Job Search Balance: Social Networking vs. In Real Life Photo source: Freedigitalphotos.net
September 26 2012

Job Search Balance: Social Networking vs. In Real Life

For the most part, life is not a Twitter feed. Most strangers don’t respond to “@” followed by their name, and it is considered rude to jump into a conversation with a mere introductory “HASHTAG.”

Today, most college grads are impeccably online-proficient, tweeting with one hand and uploading their resume to LinkedIn with the other, but when does it come in handy? In the days of dorms, we trained ourselves to eat, sleep and breathe social networking, and although they tell us it’s a marketable tool, we aren’t immediately convinced. 

In order to successfully make your mark in your preferred world of business, a balance must be found; the real-life you and the tweeting, uploading, tagging you have to learn to work together! You cannot solely rely on online social media for your employment, so here are a few cooperative tips to try.

Always Opt for Real Life Face Time

There’s face time and then there’s Facetime. While your knowledge and use of your smartphone may open some employment doors, it will not get you through them all; real face time is what closes the deal. They’ve looked over your resume and checked out your online presence, now they want to see if you’re just as great as your online persona. Eye contact and poise can only be achieved in face-to-face meetings, and even in this digital-working era, social skills are important. You’re CV is only as good as your ability to smile and reassure the person in front of you that you are indeed a well-qualified candidate.

Of course, it’s also important to have a personal consistency. You (in person, wearing a tie and holding an overpriced cappuccino) should resemble the person seen online and through your listed experience. If they’ve called you in for an interview, chances are that they liked the online profile, so don’t over think the face-to-face meeting; just be yourself.

Be Professional

A level of professionalism is important online (i.e. citing retweets; thanking blog comments; adding LinkedIn connections), but it shouldn’t stop there. Employers look for more than social-media manners and a clean-cut profile picture; they want to know that they can trust you to handle yourself and others, and no blog post or Twitter feed can assure them of that. Employers pay attention to three things: how you work alone; how you work with others; and how you present yourself. They note your organizational skills, interactions, cooperation, and yes, even your attire. Network and socialize in the office as you would online, just remember that you’re not only representing yourself, but a company as well.

Don’t Let Your Online Presence Lag

Once you’ve secured the job and settled into your role, priorities will shift, and your life will become a hectic jumble of Post-its. In the midst of meetings, deadlines and clients, remember one thing: your online presence must survive. You were hired, in part, because of your online appeal, and if the profile updates and blog posts fade away, you are no longer the multitasking social-media buff that once impressed them. Web presence is also important for personal reasons, of course. Continue to network, learn new skills and add to your already-impressive CV.

About the Author:  Abby Ringiewicz is an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. She works as an editorial intern at a New England-based magazine, where she writes, edits and researches local stories.  You can follow Abby on Twitter @abbyrwrites and connect with her on LinkedIn

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