come up in the results.  This is your chance to get rid of them.
• Delete all embarrassing photos of yourself on Facebook.  If they are simply too good to get rid of, you can adjust your privacy settings so that only people in your network can see certain aspects of your profile.  Then again, that could raise suspicion...
• On a similar note, get rid of Tweets on your Twitter account that could be considered offensive.
• Make sure that whatever picture you use on your social media pages is presentable.  You obviously aren't going to use one of those embarrassing pictures we talked about, but it shouldn't be a low quality picture either.  If you don't have a really good one, have someone take a new one.

Improving Your Social Media Profile

What would we do without sites like LinkedIn?  Thanks to these sites, job seekers are able to make their mark all over the web, making it a lot easier to get noticed.  Setting up a good social media profile is more than just entering your information, however.  You will have to put a lot of thought into design if you want to sufficiently impress employers. 

Step 1: Ditch Your "Funny" Profile Picture

That picture of you at your friend's bachelor party might be hilarious, but it probably isn't the best way to represent yourself.  The best kind of profile picture you can put up is a headshot.  Your picture is the first thing a visitor will see when visiting your page, and we all know that first impressions are everything.

Step 2: Open Up!

Privacy is a big topic in the world of social media.  Most people are not comfortable with having their profile visible to everyone, but you have to enable this option if you are going to be seen by recruiters.  Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have a section where you can set your profile to be seen by people other than your friends.  Thankfully, you can customize what information you want people to see.

Step 3: Consistently Update Your Status

Status updates are a great way to let recruiters know more about your interests.  They also help get your name out there.  For example, updating your status on LinkedIn makes your connections aware of your recent activities.  This can be useful if you are planning to attend an event that other people in your network are going to.

Step 4: Write A Meaningful Self-Summary

Here is what your self-summary should NOT be: "My name is Zach and I like playing piano, going to movies, and long walks on the beach.  I am interested in a career in nonprofits."  That's not very helpful, is it?  It's not easy for everybody to write about themselves, but it's something you will have to master if you want to catch people's eyes.  When it comes to self-summaries, the worst thing you can do is not have enough detail.

Social media can be your best friend in the world if you handle it properly.  Make sure you get the most out of it by following these tips.

Social Media Tips For Your Job Search

Social media is slowly but surely transforming the way we do things.  It allows us to keep in touch with old friends, stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends, and gives us unprecedented access to major public figures.  It has also made an impact on the job search by making it easier for job seekers to get in touch with potential networking contacts, and giving employers an inside look to who you really are.  Your online persona can play a big role in determining your employment, so you have to make sure you maintain them.

• Keep Your Profile Clean: You might think those pictures from your friend's bachelor party are hilarious, but you probably don't want them up when you are looking for a job.  If you even have the slightest feeling that what you are about to post could negatively impact your job candidacy, don't post it. 
• Be Active: Update your profile as often as you can.  Employers want to know that the person they are hiring is outgoing and is pro-active.  While you have to be careful about what you post, don't be shy abotu showing your character.  It's better to show a unique personality than to appear uninteresting.
• Use Multiple Social Media Sites: Don't limit yourself to just one of the sites out there.  The more place your brand is located, the better chance you will be seen by a recruiter.  As a reminder, here are the major social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and About.me.
• Connect, Connect, Connect: Don't hesitate to connect with organizations you are looking to join.  This could mean friending them on Facebook, responding to their tweets on Twitter, or joining their group on LinkedIn. 
• Create An Online Portfolio: Online portfolios are a lot of work, but they are a great way to show an employer who you are.  Think of it like an enhanced resume: It will list your skills, past employers, and references.  The only difference is it can be much larger and be customized anyway you want.

Using LinkedIn To Follow Employers

We've talked a lot about how LinkedIn is an invaluable tool to help your individual networking, but did you many people are using it as a way to narrow their job search?  There is a feature on the social networking site called the "Follow Company" button.  Simply search for the nonprofit you are thinking of applying to, click the follow button, and all of that organization's activities will be added to your news feed on LinkedIn.  This will give you a better idea of whether the company is hiring, and can also show you the background of candidates that are being hired.  This is a useful feature because it will show you the kind of qualifications you will need, as well as the kind of competition you are up against.

The Follow Company feature also allow you to keep an eye on how many other people are following the nonprofit in question.  If there are a lot of people checking out the organization, you should be prepared for a tough challenge.  Not as many followers will mean less competition, but it could also mean it's not that great of an organization. 

LinkedIn employer profiles include valuable information you should review before applying.  This includes things like how long employees usually work there, the average age range, and more.  The average tenure of employees is a particuarly useful statistic, because it will give you an idea of the turnover rate.  A high turnover sometimes indicates problems within the organization.

Job seekers have been looking for ways to organize their job search for a long time, and this LinkedIn feature allows them to take a step towards that goal.

Take Advantage Of Job Search Resources

There is no doubt that we are living through one of the worst job markets in recent history.  It's also one of the more frustrating ones; everytime things seem to be getting back on track, we get smacked in the face by reality.  Despite all of these problems, job seekers are in a better position when it comes to the amount of job search resources they have at their disposal. 

Online job boards did exist a decade ago, but they have become more robust than they ever were.  The features of these boards have improved as technology advanced.  It's not uncommon for a typical job bank to have extensive search filters to make your search simpler.  The rise of social media has also made the job hunt a lot smoother.  Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn have made it much easier to network than it ever was.  Traditional networking events still have their place, and I'd still recommend attending them, but that's no longer the only avenue available.  A big part of getting a job is who you know, and social media makes it much easier to get that inside edge.

Keep your head up job seekers.  Things may be gloomy, but you have a lot more resources at your disposal.  Make sure you take advantage of all of them to give you a leg up in this tough economy.

NPT Jobs Recommends: 7/18/2011

Here are today's recommended job articles from across the vast reaches of the Internet:

• '6 Ways to Get Good With Google'-This article lists some good ways to use Google to help your job search.  Besides the obvious Google alerts, they list some pretty interesting ideas here.
• 'Google+ for Job Seekers'-Speaking of Google, here's a good article on how to use the search engine's social networking services, Google+, to find jobs.  I am not entirely familiar with Google+ yet, so I'm not too sure how it works.  But it can only be a good thing to have another social networking presence.
• '5 Ways to Maximize Your Use of Job Boards'-This one is for all the recruiters out there.  This article provides some good ways to get the most bang for your buck out of job boards.  If you think your work was done once you posted a job, think again.

Survey: More Employers Doing Social Media Hiring

If you needed more reasons to jump onto the social media bandwagon, here's one: More employers are using social media as a hiring tool.  According to a recent Jobvite.com survey, 80% of employers are using social media to recruit new employees, with an additional 9% saying they plan to start using it in the next year.  That's 89% total that will be using social media to hire their new recruits.  With such a large amount of social media hiring being done, there is no better time to start using it for your job search.

If you're wondering which social network employers use the most for their recruiting, the overwhelming choice for respondents was LinkedIn at a whopping 86.6%.  Facebook came in at a distant second at 55.3%.  LinkedIn gained 8% from the last survey in 2010, while Facebook's popularity remained steady.  It would seem pretty clear which site you would want to use most.  Still, 64% of employers said they used two or more social networking sites, and 40% said they used three or more.  So it would be a huge mistake to rely just on any one particular site when looking for nonprofit work.

There will still be some people out there who might question whether social media can really be an effective resource for getting work.  The Jobvite survey begs to differ.  Some 63% of employers said they were able to successfully hire candidates using social media, an increase from the 53% that did in 2010.  It would seem that as more people use it as a hiring tool, the more success they are having with it. 

This doesn't mean that the job board is dead.  Far from it.  In fact, social media can be a great addition to job boards.  For example, we uses Twitter as a companion to our job board at The NonProfit Times.  Every time a new job is posted, we send out a tweet alerting our followers.  Times are certainly changing, so its time to get on board if you haven't already.

NPT Jobs Recommends: 7/14/2011

Here are today's top job search links:

• '5 Ways to Use Google Alerts for Job Seekers'-Have you ever used Google Alerts?  They are pretty handy.  All you have to do is enter a keyword and your e-mail address, and the top results for that search item will be mailed to you at specified times.  Job-hunt.org wrote a good post about how you can use these alerts to help your search for work.
• 'What NOT to Do in an Interview'-I know I've written on this topic before, but this post covers some things that I didn't mention.  Besides, there's no such thing as too much information!
• 'Why Your Career Search Needs Social Media Advice'-A good article on the many different ways social media can help your career search.

NPT Jobs Recommends: 7/13/2011

I'm still looking for nonprofit job search success stories.  So if you have any to share, e-mail me at zach@nptimes.com.  I'll try to get as many as I can published here on the blog at some point.  Thanks in advance!

• 'Getting the Most From the Job Market'-This is a handy graphic from ResumeBear that shows, among other things, the highest paying jobs currently in the job market.  It doesn't take long to look at, so check it out when you get the chance.
• 'Twitter Chats for Job Seekers'-Here's another use for Twitter when it comes to the job search: Twitter Chats.  This post from USA News lists all the major job Twitter Chats, what time they are held, and who hosts them.
• 'How Learning a Foreign Language Can Help You Professionally & Personally'-Yeah, it's a lot of work, but learning a new language can actually help you in your career.  Find out how by reading this post from The Brazen Careerist.