By Catherine Waddell 
Social media is integral to our daily lives. It is not only an essential component of the new age of connectivity but also necessary for our daily functioning. Social media has effectively replaced other major components of our lives. In fact, we no longer have to go out and look for a job, as we can simply pursue a career from the confines of our room, and that too with a few clicks. Building a successful career has also become much easier with the advent of social media. If you are looking for a job or want to progress further in one, then you might consider giving social media a chance. The following article will actually impart 5 different ways you can use social media platforms for a successful career.
Table of Contents
Importance of Social Media on Your Career
The initial image of social media was that of an entertainment portal. Even today, most people believe that the only merit these platforms have is their recreational value. However, it is not true. If used correctly, social media can be a boon for your career. According to ExpressVPN, companies recognize the potential in job recruiting through social media, and 70% of hiring managers reported successful hires through these platforms.
Not only does social media help you connect with a larger number of people, but it also makes you aware of the latest trends, which is crucial to a savant career. The various reasons social media is important to a career-oriented person are discussed below. Take a look:
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- Increasing your reach towards the target audience.
- Creating a personal relationship with co-workers
- Web traffic analytics and emerging trends
- Inculcating brand valuation
- Checking up on the competition
- Lead generation and management
5 Ways You Can Achieve Success in Your Career Using Social Media
According to our research, social media has become more entangled with careers, especially after the pandemic. What the research revealed was that we can arm ourselves in certain ways on these platforms or use them to achieve success. How? Let’s find out!
Engage in Professional Networking
We have heard of socializing. Many believe socializing is the key to quicker success in any corporate structure. Why? Because these people understand the value of personal relationships. There is a reason why your boss’s golf buddies get promoted faster. You can do the same by virtue of social media, and that too from the comfort of your home.
Social media aids you in creating new connections and, at the same time, expanding or building upon older or existing ones. It promotes professional networking, which many believe is the key to a successful career. So long as you increase your network and build new relationships, you will have that many more chances for a fresh opportunity. You can also leverage your networking abilities to get a boost in your existing career. And if everything else fails, you can always like and comment on your boss’ golfing pic!
Skill Enhancement
A skilled person never goes hungry. While we believe it to be true, the current era of technology requires one to put more into how they present themselves rather than how skilled they are. If you can’t demonstrate your skills, no one will pay you any notice. Here’s when social media comes into play. It can help you package yourself. Furthermore, social media is the best place to acquire new skills.
With the current advancement in technology, you can not only enroll in online courses but also gain valid certifications regarding the same. This allows you to gain new skills and add to your existing ones. From leadership skills to communication and from technical skills like coding to photography and editing, it can all be learned online and showcased accordingly, all thanks to social media.
Discover Career Alternatives
As we proclaimed earlier, more connections equals more opportunities. Sometimes, what you think you can do is so singular that you fail to grasp new opportunities when they present themselves. Many people have a tunnel-like vision of their careers. However, in this era of technology and information, a career is no longer exclusive to a particular skill set. The same skills can also be applied to a totally different job, and that too efficiently.
However, one can avoid all this by simply relying on social media. Those who are regulars on these platforms are often knowledgeable of the changes taking place in the industry. They are also familiar with upcoming trends. Thus, they can spot newer opportunities much earlier on. Then there is also your network. You can always look for people with similar jobs and study how their careers have progressed over the years, what changes they have made, and how successful those changes have been.
Present Your Talent and Skills
We have already established the importance of presentation in an earlier point; to elaborate on that, people need to be more vocal regarding their talents and skills. And social media is the perfect place to do so. You can showcase your skills on different platforms. There are many other jobs associated with social media platforms too, such as graphic design, content writing, and so on.
Stay Updated on the Current Technology Changes and Trends
Social media is a place to stay connected with the world. As such, you can get all the latest news and trends delivered to your screen. With knowledge, it becomes far easier to grab hold of an opportunity. You can also leverage social media to gain more knowledge or skills and later use them for your career advancement.
Different Social Media Platforms that Are Conduit to Your Career Growth
Social media is now more popular than ever. Remember a time when there was only Facebook for all our connectivity needs? However, today we have literally dozens of social media platforms, all offering a unique experience. It has impacted our lives in such a way that we can no longer separate our personal lives from our online realities. People have even gotten into trouble due to their online habits. So it is not far-fetched to claim that social media is a perfect conduit for our career growth.
Another interesting fact about social media is its dynamic nature. It never remains stagnant, or if it does, then it is left behind in oblivion. Today, we have multiple platforms a person can use to advance their career. However, all these platforms are ever-changing and adding more enhanced and better applications. Some influential or important social media platforms you can rely on for your career are as follows:
It is a popular networking website for professionals with more than 500 million members. It is a platform that can be used as a career management tool as well as a job-hunting platform.
The next popular platform is, of course, Twitter, with its 330 million users. It is a microblogging website, but it has almost all the influential people on the planet. You can find politicians, sportsmen, actors, teachers, bankers, and who knows what else on Twitter. If used correctly, you can even make a career out of tweeting.
And then we have the older classic, Facebook, with over 2 billion users. Although it started as a friendship platform, it has evolved over time to cater to businesses. Today, one can even successfully run an advertising campaign using Facebook to promote his or her business.
Conclusion
In conclusion, all I have to say is this: While social media can be portrayed in a negative light, it is a fact that we can put it away. It is here to stay and has entangled itself pretty astutely in our daily lives. Thus, it is only natural that we find ways to make it useful for our purposes, and one such purpose is career advancement.