Social media platforms are fast becoming a meeting point for job seekers to gain access to recruiters and hiring managers alike. In order for job seekers to use social media to their advantage they have to make a conscious effort to build symbiotic and not parasitic relationships on the platform. Unfortunately many do the latter to their own peril.

Says Joshua Waldman, author of Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies, “Social media is probably one of the most hyped-up technologies you can use for a job search today. And often, things that get a lot of hype also come with a lot of misunderstanding. Companies, as well as individuals, have made some very damaging mistakes because they didn’t take the time to really understand social media.”

In my line of work as a recruiter, with special interest in social recruiting, I spend quite a number of time on social media and I do encounter quite a number of funny cum annoying scenarios exhibited by a few job seekers who lack how best to use social media in their favour. Permit me to cite a few of such mistakes job seekers make on social media and how to avoid them:

Social media sense of entitlement

A few weeks back, a job seeker on my LinkedIn contact asked me for a LinkedIn Job Introduction to another recruiter who is on my contact as well. I would have granted his request without any issue except that I don’t know him well enough for me to stick my head out for him. When I communicated to him that I couldn’t grant his request, he replied thus – “I am sorry I have to remove you as a connection, you are of no use to me”. I just told myself, this individual just made a big mistake, which is what I term social media sense of entitlement! He felt because we were connected on LinkedIn, he is doing me a favour, he was so wrong! Add value to people on social media and value would flow back to you in return. That is the secret of social networking that this fellow failed to realise.

Failure to know their social media audience

Every social networking channel has its unique audience; this is so because understanding of your audience is very important to leveraging social media platforms. As a job seeker, make sure your messages are appealing to the people who read them. Don’t use Facebook language on LinkedIn; Facebook has a more casual audience compared with LinkedIn’s professional outlook. On LinkedIn, your audiences are professionals in your industry and potential employers. So focus on what makes you different, the value you can bring to the table, and your level of understanding and motivation about a field. Make all these very obvious to your audience.

Ignoring Social networking etiquette

From the way some job seekers interact on social media, it is obvious that they don’t have a clue that social networking is governed by etiquettes similar to face-to-face social networking. Do you know that what is acceptable on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn differ? Many are found of asking for a follow back on Twitter with phrases like – “@segunakiode now following you, pls follow back”, that is so wrong. In face-to-face discussion, this is analogous to saying “I came to visit you at home tonight, so you must follow me back home tonight.” Guess my point is clear. When job seekers fail to recognise these social media etiquettes or rules, then they are making a major mistake.

Lack of a professional online presence

Often before I accept LinkedIn invites, I do check such LinkedIn profiles first. This is to ascertain how professional such profiles look and to weigh value demonstrated by viewing such profiles. Another big mistake job seekers make is having a less-than-professional online presence. It is the way you look online that you would be addressed – if you look professional online, you would be given a professional treatment and otherwise. Your social media profile photo must not be one taken at a party or a beach, endeavor to use a professional photo. Recruiters and hiring managers are watching; let them see you as a serious-minded individual as they can make an impression of your offline person just by looking at what you share online. Don’t give any conflicting view about yourself to recruiter and hiring managers.

Substituting social networking with face-to-face networking:

Many job seekers forget that social media is just a tool to ease offline networking and not completely erase it. So what this means it that you ought to treat social networking as you do face-to-face networking. Build your relationships on social media over time and with care. I am sure you would dare not go for a business meeting dressed in a beach wear? So it is so important for you to leverage social media as a tool that is it and you have to use that tool wisely and effectively.

So job seeker, social media can either be a friend or a foe, so beware how you use it!



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Who will get job will surely get it. Who will never get a job will never get it.