Three Ways To Contribute To Your Niche In Social Media
December 1, 2009 – 7:26 pm | by Daryl TayYesterday I talked about how there is a misconception that certain industries are more suited for social media and how in fact anyone can use the tools available to contribute to their niche, especially when they’re ramping up their job hunting efforts.
As promised, here are three things you can do to get started:
1) Write on Facebook
I know a couple of people who do this. They write spiffy notes, or thoughtful notes about current issues and then tag people relevant to encourage replies and a conversation. This serves the dual purpose of getting your thoughts out there and also getting valuable feedback. What if a HR student wrote a note about a more effective reward/compensation for Generation Y in the office? Or a finance student demonstrated his ability to explain the financial crisis in non-jargon terms?
2) Use Twitter
You can do this without even having a Twitter account. Use Twitter Search and enter phrases that are relevant to your field. Search for “javascript” if you’re a programmer, “branding” if you want to do branding or relevant hashtags like #analytics for web analytics. Soon you’ll get a feel of what people are talking about as well as the links they share, and you’ll be ready to create your own Twitter account and add to the discussion too.
3) Join a group on LinkedIn
There’s literally a group for anything on LinkedIn. Some a more active than others but there is probably an existing group out there. Try asking questions like “what would you look for when you’re hiring a fresh graduate in the [insert profession] field?”. The likelihood is someone will reply and you’ll be gathering valuable information straight from future employers.
The market is competitve and everyone needs a way to stand out. Try one (or all) of these ideas and bring a printout of that Facebook discussion (and the comments) to your next interview. Talk about the latest topic on Twitter that was mentioned an hour before your interview. Ask for your interviewer’s views on a topic commonly brought up in your LinkedIn group and ask how that company approaches these questions.
All these small things convey a message about you: That you’re passionate about your field, that you’re keeping a finger on the pulse on what’s going on, and that you’re not afraid to use technology to do it.
Don’t underestimate these qualities in today’s workforce – they can be priceless.
Tags: employers, facebook, fresh graduates, HR, LinkedIn, social media, twitter
4 Responses to “Three Ways To Contribute To Your Niche In Social Media”
By Daphne Maia on Dec 2, 2009 | Reply
i’m looking at this from the commercial pov. no offense, but i think u are oversimplifying things.
some industries ARE more suited for social media. some industries are completely not.
unless u r referring to everything digital as social.
i think the misconception is not what u mentioned, but rather that of what encompasses social media.
if every industry / company just blindly jumps on the social media bandwagon without first evaluating if their audience are on social media or not, then we get a lot of wasted resources, wasted efforts, and wasted online real estate. not saying that u’re encouraging every single company / industry to explore social media blindly, but this post / ur previous post certainly seems to imply that.
u may be right about using social media as an individual in different industry – as in using social media to back ur portfolio / resume / individual online visibility n all that – but in the commercial sense? i’m not so sure.
By Daryl Tay on Dec 2, 2009 | Reply
Hmm the post isn’t talking about companies getting on social media. The previous post (which is part 1) starts off with the line “Let me start by saying I write this post from a job hunter’s point of view”. It’s talking about purely contributing to a niche on an individual level.
That means whether you’re an accountant, a restaurant owner, a flash writer, a photographer a designer or whatever, there is some group or platform out there somewhere that you as an individual can join to network, share knowledge, gain insights etc.
This post isn’t referring to social media in the commercial sense, it’s purely how individuals can leverage the tools to stand out and communicate something about themselves if and when they are in the job hunting stage.
By Isman Tanuri (@groovygenie) on Dec 4, 2009 | Reply
I’ll jump in on your last point: LinkedIn.
I think this is one of the most ignored or neglected social network, even for working professionals. There is an abundance of information (research on employers, peers, industry info, etc) for new graduates or job seekers, but it seems that LinkedIn is not being utilised as much as I would like it to be used in Singapore.
Perhaps that may be because, for new job seekers, their lack of portfolio maybe a hindrance for joining but I still there is still great value to being on there.
But employers also need to do their part, I guess. I was researching on a global MNC (for a job interview) and none of their SG employees or management are on LinkedIn, very disappointing.
By Daryl Tay on Dec 5, 2009 | Reply
@Isman Tanuri: I totally agree with your points there it’s a two way street. I was just on the phone with a friend this week telling him to get on LinkedIn. And of course I got the same response again “it only works well for your industry” as if the only people who use LinkedIn are in marketing!