As you graduate from University and enter in to the world of work, social media has the ability to help and even enhance your chances of landing your dream job in a highly competitive marketplace.

Here are five ways in which job seekers can use social media productively in their job hunt.

1. To connect

Connecting with companies and industry professionals via social media enables you to interact with them - you can ask them questions, show your knowledge by commenting on their company or industry news, and generally engage in order to put yourself on their radar.

Using LinkedIn, for example, you can connect with people that you’ve worked with previously, or have met in a professional context, in order to build up a network and a solid profile for your professional online presence. This then makes it possible to showcase your skills to the right people, and advertise yourself in a domain where companies are looking to recruit.

2. Keep up to date

Connecting with companies and organisations via social media enables you to easily pick up on their latest news and industry happenings. This knowledge is invaluable in interviews; employees look for switched on, passionate people, and knowing about the company which is interviewing you as well as the wider industry in which they operate shows you’re interested and passionate about your chosen career path and the role you’re going for.

3. Engage

Before the magic of the Internet, job seekers had to rely on face-to-face meetings to get in front of the right people; something that was extremely difficult to achieve. Social media makes professional encounters much easier, and job seekers should make use of channels such as industry forums and discussion sites, LinkedIn groups and Twitter to engage with decision makers. Such interaction can help build an online reputation for adding value to industry issues and discussions; something which employers will value highly.

4. Build your own brand

Make sure you tailor your social media channels to fit with the professional image you wish to portray. Don’t just think about what might or might not be acceptable for prospective employers on your profiles, but consider your wider audience and what they might want to see from you as an employee and as a person.

This might be different on each medium - for example, aim to build your LinkedIn profile so that your content and skill set are relevant to the industry you want to work in. Whereas on Twitter it might be connecting and conversing with industry influencers. As well as this, look at other people’s profiles too - not just existing employees of your favoured companies, but of job seekers looking in the same industry, and ask yourself; do you stand out from the crowd?

5. And lastly, some advice on what to avoid…

There’s nothing wrong with having personal social media profiles, so long as they don't hinder your chances of landing a job.

Employers often ‘screen’ prospective employees’ social media channels to get a better idea of their personality. If you seem to be a loose cannon - using a lot of profane language or sharing edgy or even offensive content, for example - it may mean that they write you off for any potential roles, however well qualified you may be. Equally, people who tweet about their current jobs in a derogatory way are likely to end up in the reject pile no matter what.

Consider increasing privacy settings on the likes of Facebook so that any ‘non-professional’ content is hidden from view, and maybe even consider setting up new social media profiles which you can use in a professional capacity.

The bottom line

The points above should be a good starting point to help you make sure that you’re using social media effectively for job hunting; connecting, engaging and contributing - appropriately - shows you have an interest in your chosen industry and can conduct yourself professionally.

Building an overall professional identity and strong networks will help give you credibility and access to opportunities. However, it’s also important to come across as authentic; this might mean including content about hobbies and interests, as well as work related things, as this will give depth and authenticity to your online personality. Just be careful about what you share.

Written by Peter Holmes of www.prime-appointments.co.uk.

Image credit: Nicola.