Njorku Career Blog

How to use social media for Personal Branding

                                            (picture courtesy of siguidine.aminus3.com, @raoulandre designs)

Personal branding is a term used to describe how individuals may market themselves in a unique way to stand out from the highly competitive job market. Since getting a job is becoming tougher, you’ll have to brand yourself to be able to convince employers that you’re the right person they need. Social media has proven itself to be a very useful tool for personal branding and I’m sure you are on at least one social media platform. Hey don’t get so excited!!! There are millions of users on social media; hence so much ‘noise’ is created. You still need to personally brand yourself to even get heard talk-less of being seen. So, how can you use social media to brand yourself?

     

•      Know where your target audience is on social media

Knowing where employer’s commune is the first step to personal branding on social media. Are they on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or Google+? You have to answer these questions to know where you need to put more efforts. How do I know the employer’s favorite hangout?  The most reliable social media platforms where you’ll find employers are Linkedin and Twitter. They open you up to a world of opportunities when used wisely, and place you right above the employer’s wish list. I’m a perfect example!!! My activeness within my industry on these platforms made so many influencers take notice. I had job opportunities coming my way as I branded myself as a savvy internet marketer who had something peculiar to offer. You too can get people proposing job opportunities to you. It takes hard work, patience and….

•      Knowing how to interact on social media

This is probably the most important part of the whole story. You’ll have to do things the right way to get noticed! On Twitter for example, using hashtags which are familiar within your industry is a great way of taking part in discussions. How do I know which hashtag is familiar within my industry? To be fair, that’s a tricky question. There are so many hashtags that are being used within industries and knowing which one ‘sells’ best is a challenging affair. Putting so many may be seen as spam and putting very few may not get the attention of the people you wish. I use twubs.com to explore hashtag opportunities. I see which hashtag is the most used within a particular industry and tweet using the hashtag very often; hence making my voice heard within that industry. For Linkedin, the key is for you to build a strong profile. Put links and images of your past and present projects and be explicit with your cover letter. There are millions of groups on Linkedin, and joining your industry related groups is also a great way to get your voice heard.

Being active on social media isn't the only way for you to brand yourself. There are other ways you might exploit to stand out from the competition. Visit http://jobs.telegraph.co.uk/article/what-is-your-personal-brand-/ for more tips on personal branding Our www.njorku.com platform offers you several job opportunities, giving you the chance to make choices. But a confident, unique individual will easily land the job he chose, simply because of personal branding.