Social Media and the Engineering Job Search

If you don’t already have a LinkedIn account, get one. There remains little doubt that social media needs to play a significant role in anyone’s job search, especially in the engineering and technical fields, and LinkedIn is the preeminent social network for professionals of any discipline.

LinkedIn is a great place to connect with co-workers and employers, both current and former, as well as with recruiters and staffing agencies. There are also many LinkedIn groups, covering pretty much all areas of engineering, which can be a good source of news and information in the field.

Creating a LinkedIn Profile

When creating a LinkedIn profile, you should really treat it as an alternative version of your resume. Make the effort to detail all of your work experience as well as your skill set. When adding connections, you should consider only adding those that are truly part of your work history.

Additionally, don’t be bashful about asking a previous co-worker or employer for a recommendation. Endorsements are also growing in popularity on LinkedIn; endorse some of your connections’ skills, and they will probably return the favor. To help with this process, make sure all of your technical and engineering abilities are listed on your LinkedIn profile.

Do Other Social Networks make Sense, Professionally?

Let’s start off by saying that Facebook makes no professional sense for your career, unless you have your own engineering practice. It could be used to promote your business with the assistance of themarketingheaven.com, but not yourself as an individual looking for a job. In that case, you should maintain a business page for it. Keep Facebook for friends, family, and former classmates. Twitter and Google+, on the other hand, both serve well as sources for information and news in your field.

Make it a point to follow or place in your circles interesting people in engineering or technology that regularly provide meaningful insight. While networking is possible using Twitter and Google+, the sharing of valuable information provides the biggest benefit to your career development.

If you are looking for great advice or strategies for using social media in your engineering job search, talk to the professionals at The Talley Group. As one of the leading engineering staffing companies in the Northwestern United States, they can help you further your career and help you develop your social networking presence. If you are looking for engineering jobs in Seattle, contact the employment experts at The Talley Group today.