This blog post is adapted from the GovLoop Guide: How to Find, Land, Keep, & Leap in Your Career. I’d encourage you to take a look through the guide, as it is a valuable resources to help you elevate your government career.
Why wait until the next happy hour or networking event you attend? What if you could make powerful, professional, network-building connections every day? By effectively using social media, you can. Social media is a great way for you to stand out from other applicants, but it can also remove you from contention from your dream position. Here are some tips on using social media to network:
Twitter: Twitter is a great way to establish yourself as a thought leader in a community. By tweeting consistently,usingappropriate hashtags, and retweeting other thought leaders, you can get yourself noticed. Just make sure that you separate your personal twitter from this professional Twitter account.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn should act as your online resume. Your connections should be able to get a full picture of your professional experience just by looking at your profile. You should have three types of contacts – inner circle contacts you know personally, peripheral contacts you’ve met briefly, and prospects in organizations that you are striving to be a part of. Make sure you get recommendations, so your contacts have an idea of what your coworkers think of you.
GovLoop: GovLoop was created to connect professionals in government, so it is not unusual to “friend” someone after joining them in a discussion or commenting on their blog. This is a way to connect with someone in your field, and get the opportunity to ask them questions. You can also use advanced search on GovLoop to find people in your field of interest. GovLoop additionally has countless other resources to help connect you to your next job through GovGigs: Rock Your Resume, the GovLoop Mentors Program, Jobs.govloop.com, and other tools and trainings.
Facebook: Facebook is by far the most sensitive when it comes to networking, because it is inherently more personal. It is questionable whether you should add coworkers, let alone networking potentials, on this website. If you choose to do it though, it would be wise to adjust your privacy settings.
How do you use social media to network?
Have you ever scored a job from social media?
For more tips on using social media to network and more about finding your dream job, access the career guide here.
I’ve scored several interviews thanks to LinkedIn and Twitter. There’s some great Twitter feeds like the Washington Posts @dcprjobs. I’ve also met people on this site who have helped me network. I would definitely recommend all job-seekers consider their social media networking strategy while on a job hunt, you’re missing out on a whole sphere of opportunity if you aren’t utilizing social.
Agreed! A lot of ‘breakout opportunities’ happen when we apply Network Intelligence.