Social media is a powerful tool that can help you during your job search. Showcasing your industry knowledge on LinkedIn, highlighting your skills on Facebook, and giving a glimpse of your personality on Instagram will give future employers and industry peers a well-rounded glimpse into who you are.
Creating social media posts involves crafting engaging, informative, and professional content tailored to the respective platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram each have unique audiences and content styles, so it's important to adapt the posts accordingly. You might want to rethink where to put those tropical vacation photos showing off your new tan and fruity drink! We’re here to break it down for you so you can feel confident in the content you post during your job search.
For LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is a platform for keeping things professional. Utilize this social media site for networking, showcasing career milestones, and sharing your thoughts on industry news.
- Professional Headshot and Banner: Your profile picture should be a clear photo of yourself, preferably your last professional headshot. If you’ve never taken a headshot before, try dressing in professional attire and using the portrait mode on your phone camera. Your banner can highlight your field of expertise, or professionally showcase your personality. Create a post with your headshot and include your skills, a brief introduction to yourself, and a call-to-action for networking opportunities.
- Skill Showcase: Craft a post highlighting a key skill or achievement, with a brief story or case study to add depth. Storytelling will take you farther than a simple explanation or statement. Encourage endorsements from colleagues and allow room for engagement!
- Industry Insights: Share a thoughtful analysis or opinion on a recent trend or news in the job seeker's industry, showcasing your expertise and thought leadership. Let your colleagues know you keep up with industry news.
- Networking Event Recap: If you’ve attended a recent industry event or webinar, post about it. Highlight your key learnings and tag relevant connections or speakers. Show future employers your involvement in the industry.
- Recommendation Request: Create a polite post asking for recommendations, focusing on specific roles or projects, and why they were meaningful. Gathering feedback from your peers could be valuable in your job search.
- Career Milestone: Celebrate a significant career milestone or anniversary, reflecting on growth and future goals. You should always be highlighting your milestones on your LinkedIn to showcase your growth in your industry and keep colleagues up to date on your career journey.
For Facebook:
Employers are likely to look at your Facebook page during the hiring process. Show your personable side on this platform but keep it professional. You don’t want anything you post to be a discouragement to an employer during your job search.
- Personal Story: Share a personal journey or challenge you overcame, making it relatable and inspirational. Tie it to your experience job searching or a past professional role.
- Informal Industry Chat: Type up a casual post about an industry topic, inviting comments and opinions from friends for a more interactive engagement. You never know what types of discussions you can spark between you and your followers!
- Visual CV: Post a creative, visual representation of your CV, showcasing your career journey in an engaging infographic style or photos of you in your past roles. Bring out your creative side and give people a quick and easy way to view your job experience.
- Job Search Update: Share a friendly update on the job search process. Talk about your experience and what you look forward to finding in your next role. Be transparent and open about your successes and setbacks during the process.
- Networking Event Photos: Show photos from a recent networking event or conference, tagging people you met and sharing a key takeaway or funny anecdote. Highlight your interest in industry and networking events and share what you learn!
- Volunteer Work: Post any volunteer work or community involvement, showing a well-rounded personality and commitment to social causes. You’re not only highlighting your resume but also bringing light to organizations or nonprofits that are important to you.
For Instagram:
Instagram is one of the most creative social media platforms where sharing videos is almost more popular than sharing photos. Break out your creativity to make yourself stand out among the rest and showcase your personal and professional successes!
- Motivational Quote: Post a visually appealing post with a motivational quote about career growth or job seeking, with a personal touch in the caption. Showcase quotes that mean something to you and that you hope can mean something to your followers as well.
- Day-in-the-Life: Curate a series of stories or a carousel post showcasing a typical day in your life, focusing on skills and activities related to your field. Make it fun! Let people see what you do and what your daily passions and likes are.
- Behind-the-scenes: Create a post showing behind-the-scenes of preparing for interviews or working on a project, adding a human element to the job search. Being transparent and honest is a value most people admire.
- Skill Tutorial: Share a short video or carousel post teaching a small but valuable skill relevant to your industry. Share your knowledge and skills to showcase your attributes, but also help others through your posts.
- Networking Tips: Give tips and advice for effective networking in a visually engaging format, possibly with a short reel or carousel post.
- Aspirational Goals: Create a post sharing your long-term career goals with an inspiring image and encourage followers to share their goals too. Create a space to talk about each other's aspirations and career goals. You never know who you could meet that might be able to help kickstart those goals.
Each one of your social media posts should be crafted with the specific audience of the platform in mind, using appropriate hashtags, tagging relevant individuals or organizations, and always aiming to engage your audience through questions, calls-to-action, or interactive elements. Be mindful of what content is appropriate for what platform and curate an impressive social media page that employers and industry peers will value.