The Young PR Pro: Using Social Media to Get an Edge in Job Hunting

Post Date:

September 27, 2011

The Young PR Pro is a regular column that helps young PR professionals and students navigate the hurdles of a fledgling career. HBC's own Caitlin Fisher tackles everything from sticky work situations to effective networking to job-hunting tips. If you'd like to ask Caitlin any questions or have suggestions for a blog topic, email her anytime.

The most common questions that friends and other blog readers ask me relate to social media. I’ve touched on the topic in past Young PR Pro posts, but I haven’t given it due credit, as it really is the most critical tool for young people in any industry. Creative agencies (i.e., PR, marketing, advertising, etc.) want to hire junior-level employees with social media savvy. But besides participating in social media for your own personal branding, it can be a powerful tool for one’s job search.

I recently sat down with Viveka von Rosen, one of the country’s leading experts on social media who recently partnered with my agency, Hellerman Baretz Communications. She offered up some advice for PR job seekers looking to add social media into their job-hunting mix.

YPRP: Viveka, we’re thrilled to offer you as a resource to our clients at HBC, but your expertise related to social media for job seekers is really valuable, too. I’m going to start with a pretty basic question: why it is important for PR job hunters participate in Twitter and LinkedIn?

VR: Let’s address Twitter first. It has been, far and away, the best PR tool I have ever used. I would say 90% of my interviews, requests for articles, etc. have come through Twitter. It is a veritable hotbed of SME’s (subject matter experts) and thought leaders for PR professionals. That being said, a PR job hunter has an almost unlimited ability to: monitor and learn from PR Professionals using applications like Twilert and Tweetdeck, create mentor/mentee relationships with PR mavens, and monitor PR job listings.

Some of the best PR job-listing Twitter accounts are:

Caitlin, I know you’ve spoken a lot about LinkedIn in your past Young PR Pro posts, and besides being a great tool for professional development, LinkedIn is also a phenomenal place for PR job seekers to:

Search for jobs using LinkedIn’s “Jobs” tab (hint: use advanced search) or job toolbar;
Connect to influential PR professionals using the “Advanced Search” option;
Map out who is in their networks using the Company feature;
Learn about a company by following it, which gives him or her access to the company’s blog, recent news, demographic info, and more;
Showcase their own expertise in Groups and Answers; and
Use groups to grow their networks and connect with influencers, which I discuss in greater depth on my own blog.

Once you find a PR professional with whom you want to connect, you can ask the person to join your network. In your invitation you might say something like: “I am beginning my career in PR, and in my LinkedIn search found your profile. You look like quite an influencer in the industry, and I would like to connect if you are open to it.”

If you’re nervous reaching out with a connection request, ask to be “introduced” to the PR professional through a mutual contact, or simply join a group to which he or she belongs and send a message through the group.

YPRP: It’s interesting that you suggest using social media as an intelligence tool of sorts. I think a lot of young people forget that Twitter—and now LinkedIn with features like Groups, Answers, and the “LinkedIn Today” news digest—offer an extraordinarily easy way to learn about what’s going on in an industry or at a company. During interviews, I often ask interviewees to weigh in on trends in PR, news in sectors in which we work (like recent Supreme Court decisions or bills in Congress), and for their observations about recent awards or hires my company has made. It sounds like spending an hour studying up on Twitter and LinkedIn is an efficient and effective way to prep for an interview.

So, why should young people be using these platforms for job hunting?

VVR: All social media is about making connections and building relationships. And so is job searching! We all know that it’s who you know that usually gets you the job, but when you’ve just graduated from college or haven’t built up a substantive network, you should use social media to:

Connect to influencers and find mentors;
Connect to company employees who might give you the “real” scoop on who to connect to and how a company really hires;
Research a company or company employees for insider information that might help you get a job (i.e., you find the person interviewing you on LinkedIn, see she has just read Saving the World at Work, and casually slip a reference into the interview, or you see in the person’s interests he plays water polo, etc.);
Search for job listings;
Connect directly with the individuals posting the jobs; and
Follow company executives (all of the executives of the Fortune 500 have a presence on LinkedIn).

YPRP: Looking for a job can be a full-time job in and of itself. From writing cover letters to researching companies to interviewing, it can be daunting to add a whole new activity into the mix (even if the payoff is so substantial). How can our readers—especially students—be using social media to supplement a traditional job search?

VVR: On Twitter, start by lurking. Twitter is best for this since you can get essentially unlimited access to an influencer’s Tweetstream—or as I like to say—“Tweet Stream of Consciousness.” If you see a Tweet you like, just re-Tweet it. This is the first step in getting noticed by the people who can help you get a job.

Once you have “lurked” or monitored a person’s stream for a while, when you feel comfortable, reach out to them with a question or comment. That is literally the first step in building relationships with these people. The more you interact with them, the more they will get to know, like, and trust you. They might even bring up your name when a job position comes up in their company (or they might hire you directly). In other words, they might become your evangelists.

And of course, use the Twitter search to look for jobs being posted and follow job posters (see the list of some good accounts to follow above).

On LinkedIn, make sure your profile is 100% complete (here are some tips in case you need help).

Use the Advanced Search to find the influencers in an industry or company to which you are applying for positions. Reach out to them with a connection request or introduction (as above). The worst they can do is ignore your request.

On the contrary, NEVER send a request to someone saying: “Will you hire me?” Let them know you admire them and build up to asking them for an informational interview about the company or the industry.

Facebook pages are also a great source of “insider” information about a company because they tend to be less conservative than a website. And of course they are interactive. You can always post a question on a page’s wall about a job they might have posted, or ask what the company culture is like. Be helpful. Share useful information.

Once you are comfortable on any of these platforms, start sharing your own knowledge and expertise. Being a twenty-something, it’s unlikely you’ve published widely, if anything, nor are you expected to be a “thought leader.” But—using good judgment and maintaining professional demeanor—I suggest joining discussions on LinkedIn groups, participating in comments on Facebook, and engaging in a few Tweetchats in your industry. Get out there!

YPRP: All of your tips sound like they can really put a job seeker on the fast track to getting hired. But say one of our readers today follows your advice, builds up a great presence and network, and then gets her dream job. How can she maintain the connections she created when she was still looking for a job?

VVR: She should absolutely stay active, though there’s no need to devote more than a few hours a week to her social media activities. Likewise, stay humble and be a “go-giver”; there will be a new crop of job hunters you can help as others helped you. Here are some easy tips to stay active:

Reply to @Mentions and DMs on Twitter and post a few updates (10 minutes a day);
Interact in your LinkedIn groups, post an update, and answer a question a few times a week (1/2 hour);
Take your URL relationship IRL (In Real Life) through a phone call or face-to-face meeting; and
Keep your profiles up-to-date when you change jobs or get a job (10 minutes, one time).

YPRP: Thank you so much for joining us today, Viveka. I encourage our readers to email me with any additional questions for Viveka or leave comments.