"Conduct yourself on social media as if your mum were watching you"
20 de March de 2018
20 de March de 2018
New technologies are leading to an evolution in the way that students can find a job. One such advance, and perhaps one of the most important, is social media. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other platforms can be the best tools when looking for an opportunity on the labour market. In the session entitled "Best practices for finding employment using social media", we were given valuable advice in relation to this constantly evolving universe.
At 19:00, the webinar got under way led by Verónica Platas, a lecturer on the MBA and Master in Human Resources Management at EAE Business School. Alongside the School's lecturer, we welcomed Erasmo López García, a Social Media Strategist at Fotocasa.
In his presentation, López García gave us an overview of the numerous opportunities to be found on the internet, emphasizing the importance of having a social media profile. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are some of the most essential platforms on which the expert focused his presentation.
"It is important to be active on social media because our identity is built and destroyed there". They give us enhanced visibility and make it easier to contact us. In addition, they generate great confidence for potential nethunters, specialists in finding candidates on the web and social media, as well as helping is to position ourselves on the internet.
Just as in any activity we set our mind to in life, the social media expert advises us to set our objectives well. "We have to have a clear idea of what it is we want to achieve", based on which we can set our objectives, develop a strategy and define what success would entail for us.
The Social Media Strategist at Schibsted (the group of which Fotocasa forms part) went on to give us some handy tips for our social media profiles and how to improve our online reputation. "We have to make it clear who we are and why they should follow us". It is also important to use the keywords that the people we want to find us would use in a search. In terms of online reputation, he emphasized that we must delete old accounts and any compromising information, as well as keeping active. Moreover, "there are tools that enable us to improve our CV", by including multimedia content within it. He recommended following companies in the sector that we are interested in because, as well as gaining an insight into their philosophy and the way they work, they are often the first place that the companies post their employment offers".
The speaker then went on to give us a more in-depth focus in LinkedIn. Companies use this social network a great deal "to look for and validate our profiles". They also use it to contact professional profiles and collect CVs from potential candidates. "This is important for us because it gives us the opportunity to show our more professional side and connect with people". López García advised us to "take full advantage of all the fields that LinkedIn provides" to give a more detailed description of ourselves.
On LinkedIn, we have to be very visual and enhance our visibility by interacting on the social network. The guest speak recommends "having a consistent network that has a line of knowledge". While it may not be obligation to be on the platform, "if someone is looking for our profile on LinkedIn and can't find it, they will take a step back".
Another essential social media platform according to the Social Media Strategist at Schibsted Spain is Twitter. We can use this social network "to follow leaders in the sector and even contact them". It enables us to keep up to date by being constantly informed, as well as disseminating our messages as experts in the field. He underlined the opportunity that new Twitter threads give us because, thanks to them, we can take part in debates. Of course, the most important function of Twitter is searching for job opportunities. On this social network, the quality of our followers is more important than the quantity, and "it is essential to generate engagement with them".
López García once again emphasized the three steps he outlined at the beginning. We have to set objectives, develop and define success. "One factor that is crucial for generating success is work, work and more work", not only in terms of social media but also in the case of most projects.
"Facebook is not so important when looking for employment opportunities, but it may be of interest due to the number of users it has", he added by way of introduction to Facebook. He underlined the importance of taking the time to personalize our profile on this social network, and having a content strategy depending on the approach we want to communicate.
On Facebook, we have to enhance our interaction, which is the aspect that this social network best facilitates. Within the framework of this interaction, we may be interested in the groups, but sharing relevant information. One of the tools he encouraged us to capitalize on was Facebook Live because "it has the capacity to have a direct impact on your followers or contacts". López García assured the participants that this social network generates a great deal of confidence and "helps us a lot to position ourselves as experts". Discussing the option of investing in Facebook Ads, he emphasized that he was "not talking about investing large sums of money, but the amount we would spend on a coffee each day", as this could "enhance our scope".
The speaker then listed some of the key factors for being successful on social media. These included valuing the importance of the relations generated on these platforms. In addition, we have to take advantage of these media to sell our experience. Another key factor is being transparent but meaningful: "we don't have to give an opinion on everything but, when we do, we have to use our heads".
To conclude, the expert gave us a tip for achieving success on social media and preserving our online reputation: "Conduct yourself on social media as if your mum were watching you".