WHY DO PEOPLE ENGAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

When I think of the people on social media platforms with whom I engage, the first universal factor that keeps me engaged is that I love the content they publish.  I love the content they publish because it is valuable, helpful, and relevant to me, therefor they are a resource for me.  How does your career center act as a resource to employers beyond their hiring needs?

FIND OUT WHAT INTERESTS YOUR EMPLOYER PARTNERS

Employers have challenges beyond hiring talent.  How else is an employer's relationship with you valuable to them?  This is what differentiates you from all the other career centers also trying to help get their graduates employed.  You must first figure out their needs and interests beyond talent acquisition.  If you're going to use social media to engage employers to achieve first-of-mind recognition, first ask some questions.  You can do this by calling them and having informational interviews or even by conducting surveys but you must first gather information.  

COLLECTING INFORMATION

You may want to ask employers if they read any blogs and if so, which ones?  What types of magazines do they like and why?  What types of information do they already consume and find valuable?  What types of events might they find important to know about or might they want to attend?  What social media platforms are they using?  What do they use them for?  If you can tap into their interests beyond hiring, understand their needs, how they already consume media content, and their social media platform preferences, you now have insight on how you might begin a social media strategy to engage employers.  Start with Twitter and publish content in alignment with the interests expressed by your employers.  Find employers who are already active on social media as it is more likely they will engage.  Curate relevant content and set up listening posts to monitor the industry and your employers' interests.  Make sure you don't just publish content but that you have conversations.  

THE 80/20 RULE

Social media enhances your ability to be social.  Use it to expand your relationships but to also maintain your relationships by keeping consistent, relevant, useful communications with your partners.  Say hi once in a while, help them promote something they care about, refer people to them, etc.  Be helpful!  Follow what's known as the 80/20 rule - be helpful and social 80% of the time and "sell" 20% of the time.  Your sell might be asking for participation in a mock interview day, a career fair, or a program advisory board. It may be to provide feedback on a candidate's portfolio or to consider interviewing a recommended candidate for a job opening.  The point is, if you invest the time to develop relationships, when you do ask, it isn't a cold ask - you've developed rapport and they are likely more open to considering things you suggest.  Plus - you're truly being helpful so it's a win win!  This is a continuing discussion from the course, Developing a Social Media Strategy for Career Services.

Are you using social media to enhance your career services department in this way?