6 Ways To Leverage Your Social Network While Job Hunting
Life after college can be fun but yet stressful due to job searching. A good amount of graduates in their senior year of undergrad obtain internships and they have their life already planned out in a good entry level position at a good company. Another good amount of graduates do not and they graduate and might end up being a little stuck. That is perfectly okay! You do not have to have it all together the moment you cross that stage, on the contrary you have every right to take a mini break and get your mind right. When you are ready, you should use avenues such as job searching websites, word of mouth and most importantly leverage your social network while job hunting to get you to where you need to be.
1. Revamp and Be Professional
Sometimes in college we can have fun days or nights where we may post to our social media some things that may not be too professional. Once you’ve graduated that has to change. In this new generation social media is huge and many if not mostly all jobs will end up checking your Instagram, Facebook, or most used for job searching Linked In. All of your social media accounts that you plan to job search on need to be private and professional. Does not mean that you cannot post anything fun but unless being a social media influencer is your job, you need to keep it professional online. You never know who is watching and you never know how people can truly take your posts.
2. Follow and Observe
You know what you received your degree in and you know what your dream job is and where you envision your life going. Now that you have cleaned up your social media, begin friending and following people and hashtags who are living your dream job. Now don’t be jealous of them, let them inspire and move you to get to where you want to go. See how they work and how they move. See what they post and let there everyday life help you push through and see the finish line!
3. Put Your Wants Out There
Let people know that you’re are actively looking. Linked In is perfect from a job search because it is easy to set up your profile to be exactly what you are looking for career wise. You set your preferences as well as let the site know that you are actively looking. You can select whether you want an Internship, Part Time, or a Full time job. What is even better is that you can network and connect with all types of people in or out of your field! Build up your network and see more in detail what companies are hiring, as well as let these companies know you are interested in them.
4. Reach Out To People
Reach out to people via whatever social platform you are using. Whether you know them or not people can really give excellent advice to people in the up and coming. You never know who you can meet via social media. Reach out to people and try to possibly meet up with them for coffer, also see if maybe some of their workplaces allow you to shadow. Shadowing someone is really an excellent way to get the lay of the land as well as just get your foot in the door and get your name out there. Don’t ever look at it as if it can get get you to where you need to be. No matter what, just getting out there and networking to people in the field that you want to be is always a step in the door to where you want to be in your career and in your life.
5. Fix Up Your Resume
While you are out there networking, fixing up your social media and shadowing and getting to know different people in the career field that you want, make sure you are working to fix up your resume. Some degrees have beautiful leverage and you can apply for different jobs but the tricky thing is that sometimes you have to apply different resumes to different job applications. I know it seems silly but some jobs you really have to have multiple resumes to apply and if you are lucky be seen for an interview. So when you have time, separate you;re resumes into different categories, after you do that send them out and keep sending that out to different jobs and different companies. You will get some rejection letters and honestly thats okay, use every letter and every experience from the different resumes you produce shape you to be the person that you want to be for the job and career you want to get.
6. Apply Apply Apply!
You have to Apply, You need to Apply, You have to Apply Apply and Apply! Applying and getting rejected and applying and getting the interview and getting rejected as well as applying and getting the interview and turning it down is literally the only way you can find where you want to be and develop the thick skin that you need to be where you need to be in whatever industry that you want to be in. Apply, try, Apply, fail, Apply, Apply, Apply!
Leveraging your social network can help you out tremendously when you are looking for a job post college. Using these helpful tips and these 6 ways to Leverage Your Social Network while Job Hunting applying for jobs can be the difference between you reaching the job that you want and the career that you were meant to be in.
