Twitter. LinkedIn. Facebook.
You MUST be on there.
This is because 200% of people will search for you there, and “if you aren’t there, you don’t exist.”
Let me call hogwash to all the hype.
The bottom line is that these sites are tools. Indeed, they are evolving tools. One day, MySpace was THE social tool. And now? They are nothing, to most people.
For the last few years it’s all been about LinkedIn. I should know… I’ve written a book (in it’s 4th edition), have a training video course, and regularly do webinars and trainings. I know plenty about LinkedIn.
I know that they are a TOOL. Use it well, it might pay off nicely. Ignore it, and that can be OKAY. It can be okay if you are incorporating other tactics into your job search.
Do other people know who you are? Do they talk positively about you? Are they clear on your value, or what you want and where you can contribute?
Maybe social tools are not what you need. Maybe they are what you need.
Before you invest time, money, effort, brain waves, and worry, so that you can “keep up” with others, and what the “experts” say about what you HAVE to do on LinkedIn (or Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram, etc.), I invite you to think about what your objectives are (is it to get an interview? That seems short-sighted. Is it to get a job? That might be a short-term objective… what is more long-term), and then figure out what strategies and tactics you would implement to meet those objectives.
And THEN, figure out where the tools fit in.
Social is not a strategy. Social is a tool.
If you are building a house, and someone asks what your strategy (plan) is, you don’t respond with the name of a tool: “hammer.” Hammer is not a strategy. It is a tool.
Don’t feel the social shaming if you are doing awesome stuff, and being effective in your strategy to reach your objectives, if you aren’t doing the social stuff as much as you could. Maybe there is opportunity for improvement, but these tools are not the silver bullets.