How to brand yourself in the finance and business industry

Social networking has also become more and more essential as a way for companies and recruiters to find the right talent. Leading companies like Accenture will be using social media to make as many as 40% of their hires in the next few years.

Published on: Jun 29, 2020, 16:33:35 IST

By HT Correspondent

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We are living in a world high on social media and social networking. Whether you know it or not, you could already be connected to the person who can and will give you your big break. And Facebook and Twitter have got lots to do with your dream job.

This is not just about candidates looking for jobs or top-notch contacts. It is a give-and-take situation. Social networking has also become more and more essential as a way for companies and recruiters to find the right talent. Leading companies like Accenture will be using social media to make as many as 40% of their hires in the next few years.

Social media can be used to boost one’s job search as many businesses now embrace social media as part of their talent attraction strategy. A potential employer can discover a sense of a potential candidate’s personality before an interview that they don’t necessarily get from a CV and cover letter.

At a time when social networking is at its prime, LinkedIn needs a special mention.This noisy and chaotic place has revolutionised the entire professional world with more than 400 million people trying to network constantly. LinkedIn is changing recruitment and it is one of the first places recruiters or employers look for candidates. So, if you aretrying to market yourself as young, fresh, forward-thinking, innovative, you need a LinkedIn profile. It means that you, the candidate is willing to take on new things, to move with the times and embrace technology.

But, just LinkedIn is not enough. It helps if one considersstarting a blog and postsrepeatedly on trends within the relevant fields and personal insights and then shares these on their other social media channels. People need to be quite active on all relevant platforms and be sure to comment on other industry blogs to raise their online visibility.

Social media can be used to follow potential employers (harmlessly!) to find out what job opportunities they might have and as a means to start engaging with them. One should take a look at what channels potential employers are using – LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebookand try to connect with them to start engaging. So, if one views a potential hiring manager’s LinkedIn profile, they will be notified and one will be on their radar.Similarly, one can follow them on Twitter and message them asking for more information about careers. Candidates should be able to identify “touch-points” – like commenting and liking their latest LinkedIn postor sharing their latest blog. This makes sure that one looks good and informed in the eyes of employers.

Many employers and recruiters search a candidate online upon receiving a CV and one should make sure the search results make them stand out for the right reasons. So, it is crucial that one’s social media profiles are up to date and that one keeps their professional and personal ones separate. While it is good to expandone’s network through social media by connecting with fellow professionals and possible employers, it is imperative that onemulls over quality over quantity. It is quite easy to spend too much time on social media without gaining much success. It is a much better idea to identify the people and businesses that are really going to help an individual in his/her job quest rather than randomly connecting with just anyone.

One should also keep in mind that no matter how strong a CV is, if an employer finds a candidate’s online presence inapt or odious in any way, one could be endangering his/her chances of getting a job or even getting an interview. If there are numerous good candidates all competing for the same position, an employer will be keenly seeking ways to filter down their choices.

Last but not least, do not be scaredor inhibited of social media; it is just prudent to be conscious of one’s online image.

(The author is Luke Collier- Global Head of Employer Delivery (ACCA). Views expressed are personal)

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