Hello Guys,
Have you ever applied for a job in a company and then been rejected only because of your social media problem? What does it do? Okay, let’s discuss it together.
The times and technological development that are increasingly rapid at this time, we indirectly have to try to develop ourselves and always learn so as not to be left behind. If in the past the internet could only be accessed by a few people, now almost everyone can easily reach it. It is what makes us familiar with social media.
But do you know what social media is?
Social media is a medium to socialize with each other and do it online that allows humans to interact without limiting space and time. With social media, we can disseminate information quickly. In this digital era, people cannot separate from the name of social media. Similar to the internet touches all aspects of life. They use social media to communicate, seek entertainment in leisure, for transportation, transact, and buy goods.
Especially in the Covid-19 Pandemic, social media plays a very significant role in various activities such as information, communication, work, and education to our lives. It can be accessed whenever, wherever it is set free by its users and only need to connect to the internet. In addition, the broad social media range can make us reach other distant users who are to strengthen the rope of brotherhood, adding to the relationship or just exchanging the mind.
According to data presented by Hootsuite (We Are Social), which is continuously published in February every year about the internet and social media trend data, it reveals that old social media still dominate the most social media use in 2022. Facebook (FB) is still the most popular social media in the world. Based on statistical reports, Facebook has the highest number of active users at 2.9 billion.
The number of social media user accounts is the world’s highest number of internet users. The Hootsuite survey of 2021 provides data on the number of internet users in this world reached 4.66 billion people. A total of 4.22 billion are social media users. In addition, social networking sites in 2022 are expected to reach 3.96 billion users and will continue to grow as mobile phone usage.
In Indonesia, there were 191.4 million social media users in January 2022. It was equivalent to 68.9 percent of the total population. The Kepios analysis of reports data revealed that social media users in Indonesia increased by 21 million (+12.6 percent) between 2021 and 2022. Here is a list of social media with the most users in Indonesia: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, Line, Pinterest, Kuaishou, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Discord, Skype, and Likee.
This high percentage of social media usage turns out to have many benefits for the workforce. It can be a place to look for job info. In the past, we bought newspapers or went straight into the field to find job vacancies, but now we only need to open social media on Instagram, Facebook or others. Almost all small or large companies are informing jobs through social media and have implemented an online recruitment system.
Besides that making it easier for job seekers, social media also makes it easy for companies to find potential prospective employees. Observing applicants’ social media helps HRD (Human Resource Development) to get to know and understand the individual. Job applicants also often include their work portfolio on their social media. It is too helpful for recruiters to check their hard skills and soft skills they have. Social media is also beneficial for workers to communicate with each other about their work almost all the time. They use social media to exchange information because it is easier and more efficient consideration.
The broad reach of social media is also often used by business people to expand their business relationships to various parts of the world. It also researches market interest because almost all information in the world is published on social media, making it easier for companies in technology, fashion, and cuisine to watch market interest. Social media can be a consideration for improving their products to remain popular with consumers.
That’s a brief review of social media!
As we know, social media makes it easy for us to find a job. Of course, this also makes the competition getting tighter and broader. Companies will compete to get credible and qualified candidates.
So what can we do?
Of course, we have to stand out from other job candidates. One way is to take advantage of social media accounts. It can be a supporting factor in finding a job because it is common knowledge that HRD checks social media accounts for other references when someone is applying for a job. Thus, making social media the best tool for companies to track and assess job applicants. Therefore, we need to build Personal Branding through social media.
However, do you know what Personal Branding is?
Generally, Personal Branding is how we want to be known. It relates to work, professionals, expertise, and skills. Erwin and Tumewu of the book “Personal Brand-Inc” also argue that Personal Branding is an impression related to skills, behavior, or achievements built by a person either intentionally or unintentionally to display his self-image. Personal Branding can be used as an identity to remember someone and as a great marketing tool to find a job, a relationship, or the world of romance. In the past, building Personal Branding took a long time and extra effort, but now, it is just by creating content on social media.
Now, building Personal Branding is necessary because Human Resources carry out background checks not only offline but also online. Therefore, most recruiters include a portfolio of prospective applicants’ social media accounts as one aspect of the assessment. Many big companies are noticed people without having to apply for a job because of the image they have on social media. Personal Branding also can be formed unconsciously. Marysol Villeda & Randy McCamey (2012) at International Business Research wrote that LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are the most common tools for recruiting candidates today.
Why is Personal Branding important?
Personal Branding can develop confidence in yourself and the public. Because we will focus on building a good impression, there will be motivation to move forward and learn to be a better person. We will get to know ourselves more and more and will show self-esteem. That’s where pride, confidence, and public opinion will come. We will gain recognition in our areas of ability to build our credibility and minimize the imposter syndrome, which is the habit of self-sabotage. Personal Branding will make us more known to many people and make our net broader it opens up opportunities to interact with many people, especially those related to our skills. It is more accessible for HRD to find us because, in marketing, there is also the term mouth-to-mouth marketing. Consistency between experience, education, and portfolio, with branding on social media, also added value.
In addition, branding plays a role in clarifying one’s goals. Thus, entrepreneurs can achieve their business goals, carry out their functions well and help their subordinates to achieve business targets. Shaping other people’s perceptions and ways of us certainly takes time. Therefore, we must start forming it early.
So, here’s a simple way to build Personal Branding that we can try!
First, know yourself well. Before others can recognize us, we must first recognize ourselves. That way, we can understand the potential we have. We can take time for self-reflection or ask for input from relatives/family. After that, we must self-reflect to discover whether these weaknesses can harm the people around us or us, so we can understand how to respect ourselves and those around us. Then find your passion and unique side of yourself. Therefore, do not show our weaknesses to the public. It can lower self-esteem. Try to be a good person and helpful to many people.
Then, think about how you want to be known. Imagine from now on how we want to be recognized. That way, we can focus on further building other people’s perspectives on us. In other words, set the main goal not to get bored and lazy by building a Social Media portfolio. Broadly said, there are two goals someone makes Personal Branding through Social Media content, namely monetization and the goal of bridging a career. Quoting from Forbes, Vice President of Manos Accelerator Juan Felipe Campos explained that maintaining consistency between our messages and content with one specific topic is easy for the target community to remember.
Next, understands the audience. Before writing a Personal Branding statement, it is significant to understand your purpose or audience. We must portray ourselves as knowledgeable about and eager to have a career in that field. After that, write a Personal Branding statement highlighting our expertise, experience, and knowledge in a field. Summarize who and what we can do clearly and on target. Write briefly to make it easier to understand and apply storytelling to keep your audience interested.
Try to focus on one platform first. It is because platforms have different characteristics, functions, and ways. If you don’t focus on just one platform, it will take up a lot of time and what is worse is that it becomes ineffective and maximal. In addition, each Social Media function differently. LinkedIn usually is aimed at professionals. Then, TikTok for entertainment, education, promotion, and others.
Moreover, the most significant aspect of social media marking is content. A person’s top of mind towards someone is determined by what content is often uploaded by that person. Therefore, we have to map out what content and how it uploads. We can also create a private website to place our portfolio for the public to see. That way, we can compete well and have different values than others.
We must also always be up-to-date on news and trends. We must be ready to face the global challenges and many functions of social media today. Use social media as an integrated content marketing medium. Don’t forget to be consistent because consistency is the key to successful Personal Branding because it takes a long time to form.
However, we also have to be prepared if our efforts are fruitless. We should always be ready to start from scratch and don’t ignore networking even though we have succeeded in developing Personal Branding. So that many people still know us, especially those at a higher level. Meeting new people is significant because it can establish new relationships, refreshments, and new experiences. Absorb knowledge from new people we meet and from friends.
There are also some little things that we should pay attention like profile photos. It is the first thing others see on our social media would identify us. So, use the proper profile photo without negative things. Also, think before making a status. Try not to make statuses that provoke other parties to respond negatively and stay away from debate. Debates can add insight if still positive, but if they lead to unhealthy things, ignore them.
Make sure our account has good protection. One of the most important things is learning anything that can hone soft and hard skills to support our careers. The most important thing is learning anything that can add skills and sharpen soft and hard skills to encourage careers.
Do not try to stop doing it all!
Social media is not just a trend. Many benefits can be taken, especially for our careers, one of which is through Personal Branding to develop a business career in the future. Personal Branding is not only needed for those who will apply for jobs to become employees, but the most important thing is that an entrepreneur or boss of a company must have it. Because he is a leader who will be considered a reflection of what he leads, starting from employees, companies, relations, and others. Job applicants and clients will also definitely consider it. So, building Personal Branding is very important for everyone in all aspects. Personal solid Branding will be able to enhance professional career achievements. But remember that don’t let the Personal Branding we build on social media take away our true identity and become hammer Personal Branding. Because Personal Branding is our way of introducing who we are with our qualities without having to introduce ourselves. So, optimize social media with good things and use it wisely so that it doesn’t have a negative impact and doesn’t let us neglect it.
So, utilizing social media to build a career, why not?
“MASTER THE SKILL, FIX THE BRANDING TO A BRILLIANT CAREER.”
Author: Siti Nurrotul Aini TBIG 20
