LinkedIn isn’t the only social network for job searching. If you are like most people, you spend more time on Facebook than LinkedIn, so why not fix your Facebook profile to get it job-search ready?
Use your “Intro” section wisely. Your intro is an important personal branding opportunity and viewable to anyone looking at your profile. This section is the first thing someone will see when viewing your Facebook profile. Use your intro like you use your LinkedIn headline. Feature your desired occupation or a list of skills. You only have 100 characters, so choose them wisely.
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
Don’t dismiss your “About” section. Consider this section like the summary on LinkedIn or your resume. This section appears as a tab under your cover photo and allows more space to write about yourself. This section is your opportunity to highlight skills in demand, industry experience and characteristics that make you unique.
Update your work history and education. Facebook recently announced a change to more-prominently display extended employment and education history on your profile. Each job you list in this section will appear under your intro. This is where you should note your work history, however, if you decide to keep this information under wraps, you can change the settings to hide your work history from the public.
Know your privacy settings. Facebook has a reputation for changing privacy settings. If you haven’t looked at your settings in a while, it would be wise to do so. You can change privacy settings for “Who can see my stuff?” “Who can contact me?” and “Who can look me up?” If you do not want people to be able to search for you by email or phone number, adjust those settings. You can also prevent your profile from showing up in search engine results by removing that criteria.
Also be sure to verify your profile displays the way you want. You can preview your Facebook profile as others see it. Look for the three dots just below your cover image and select “View As…” and choose either “Public” or the name of a specific friend.
[See: 10 Ways to Perfect Your Personal Brand.]
Know who can see what you are posting. Another setting you should pay attention to is the setting on your status updates. Are you sharing your posts publicly or just with friends? If your status update has a globe next to the date, this means you have shared it publicly and everyone can see it. If you do not want certain posts to be public, you can change your settings by clicking on the inverted triangle and changing the post to “Friends.”
Stay professional at all times. Avoid using profanity, sharing provocative or inappropriate photos or speaking negatively about your current or past employer. Anything you share on social media can become public so it is best to filter what you share, post or comment on.
Search Facebook groups for jobs. Facebook isn’t a job board, but you can use the groups feature to find people posting jobs in your field and geographic area. Use the search function within Facebook and enter your city and the word “jobs” to find groups that share job leads.
Meet new people and interact. To get the most from Facebook, participate in group discussions dedicated to your industry or occupation. You can also “like” a company’s page and join its career group to interact with employees managing the account.
Find company insiders. Have you tried searching Facebook for people who work at a company you are interested in? In the Facebook search bar, start typing “people who work at X company.” The search results will show people listing the company in their work history. While Facebook does give you the opportunity to send a message to this person, you would be better off finding a mutual friend and asking for an email introduction.
[See: 8 Things That Are More Productive Than Staring at a Job Board.]
Reconnect with your college. Don’t forget to connect with your college classmates. Be sure you’ve added your college information if you want others to know what school you attended. Look for your school’s alumni groups on Facebook as well.
Facebook may be the advantage you need. Socially savvy job seekers have an advantage over those who are not using social media to meet new people and search for a job. Invest time in marketing your skills and experience and nurture your connections across all networks to uncover leads to a new job.
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Fix Your Facebook Profile for Job Searching originally appeared on usnews.com
