Career Management on Social Media, 10 Minutes at a Time

First of all, if you’re in career transition, social media should be an integral part of your job search time – upwards of five hours a day. But career management doesn’t stop when you’re gainfully employed, and being busy is no excuse for not staying active on social media.

Whether it’s in between appointments, waiting in line, or a few minutes before or after a meal, you can use mobile apps or focused time at your computer to check in on social media.

Be furious on LinkedIn and make the most of every minute – the bulk of your social media time should be spent here. Sample 10-minute tasks include:

Review who has visited your profile. This could include recruiters, employers, or other key contacts and influencers. Your profile may have come up in a search result or they followed your activity on a post or group discussion. Reach out to ask if there’s anything you can help them with.
Elevate your stature as a subject matter expert by sharing a valuable link from an external resource, like Forbes, Inc., or a trusted industry publication. Show that you are someone who brings value.
Check your notifications (the numbers that appear on the top right-hand side of the screen). Respond to any direct messages or comments on your posts. Review your invitations and accept ones that fit with your career goals.
Browse group discussions and like or comment on other people’s posts. Become a consistent contributor to the group so your name will be recognized by other members.
Browse updates from your connections and like or comment.
Browse the LinkedIn Pulse news feed and share relevant articles with your network.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social networking sites

Employ a similar strategy on all the other active and static social networks, though of course each have their own idiosyncrasies. Think in general terms about these types of tasks:

Review your notifications and respond to any direct messages or comments on your posts.
On Twitter, thank people for RTs (retweets – reposting your update to their network) or MTs (quoting your update and then sharing it).
Browse group discussions and add comments or likes.
Share valuable resources from external publications (see LinkedIn section above).
Add new connections who are aligned with your career goals and brand (particularly on Twitter where anyone can see the list of who you follow – even if they’re not connected with you).
Be professional and consistent with your brand messaging.
Leave a footprint so people see you’re showing up and being active on the sites.

Social media is a valuable way of staying connected with your existing network, and also shows prospective connections how you can provide value.