Social Media & Your Job Search Recap

Social Media and Your Job Search is a series of posts I began writing 10 days ago. I was interested in writing this series in preparation for my presentation for a group of job seekers here in Maryland. My topic was Social Media & Your Job Search. I wanted to take the time to recap all of the posts from last week. If you missed a few, take a peek. I trust they will be helpful for you.

Social Media & Your Job Search

1. Social Media & Your Job Search

2. Social Media & Your Job Search P.2

3. Resistance is Futile – Social Media I Mean

4. Social Media & YOU

5. Are You LinkedIn To Social Media

6. Twitter Your Way To Your Next Job

I realize as I am formatting this post that I did not put a post together concerning Facebook and Your Job Search. Let me take a moment and end this recap by saying what some of you may already know about my thoughts on Facebook for job seekers. Facebook is a great place to connect with people. I love it. I have connected with friends and family that I have lost touch with over the years. Because of what I do as a blogger, I set up a Facebook profile, not knowing that it would allow me to connect with people that I thought I would never have the opportunity to see again. I am forever grateful for Facebook and the technology that allows us to connect and communicate with people in a matter of key strokes. That being said if you are a job seeker, I don’t recommend Facebook as a tool. I believe if you have a friend who you would like to add to your professional network, connect with them on LinkedIn. Save Facebook for social interactions outside of your job search.

My second thought on Facebook for job seekers, be careful what you do and say as a part of your social interactions. You may not think that what you do and say will impact your job search or your current job for that matter, but you are mistaken. Your profile is on a public site and all of your friends connect with people you don’t know. In your quest for fun banter you may find that your personal life leaks into your professional persona and you will have a problem if the personal and professional persona are inconsistent. There is so much I could say on this topic, but just consider that in this day and age you don’t want to put your professional career in jeopardy because you are having a great time on Facebook. Have a good time. Save the antics that may trip you up in an interview or on the job for face to face interactions, rather than trusting that your personal life is private on Facebook. It is not and it will not be and it will come back to bite you.

Enjoy Social Media for what it is – a tool and resource, for both personal and professional networking. Use it as such.

Image Credit: sxc.hu