Chances are, you’ve heard by now how important social media is during the job search. By posting articles about your industry, commenting on relevant groups, and following companies you’re interested in, you can have a leg up on the competition.

But this is all assuming that an employer or recruiter actually happens upon your profile.

Luckily there are ways to make your posts on social media more visible. These tactics are based on social media marketing, and they will take your personal branding to the next level.

By simply thinking like a marketer, you can make your social media presence more appealing and, thereby, more likely to land you a job.

Here are three tips from the marketing world that you need to apply to your personal branding strategy:

This post was updated in September 2022

As a career counselor, you focus on the same things when helping job seekers research companies. You plan how to find out about salary, benefits, development opportunities, and company culture. But there’s a major factor that you might be forgetting: employee well-being.

2022 research by Gallup revealed that employee well-being is a new global imperative. For most global workers statements such as “living for the weekend,” “watching the clock tick,” and “work is just a paycheck” ring true.

This is why career counselors should help job seekers research well-being programs. Their primary focus is often money. Unless you educate them, they won’t understand how employment and wellness can go hand-in-hand.

Here are three factors your job seekers need to know about employee well-being programs:

The old ways of hiring are gone. These days, in order to reach the best talent, your employer brand must be evident online.

But it’s no longer enough to just have a company website or Facebook page that’s rarely updated. Job candidates want to get a view of what the company actually stands for and how they put their values into action. They’re looking for unique insight, and they’re doing so long before you go looking for them.

In fact, of the 1,600 talent acquisition leaders canvassed for the 2016 Jobvite Recruiter Nation Survey, 66 percent said candidates admitted they had already done extensive online research about the company before they heard about job openings there.

However, there’s no “one size fits all” solution to social media job posting. Each platform requires a unique approach. Despite the fact that individuals have various accounts, you need to reach them where they’re most likely to be searching for jobs.

Here’s how to effectively use social media to enhance your talent search:

You have the skills to excel. You’ve researched the company you’re interviewing with and know you’d fit well into the culture there. During the job interview, you give brief, but insightful answers to each question. Yet, you don’t get the job.

The problem is, you’re not showing the real you to potential employers.

When you really need a job or want to work at a specific company, it’s understandable that you don’t want to do or say anything that could hurt your chances. However, holding back your personality is the very thing that makes a stand-out candidate seem just average in the eyes of the interviewer.

Here’s how to nail the job interview by showing potential employers the real you:

(This post was updated on 7/6/2020)

Many years ago, the interview process was simplistic. 

I would still consider it nerve-wracking, but not as demanding of a process. Today’s college students need to worry about more than aligning their skills, qualifications, and experiences with the job description. 

Now they’re facing phone and video interviews for jobs that may start completely virtual. Plus, they need to understand and prepare so much more. Students need to learn the company’s mission and culture (which might be different, now that it’s virtual), find a network using social media, stay professional while texting recruiters, and discover themselves all along the way. 

The pressure of finding a well-paying job immediately after graduation is already toppling. Especially when about half of college graduates in 2020 may be headed for unemployment, according to The Hill. Adding the weight of the changing interview process is overwhelming for many of your students. 

Here’s how you can help them tackle those fears and effectively prepare for the changing interview landscape: