Five Social Media Optimization Tips for Job Seekers/Professionals

I'm posting this here on techhui as a second article in a series of tips about social media optimization. These tips came about as an afterthought/extension of a workshop I had the opportunity to give at UH Manoa Outreach College this weekend, "How to Boost your Traffic and Success Online with Social Media Opti..."

For my second set of five SMO tips, I'm going to talk about social media for the individual; particularly social media for the job seeker or professional seeking to build credibility or their personal network.

The tips:

1. Build your network online

Between facebook, twitter, linkedin and the hundreds of other social media venues, the opportunity to build your network with social media is HUGE. To use one of these sites as an example, consider linkedin. Guy Kawasaki wrote a great article on ten ways to use linkedin. Check that out ... Guy's someone to listen to.

2. Tweet away little bird! … Use Twitter Search

Twitter, particularly twitter search is a powerful tool for the individual looking for employment, project or contract work. Check out this excellent and very detailed article on mashable for more on twitter as a resource for work.

3. Write expert articles

Whatever your specialty, write and submit articles on niche topics relating to your industry. If written well, these will build credibility, grow traffic to your website/profile/etc.

Don't worry if you can't get published in a feature magazine or news outfit, there's a whole slew of article submission sites that are both credible and that will accept your submissions, even if you are not a Shakespeare or Jane Austen. Hey, you can do what I'm doing here, post your article as a blog posting on a niche social media community like TechHui!

4. Post expert videos
Similar to your article submissions, target your niche with videos. Post your videos on youtube, metacafe, videojug or other video sites. Include a call to action in the credits or in your video site profile. IE, "visit my site for more", "Visit my linkedin or techhui profile to connect with me..." etc.

5. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… (manage your reputation)

This is a mock situation we went over in the workshop this weekend.

Situation: You are a young professional looking for a job. However, you have a colored past, having had a very public, drunken, run in with the law. When searching your name on Google, a news story detailing your drunken tomfoolery is the first result! Your dated MySpace profile, also on the first page, has some of your wilder times viewable to the public.

Questions:
How will you use Social Media to bandage your reputation?
What venues/online methods will you use to job hunt?
How can you establish yourself as an expert online?

A quick response:

Vegas should stay in Vegas. Take down those crazy MySpace pics, peeps.

If you have something on the net that you don't want to be there, take measures to get it down, or if it just won't go away (think Honolulu Advertiser article detailing your drunken romp) publically respond or apologize. Further, you want to emphasize and create new good on the web. Utilize some of the tips above. (Get networking, become an expert, and otherwise promote yourself in a positive light.)