Personal branding
are you still looking or are you already being found?

What should you do to attract the attention of HR managers? Are you still writing applications and handing out business cards, or are you putting all of your efforts into your personal branding? The fact is that employers now actively look for suitable candidates in social networks (technical term: active sourcing). They often find the right specialists for their vacancies more quickly in this way. Make it easy for yourself and the companies who are doing the searching: Concentrate on your social media profiles, and let the social networks work for you.

In order for you to advance your career with social media and impress recruiters with your social media profile, you should seriously consider the characteristics and possibilities offered by LinkedIn, Xing, Facebook etc. Forget the classic application with a cover sheet, cover letter, your CV and pages of attachments. It is better to use spend your time optimising your personal brand and setting up and expanding your own network in social media.

What is personal branding?
Why is personal branding so important?
Use personal branding via social media as your advertisement
Develop professional networks using social media
Personal Branding – Advertise your uniqueness
Everyone will be able to find you on social networks if you do this
3 tips on how to use your personal branding to find jobs using social media

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What is personal branding?

Every brand has unique selling points which distinguish it and the values that it stands for. The same can be said about personal branding. Use self-marketing and turn yourself into the brand using personal branding. Show recruiters your personality and your professional qualities. Construct your own powerful image in social media channels and impress future companies with your "personal brand".

Why is personal branding so important?

What do you stand for? Do you have any visions or thoughts that you would like to share with the world? Stand up for your topics, and use them as a basis for your personal branding. Present your ideas and skills to the outside world, and share your messages with your network and also people and companies that you don't know. Join groups, or participate publicly in discussions which interest you. In this way, you will open up a wider circle of experts in your field, and give others the opportunity to engage with you and your ideas.

Positive side effect: Your personal brand will increase your awareness in social networks and therefore the likelihood of being regarded as a potential employee by HR managers.

How have you been using social networks so far? Privately, politically or professionally? Regardless of which platform you are active on: HR personnel are curious by nature, and will be very interested in your private content. They also want to know about your opinion and positioning concerning technical subject areas. You should therefore pay attention to how you present and position yourself on your social media profile, which content you publish and which content is only available to private contacts. Use the privacy setting of each social media channel and ask yourself: Do I really want my potential new employer to see the photos from the last party weekend?

Set up professional networks via social media

Not every social media platform is suitable for professional purposes. Facebook or Twitter play a secondary role as far as advancing your career is concerned. The Xing and LinkedIn career platforms have a completely different focus in comparison to other social networks. You can continuously work on your own expert profile on these platforms, look for professional dialogue with other experts and push forward with your self-marketing for HR managers.

On both of these platforms, not only can you highlight your skills and experience with the aid of a clear list of the previous stages of your career. You can also raise your profile by adding keywords or hashtags such as "Online Marketing" or "Data Science". This will allow HR managers and new contacts to find you easily and enter into (professional) dialogue with you.

Our tip: Communication is the key. Take part in professional dialogues and demonstrate your profile and your personality. Personnel managers are also extremely interested in this.

Personal branding – show your uniqueness

Every brand needs USPs – unique selling points that set it apart from the rest. You as a person should also think and act like a corporate brand. So ask yourself: What is your unique selling proposition, and why can't companies do without you? This is precisely what matters if you are applying for a job or you want to impress HR managers on your social media profile. Use the options that are provided by LinkedIn or Xing, and stand out from the competition:

Profile picture and background image: Professional, taken from a professional context
Work experience: List the most important information for each job, preferably with some successes (e.g. economic growth by x percent)
Certificates, references and qualifications: Store everything that is useful for your job
Credentials: Have your expertise confirmed by your contacts
Technical discourse: Get involved, and share your thoughts and opinions concerning the current trends in your field
Article: If you have published something yourself, you can save the post as a favourite so that profile visitors can see it
Networking: Expand your network to generate a longer reach, and gain some new perspectives

Our tip is therefore: Take advantage of the opportunities provided by social media platforms, and set up a serious and likeable personal brand. Xing and LinkedIn have a wide variety of options for doing this.

How everyone can find you on social networks

In spite of all of the advantages and opportunities that a professional profile on Xing or LinkedIn provide: If no one can find you, all of your efforts have been in vain. Regard your personal branding in social media as self-marketing: You can only get a hit if it is addressed to the right target groups and appeals to the respective users. A social media profile alone will not help you. These networks thrive on interaction. It is about people connecting and getting in touch with each other. Our appeal is therefore: Network with contacts in your industry, with people in similar positions or with members of suitable groups. Networking and self-marketing have now become an absolute career booster.

Did you know that you can even use social media to influence your chances of being found on Google? We will show you how to do this in the following tips for job hunting via social media.

3 tips on how to use your personal branding for job hunting via social media

Have you completed all of your social media profiles and are now waiting for attractive job inquiries? If you have a little patience, this method can certainly work. You can also become even more active yourself, and therefore increase your chances of advancing your career via social media.

1. Analyse your personal branding

It's no easy task to assess yourself and your public image. Be bold, and be systematic. To carry out your own personal analysis, start by creating a critical picture of your personal brand. The first step is to use search engines like Google or Bing. Whatever you see about yourself there, the rest of the world sees it as well. Do you still stand behind what is published there? If not, try removing some content – or have it removed.

The next step is to examine your social media profiles. Make a list of all of your accounts. Compare and check your profiles for consistency. Provide a coherent overall picture, and adapt your entries and information to each other. For example, use the same photo, slogan, writing style, and text revealing something about your ambitions and motivations.

1. Analyse your personal branding

It's no easy task to assess yourself and your public image. Be bold, and be systematic. To carry out your own personal analysis, start by creating a critical picture of your personal brand. The first step is to use search engines like Google or Bing. Whatever you see about yourself there, the rest of the world sees it as well. Do you still stand behind what is published there? If not, try removing some content – or have it removed.

The next step is to examine your social media profiles. Make a list of all of your accounts. Compare and check your profiles for consistency. Provide a coherent overall picture, and adapt your entries and information to each other. For example, use the same photo, slogan, writing style, and text revealing something about your ambitions and motivations.

2. Spend less time on application letters by using your social media profiles

Once you have carried out an extensive analysis of your social media profiles, you can implement your findings. Tidy up your social media presence, and you will already have laid the foundations for job hunting via social media. Does that seem too complicated to you? Just think how much time you would invest in a single application letter. You will easily be able to optimise your profiles within this time.

When you are using your social media channels for your career, make sure

that you include a professional profile picture. Nobody likes to make contact with anonymous users.
that you use this particular picture on all of your social media profiles. This helps to set up your personal branding and you will be recognised more easily.
that you always use the same user name on social media platforms.
that you reserve your personalized URL on LinkedIn. This will give you better ranking results in the search engines, and you will be found faster on LinkedIn.
that your privacy is protected by using the right settings.

2. Spend less time on application letters by using your social media profiles

Once you have carried out an extensive analysis of your social media profiles, you can implement your findings. Tidy up your social media presence, and you will already have laid the foundations for job hunting via social media. Does that seem too complicated to you? Just think how much time you would invest in a single application letter. You will easily be able to optimise your profiles within this time.

When you are using your social media channels for your career, make sure

that you include a professional profile picture. Nobody likes to make contact with anonymous users.
that you use this particular picture on all of your social media profiles. This helps to set up your personal branding and you will be recognised more easily.
that you always use the same user name on social media platforms.
that you reserve your personalized URL on LinkedIn. This will give you better ranking results in the search engines, and you will be found faster on LinkedIn.
that your privacy is protected by using the right settings.

3. How to succeed in your job search on social media

Invest time and effort in promoting yourself. Ultimately, the following steps will save you time in your job search in the long run:

Write your own posts or articles and show which topics you are passionate about.
Be easy to find on the Internet. You can use the online branding tool About.me, for example. You can create your own website there and store your biography, your CV, a photo and links to all of your social media profiles. Once you're finished, you'll have created your own online business card which will allow anyone to contact you quickly.
Monitor how you are doing. Set up Google Alerts and never miss any new entries about yourself again.
Improve your personal branding with tools such as BrandYourself. This evaluates your search entries and gives you optimization suggestions for your social media profile.

3. How to succeed in your job search on social media

Invest time and effort in promoting yourself. Ultimately, the following steps will save you time in your job search in the long run:

Write your own posts or articles and show which topics you are passionate about.
Be easy to find on the Internet. You can use the online branding tool About.me, for example. You can create your own website there and store your biography, your CV, a photo and links to all of your social media profiles. Once you're finished, you'll have created your own online business card which will allow anyone to contact you quickly.
Monitor how you are doing. Set up Google Alerts and never miss any new entries about yourself again.
Improve your personal branding with tools such as BrandYourself. This evaluates your search entries and gives you optimization suggestions for your social media profile.

If you implement these self-marketing tips, you will have created a good basis for your personal branding and your positioning in social networks. Take the energy with you and keep active. And tomorrow, perhaps an inquiry from a recruiter will land in your inbox – or via LinkedIn or Xing. Until then, you can also upload your unsolicited application to us and we will contact you with suitable job offers.