Want2get on? provides Christian career coaching and support for applying faith to one's job situation. Social media has become powerful for both personal and professional networking, with many people using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to search for jobs. The document provides tips for using each platform to optimize one's job search and professional profile, such as maintaining an active Facebook presence to let contacts know you are seeking work, building industry contacts on LinkedIn, and following company HR accounts on Twitter to stay informed of opportunities.

1. Want2get on? is a unique career coaching service that offers 1:1 support for those who want
to draw upon their Christian faith and apply it in a practical way to their job situation.
faith
www.want2geton.co.uk Tel: 07503 177126 charles@want2geton.co.uk
Social Media is just the job!
I am a child of the 80’s and I remember friendships at school were divided between the
roughnecks who liked the chaos of Saturday morning’s Tiswas and the softer, middlemiddle-class
kids who preferred the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. This was the pre-Commodore Amiga era,
Coloured Commodore
when our computer studies lessons involved dialling up a line to the local exchange to connect
our asthmatic, cabinet-sized computer to a server in a neighbouring town.
sized
In those days I failed to see the benefits (frankly there weren’t many!) of computers.
Nowadays, however, I can identify just a handful of daily tasks, including cleaning my teeth,
,
that don’t rely on logging-on.
With a staggering 42 million people using Facebook in the UK (68% of pop population), 10 million
micro-blogging on Twitter and ov 4 million engaging on LinkedIn, like it or loathe it, it’s
blogging over ,
difficult to dispute the power and reach of social media. Interesting research (Jobvite) shows
how people are using social media t reach out and find work, and man would argue that it’s
to ch many
something about which we all have to become familiar when looking for work or wanting to
develop our career.
Some hard facts:
• 69% of those in work are seeking or open to a new job
• 61% of job-seekers say finding work has been more difficult in the last year
seekers
• 1 in 6 job-seekers found their last job through an online social network
seekers through
• 88% of job-seekers have at least one social networking profile
seekers
(US data, but related closely to the UK)
© Copyright Want2geton? Christian Career Coaching UK 2013

2. Top tips for using social media in your job search
When establishing your social media presence, don’t think you have to be active 24/7, but
chose a few, e.g. facebook, and maintain a regular activity. It’s good to see yourself as an
editor of your own portfolio of magazines that show different facets of your personality, and as
such they don’t necessarily have to be linked up.
1) Facebook
52% of job-seekers use FB to find work - 70% of males use FB in their job search, as opposed
to 30% of women.
Don’t be ashamed of having to look for work. Why not start off by using FB to let your friends
and family know that you're seeking a job, find out local knowledge and obtain personal
introductions through them. Put your key words in your interests section: details of the sort of
work you’ve done and what you’re looking for now.
2) LinkedIn
38% use LinkedIn to find work - 60% of males use LinkedIn for job search as opposed to 40%
of women.
For those just starting off on their careers, getting established on LinkedIn can be tough. The
major challenge is to build your work/industry contacts and, if you have little experience and no
connections, progress can appear slow. However, in the same way that wine can develop into
a fine vintage, it is worth persevering with LinkedIn as it does allow you to develop a full and
dynamic CV that can include recommendations, a personal business page and forums to
which you can network and contribute (and impress).
3) Twitter
34% use Twitter in to find work - 67% of males use Twitter in for job search as opposed to
33% of women
Using Twitter’s advanced search, locate a number of companies for which you’d like to work.
It’s a good idea to ‘follow’ their HR staff rather than the company’s Twitter account as they’re
more likely to respond. This may help you stay one step ahead in the job market.
You could put your job pitch in your Twitter bio including a link to an online CV or LinkedIn
profile. Tweet about your work and experiences in your chosen industry – it may attract
interest.
Finally, don’t forget to use a professional-looking avatar – appearances do count!
Want2get on? is a unique career coaching service that offers 1:1 support for those who want
to draw upon their Christian faith and apply it in a practical way to their job situation.
www.want2geton.co.uk Tel: 07503 177126 charles@want2geton.co.uk
© Copyright Want2geton? Christian Career Coaching UK 2013