5 Ways to Boost Your Career with Social Media

Trish Freshwater landed her dream job at Sodexo, Inc. using Twitter. How? According to Good Morning America Workplace Contributor Tory Johnson, Freshwater landed a job through building connections. What she did was simple. First, she found people at Director or above levels at her target company of choice, followed them, and began participating in conversations on Twitter with those individuals. She never came out and asked for a job--instead she showed that she was someone to pay attention to because of her knowledge and insight. And within one month, she was offered a position at this company.

Finding a job is only one of the things that social media can do to help you build your career. Social media can help you network, educate yourself and even position you as an expert in your field. How?

Here are five tips to help boost your career via the social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Grandma proof your profile.
If you decide to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to enhance your professional networking, take a good look at your profile and pictures to make sure they're "grandma" proof. Basically, take down anything that you wouldn't want your grandma to see. Create a simple profile (or clean up your existing one) with minimal graphics and widgets. A professional looking profile is good to have because many employers are now screening job candidates on social networks.

Do your homework.
Find companies that you're interested in and study their pages. Determine which sites, forums, etc. are likely to be the most beneficial for promoting yourself--then limit your activity to these networks.

Join in.
Follow pages of associations and groups in your field. You might also want to join chamber groups or alumni groups. Reading articles and learning about upcoming events will help to inform and educate yourself so that you will be a highly desirable candidate or top performer at your current company.

Network.
Build relationships by joining in the conversation. Answer questions on Q & A communities. Few things will reinforce your branding more than providing the solution to a problem within your niche. Actively search out questions in places like LinkedIn and Yahoo! Answers, and provide well thought-out responses that demonstrate your knowledge and expertise.

Post content relevant to your career.
If you want to be known as an expert in your field, or someone who is knowledgeable, you should post information that helps this cause. Put yourself in the spotlight by writing and publishing articles relevant to your area of proficiency. Then link these resources to your profiles. The more you show what you know, the more credibility you lend to your brand.

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