Networking
Networking is a valuable skill that can significantly enhance your job search. Here are some effective methods for networking to find your next job:
- Face-to-face: While online networking has its place, meeting people in person provides a more personal interaction. Attend industry-specific events, careers fairs, and social gatherings to connect with others.
- Reach out to contacts and ask for referrals. Follow up on those referrals and express gratitude. These conversations can lead to valuable connections.
- Develop your elevator pitch: Prepare a concise 30-second or 60-second pitch about yourself and your career goals. Be ready to share it when you meet new people.
- Join professional organisations: Participate in industry-specific groups or associations. Attend their events to meet professionals and expand your network.
- Alumni Network: Alumni are often willing to help fellow graduates. Connect with them through platforms like LinkedIn. Specific alumni groups related to your field can be especially helpful.
Digital networking - using social media
Digital networking offers unique advantages and complements face-to-face interactions.
Here are some of the benefits:
- Research: as well as connecting with people, you can learn about an organisation, their culture and the people who work there. By understanding an organisation’s values and goals, you can tailor your approach when reaching out.
- Building your digital networks: onnects you with professionals worldwide. Platforms like LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and industry-specific forums provide opportunities to engage with experts, potential mentors, and recruiters. Building a strong online network can open doors to valuable insights and job leads.
- Recruiting: Companies use social media not only for marketing but also for recruitment. They post job openings, share company updates, and actively search for qualified candidates. By following relevant pages and joining industry groups, you stay informed about job opportunities.
Your online profile
Maintaining a positive online presence is crucial, especially when potential employers search for information about you. Make sure the impression employers get is a positive one – keep your digital footprint clean and professional, set your privacy settings and do a regular internet search on your name (while logged out of your social media accounts) to check what comes up. Some employers, such as media and marketing will expect to see that you have an active social media presence.
Employers are usually impressed by:
- Professional photos, a clear headshot with a neutral background works well.
- A well written and grammatically correct profile, highlight your achievements, qualifications, and skills. Be concise and engaging.
- Recommendations from colleagues, mentors, or lectures can enhance your credibility. Request recommendations on platforms such as LinkedIn.
- Showcase your interests and work experiences. Employers appreciate candidates with diverse backgrounds and skills
- Maintain an active presence on social media platforms related to your field. Share relevant content, engage with industry trends, and connect with professionals.
LinkedIn is the key global professional social media platform with a focus on companies, employees and businesses linking with people for business purposes. Currently there are more than 930 million members globally. LinkedIn is particularly popular among students and recent graduates, who use it to connect with potential employers, showcase their skills, and explore career opportunities.
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for job seekers
With LinkedIn, you can:
- Establish your online professional identity.
- Connect with people in your chosen career area who may be able to advise you.
- Network with alumni and potential recruiters – for instance, you can find out how alumni got to their current positions.
- Find out about industries and companies that interest you, and gain commercial awareness.
- Join groups of like-minded individuals and get involved in vocational discussions.
- Find out about jobs and actual vacancies.
- Make introductions and referrals for others.
Getting started
Download our LinkedIn Building Your Profile factsheet (below) for full details.
Start by building your professional profile as fully as possible and aim for a 100% completed profile so you appear in more searches. It might take a while to achieve this, but it is worth the effort.
- Create an account.
- Craft a compelling headline that reflects your career goals.
- Build your profile Aim for a complete profile with details about your education, work experience, skills, and a professional photo..
- Adjust your privacy settings under the 'Me' button on the right of the top menu bar.
- Regularly update your profile, add content, and rearrange sections.
- Follow UniBradCareers
Optimising LinkedIn
- Customise your URL: Make your profile easier to find by customising your LinkedIn URL to include your name.
- Engage with content: Regularly post updates, articles, or share industry news to keep your profile active and visible.
- Join LinkedIn groups: Participate in groups related to your industry to network with like-minded professionals and stay updated on trends.
- Use LinkedIn analytics: Monitor who’s viewing your profile and which posts are performing well to tailor your content strategy.
- Showcase projects: Highlight specific projects or achievements in the Experience section to provide concrete examples of your skills.
- Stay active: Consistently update your profile with new skills, certifications, and experiences to keep it current.
X (formerly Twitter)
Follow us on X @UniBradCareers
X is a social networking site which allows you to post and view messages of up to 280 characters, called tweets, to those you connect with. You don’t have to tweet yourself, as you can just follow to begin with.
How can Twitter help me in my job hunt?
- Twitter is widely used by businesses and potential employers. It is frequently used to advertise opportunities, promote events and competitions, and communicate with potential applicants.
- Twitter can also be a way of simply doing some ‘market research’ about different companies.
- Save the Student's How to use Twitter to find a job
'Like' and follow our facebook page UniBradCareers
Facebook is a social networking site in which you create a profile to keep in touch with friends and family. You can share photos and updates with people you’re connected to. It can also be used to find out about job opportunities, and for careers research.
Could I use any other social media platforms for job hunting?
Here are some more types of social media platforms, along with how they could be useful in improving your online visibility:
| Type of media | Potential use for job hunting |
|---|---|
| Video: YouTube and Vimeo are the main video hosting websites. They generally allow the sharing embedding of videos within other platforms. | Promote yourself with a video CV, research organisations and look at job-hunting tips. |
| Photo sharing: Instagram is a mobile-based photo sharing app. Flickr is an online portfolio/ photo album geared towards more professional quality photos, users can comment and favourite. | Reflect your interests via your photos, build your online presence. |
| Blogs: Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress are all blogging platforms, Tumblr is the most social media-friendly as posts are easily shareable and ‘liked’, and users follow others to create a rolling content feed. | Create and share articles about your chosen industry. Research other industry bloggers. |
| Others: Pinterest is an online pinboard for collecting interesting content, and users can ‘follow’ other’s boards. Slideshare allows users to upload presentations to the web and share them online, Google+ is similar to Facebook in its format, but not widely used despite its useful inbuilt Google functions. | Collate a job hunting pinboard, create presentations, expand your online presence |
Practical help from Careers
If you'd like to discuss social or digital networking and jobseeking with us, please book an appointment online or find us in Student Central.
We also run careers workshops about social media throughout the year including our LinkedIn Labs which offer practical help to improve your profile. Check out our workshop schedule and reserve your place.