In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth Garone shared five tips to help job seekers avoid typical social networking mistakes. While there are a lot of ways to use social media tools to help land an opportunity, it’s easy to make newbie mistakes when just getting started. I’m sure you’ve heard of or read about people who have been fired for what they posted on Facebook. Maybe you’ve seen the compilations of unwise posts from Twitter, such as ResumeBear’s 30 ways to lose a job on Twitter.
As a proponent of using social networking to enhance job seeking opportunities, I encourage people to jump in and take advantage of all the great tools, but it’s important to remember what NOT to do.
These are the mistakes Elizabeth highlights in her article. Be sure to READ THE FULL POST for specific advice and details.
1. Forgetting manners.
I was delighted to be quoted in this section! In short – “Assume your future boss is reading everything you share online.”
2. Overkill.
Signing up for too many networks and not making an effort to complete your profiles does not move your search forward.
3. Not getting the word out.
It’s important to let your networks know you are looking.
4. Quantity over quality.
Connect carefully and personalize your invitations.
5. Online exclusivity.
Don’t spend all of your time searching online; many jobs are not posted.
Don’t miss the expert advice from Sree Sreenivasan, dean of students at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Krista Canfield, a LinkedIn spokesperson, author Emily Bennington and personal branding expert Dan Schawbel in the Wall Street Journal’s FULL POST.
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With so many resources on the web I can certainly see how overkill would be a problem. And that would probably tie in to quality over quantity also.
David Stillwagon recently posted..Entry level jobs with the government
True, I think overkill is one thing that also causes some job seekers to hesitate – too overwhelming!