Dear Classy Career Girl,
Many of the companies I’ve been applying to lately have a vast social media presence. On their Facebook pages, I’ll often see people post comments on their wall that they have submitted their resume (ex.: “Hey, Company X! I would love to work for you – just sent you my resume! Hope to hear from you soon!”).
Part of me views this as desperate and nagging. However, maybe this is our generation’s way of following up – a social media post instead of a phone call. How do companies see this? Do you think this would be beneficial in a job hunt, or would the company see it in a negative way?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this!
-Social Job Searcher
Social Media and Job Searching
Social Job Searcher,
I don’t think it is nagging. I think it shows that you are really excited about the opportunity and know how to use social media and technology. If you are applying for a marketing job I think it is really important. If you have an online resume or even a LinkedIn page (that looks amazing) you could also send them a link to it. Why not? I think the most important part of applying for jobs these days is to stand out. If you can do that in any way that you can think of to be creative and to think outside of the box.
If you can do that in any way that you can think of to be creative and to think outside of the box. I am not saying that doing this follow up on social media is actually going to work and you will get the job. But I can promise you that you will stand out from a sea of applicants.
The only thing to make sure is that you have a very professional looking picture and that your public photos are either professional or you have them private. It definitely requires some careful thought before you start doing it. Also, you want to make sure you only do that at one company. Why? Because companies can look at your status updates usually and tell if you have said the same thing to multiple other companies.
So just make sure you do that are your dream company and that is it. I also think you could use Twitter and do the same thing. Why not? If you know of a person that you can find from the company on Twitter that might be even better. Of course I always recommend that you meet them in person or over the phone but this could be a great way to start the conversation. If you don’t get the job, you could always reach out to them later on and ask them for an informational interview. At the informational interview, you could ask them questions like what you would need to do in order to get into the company someday in the future.
Social media is huge right now and most companies know it. That is why I wouldn’t hesitate to send them a little not on Facebook or an enthusiastic tweet that you have submitted your application. An email might be going too far but the reason I like a social media update is that it is only a gentle nudge. A lot of companies who work in non-social industries often find trouble in getting people to interact with them.
So, using your time to tweet, share, or Facebook with a company might be a great boost. However, using social media can also be an application downfall. Showing your online presence to a company can lead them to check out your profile or online history. Even if you keep your profile squeaky clean you might want to make sure you have a positive online reputation throughout the entire web. A simple Google search of your name might yield negative results outside of social media platforms so be careful!
Thoughts from a Manager of Social Recruitment
I thought it would be interesting to get a company’s perspective also so I reached out to Melanie Tom, Manager, Social Recruitment & Employment Branding at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Inc and asked her the same question. Here is what she said:
I wouldn’t consider it desperate or nagging. It’s a great way to capture an employer’s attention and consideration for a role as we all want to hire employees who are engaged from Day One (and as studies show, the more engaged an employee is from Day One- the higher retention rate the company will have vs. low engagement = turnover). We love it when candidates are proactive about expressing their interest to work for us.
I recently had a candidate tweet to us that he was really interested in working for us yet hasn’t had the opportunity to interview. We had our recruiters look up his application and placed him in the forefront of the interviewing process. Now he’s being reviewed by the hiring manager for an in-person interview. It never hurts to express your interest as long as you’ve applied for the job and you’re qualified. This approach definitely helps individuals stand out from a pool of candidates.
Two things to keep in mind when posting your comment:
Make sure you’re really interested, you’ve applied and you’re qualified (don’t waste an employer’s time by saying you’ve applied yet you really haven’t and you only want to see if they’ll respond… that’s desperate)
80% of the time, an employer will respond to your post and when they do, make sure you thank them! Keep in mind that employers don’t have to respond to your application inquiry as every other candidate is vetted through the same recruitment process but if they are going to take the time to review your application, thank them!
The only other advice I would provide is to refrain from using social media as your venting vehicle to bash employers- I’ve seen it before where candidates get upset and take the social media route to “vent” about why they didn’t get the job or why they didn’t get an interview. Bashing an employer publicly isn’t going to increase your chances of getting a job so don’t do it.”
