Socializing Your Career for Greater Rewards

Currently, there are 1.73 billion people using social media.

For businesses, more than 80 percent of small and medium-sized businesses are on social media and almost 100 percent of large companies engage in social media.

As an employee, you can use this to your advantage when it comes to finding jobs, changing industries, networking or even getting a raise.

There are a few things to take into account when it comes to your own personal social media pages.

First, remember that almost all businesses will look at your pages at some point or another. Keep your pages professional, do not post inappropriate photos and keep it clean.

Whether a company looks you up prior to interviewing you or looks at your pages when considering who to give that promotion to, social media can either make you or break you.

Engage Via Multiple Platforms

If you wish to reap the benefits of social media as an employee, you must be willing to engage regularly across multiple platforms.

You can’t just send out a random Tweet every few weeks or create a LinkedIn profile only to never go back if you wish to see results.

Those that are the most successful with social media – in life and in business – use it very regularly. With social media, the more quality, thought-provoking posts, the better.

The article “How to invest in your career” states that networking is one of the best ways you can improve your career.

The more people you know and can connect with, the better your chances for success.

LinkedIn is the best social media platform for building professional relationships. Create a profile and start connecting with others as soon as possible.

LinkedIn is also a way to find a new job. You can follow your ideal companies and work at building connections with the hiring managers.

Tips on using social media to advance your career

Among the tips to remember:

Create at least three social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are great places to start. Create accounts and begin growing your following. Social media success is not built overnight, so rather than feel overwhelmed, just do a few things per day and reevaluate where you are after six months. More than likely, you will have developed quite a footprint in the world of social media.
Be consistent – As a working individual, you should always be striving to improve yourself, advance your career and grow as an employee and as a person. Don’t forget about social media and let it sit stagnant. If used properly and consistently, it will boost your career in ways you couldn’t have imagined.
Consider working for free – Perhaps you’ve been following your dream company for quite some time and have had no luck in landing a job. Is there a way you can volunteer your services for free as a means to getting your foot in the door? If you work in graphic design, for example, the company may be willing to freelance some of their work out to you. If you do a great job and they like you, you could very easily wind up employed there full-time.

If you’re new to social media, commit to six months before throwing in the towel.

Like stated above, using social media will never hurt your career if used properly, so you may as well dive in head first and see what happens.

Photo credit: Image courtesy of SOMMAI at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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