you tweet is (a) relevant and (b) non-inflammatory. When you tweet have in mind your list of followers and whether they want to see your rant at your local supermarket or a barney between you and a celebrity. Successful tweeters tweet regularly but not unnecessarily
and they don’t just wander on every month to see if anyone has anything for them, send a load of tweets and then wander off again. A good Twitter user has regular conversations, includes relevant people in those conversations and uses the RT (retweet) and FF (follow Friday) function judicially. Becoming more popular, Vine is a mobile app owned by Twitter which enables you to create and post short video clips on various plat- forms. This can be useful when you want to showcase your/your boss’s presentation skills, offer product demonstrations or even just give a video tour of a venue. Similarly, Instagram recently launched its own video capability.
MAKE IT COUNT LinkedIn is probably the most used social network site in terms of business profiles. Earlier this year recruitment technology specialists Bullhorn ran a survey in which 97 per cent of employ- ers said they used LinkedIn as a recruitment tool. In a com- petitive market, where recruiters are likely to check out your online profile as soon as you put down the phone, you can’t really afford not to be on it. But where on earth to start? It’s important to remember that LinkedIn is for professionals so that means baby photos, sun-kissed ‘selfies’ and cat videos are out. A simple rule is if you wouldn’t put it on your CV then don’t put it on LinkedIn. Make sure you complete your profile prop- erly. Signing up, then going off to do something else won’t look good. Take some time to fill in details of previous positions you’ve held. It’s obviously temping to go down
the CV route and use the same old hackneyed words to describe yourself but try to avoid calling yourself things like ‘creative’ or using words like ‘extensive experience’. Try and make your profile stand out a bit by using more imaginative language. At the same time, you want your profile to be searchable too, so be strategic in your keywords. Recruiters or networkers will find you through searches so if you’re very keen to move into new executive areas, make sure you update your keywords accordingly.
EXPLORE ALL THE OPTIONS You could start by signing up to Google Adwords, a free service which ranks which keywords are the most and least used, to deter- mine what keywords the people you want to attract might be using. Aim for something in the mid-range as you could get lost at either end. You could also study job posts in the fields you want to work in and see what sorts of industry buzzwords are being used. Have a look at how your fellow PAs describe themselves, as
well as the language used by your potential employers. Do a quick LinkedIn search for other PAs and see what happens. Connecting with everyone who’s ever been in your address
book is pointless. At best, nobody will notice and you will have a whole load of posts to wade through and at worst you’ll look like a desperate contacts-collector. Connect with people you are likely to interact with. Connect with people you have worked with or would like to work with. Connect with people who have been recommended to you. And, crucially, follow up on con-
nections with a brief note. LinkedIn offers a recommendation facility, where your
contacts can endorse you, as well as write testimonials. Ask your former employers to recommend you but use this wisely. Don’t just get your mates to write glowing reports as this will stand out a mile. If you want to place yourself as an expert in your industry and
get yourself known then you need to have a think about the LinkedIn groups you are a member of. Joining groups for the sake of it is pointless. Be sure to join groups which contain members you would like to interact with and which seem to be discussing relevant topics. Make sure you contribute rather than just lurk. LinkedIn has a ‘People You May Know’ tool. This changes
based on all of the connections you make, and can often open doors you didn’t even know were there in the first place.
“If a recruiter is reviewing a
candidate’s online persona, the first page of their search should be filled with strong Google+
results that show off expertise, knowledge and personality”
CONVEY THE RIGHT IMPRESSION Your photo is more important than you might think. Looks aren’t everything, no, but employers will connect with someone who looks easy to work with. Try and look as professional as you can, but not too stiff. Remember, also, that if you are operating across multiple social network sites that if one of your pictures is a semi- nude soft-focus one or if there’s a picture of you swigging from a champagne bottle, then the image you’re trying to convey might be somewhat diluted (even if the fizz isn’t). Remember that once you have set your profile up, it’s not over. Social media takes con- stant maintenance. It’s not all about LinkedIn though.
Says Lewis Shields, director at com- munications consultancy Flagship Con- sulting, “A strong Google profile can place you a step ahead of other candi- dates.” He advises creating a profes- sional and personable Google+ profile. “This account can be used to post links to professional articles, either
your own or others, and should be used as a login when com- menting on industry blogs and interacting with brands on other platforms. Keep in mind that Google prioritises Google+ over other networks when showing search results. If a recruiter is reviewing a candidate’s online persona, the first page of their search should be filled with strong Google+ results that show off expertise, knowledge and personality.”
BE SEEN… AND HEARD Don’t disregard the more fun social networks though. A Pin- terest profile is a great way of showcasing your personality and connecting with like-minded people, whether that’s fellow PAs, clients or prospective employers. One of the advantages of Pin- terest is that it combines the best of facebook, in that it’s a bit more personality-led and you can build a rapport with fellow users with similar interests and profiles, and LinkedIn, in that the more interest you show in a particular business or item, the more similar items or businesses will be recommended to you. Facebook is a great way of connecting with friends of friends
and can be a really good way to say ‘Oh you might know so and so’. Facebook is a little bit more like real life, in that personal introductions can be made and conversations can be a touch more in-depth than Twitter. Of course, all social media applications should be used with
caution if you are operating in the public sphere. Above all else, remember that life exists outside of Twitter… E
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