When it comes to doing research on a potential employer, checking out their social media sites may not be at the top of your to-do list – but it should be. It’s a great way to learn about the company’s mission and vision, view their charitable projects and get the scoop on recent events. But let’s be honest, it’s also the company putting its best foot forward. If you want to take your online tour of the company a step further, consider following the five steps below. These steps will take you to the heart of the company – its employees – and give you an insider’s perspective without ever leaving home.
Step 1: Get on Instagram
Once again, the teenage population is besting us at technology. High school students are now using Instagram to research potential universities. But rather than look at official university photos, they’re looking up students to get an honest “day in the life of” perspective at specific campuses. Smart, right? Lucky for us, this technique can also be applied to potential employers. Simply search for a company name, building, hashtag or even an address and start browsing through the photos that pop up. Look for photos that are posted by employees – not the company – and read between the lines. If you see a lot of photos being posted late at night, you can anticipate some long work hours. If you see lots of group photos during happy hour, it’s a good bet that people get along and there’s an emphasis on teamwork. And if you see photos of catered lunches, free beer and Nerf blasters, you may have found the holy grail of employers and I suggest you interview as soon as possible. Whatever you find, you’ll know it’s an unfiltered view of the company from the people who actually work there.
Step 2: Monitor Activity on Facebook
Most companies have several social media sites they’re running all at once, but an official Facebook page is standard practice. Spend some time looking through the posts, photos and articles they’ve shared on their page and pay special attention to the comments underneath each of them. Things you want to see include: employees leaving positive comments, employees sharing content on their personal pages and employees reacting well to photos, especially those centered around team building or social events. All of these responses indicate that the employees are invested in the company, proud of their work and enjoy engaging with their coworkers. Things you don’t want to see? Radio silence. Company pages that consistently put out information, but whose employees don’t engage with them, may indicate that the employees are unhappy, have poor communication or simply don’t care.
Step 3: Ask Friends/Followers for Help
You don’t have to be Kevin Bacon to enjoy six degrees of separation when it comes to the social media world. Simply post a question to your Facebook page or Twitter account and ask if anyone is currently working for or previously worked for the company you’re interested in. Chances are good that you’ll find one of your friends, a friend of a friend, someone’s girlfriend or even an uncle works for the company and doesn’t mind answering a few questions. It’s a great way to get an insider’s take on the company and as an added bonus they may have some tips for acing the interview.
Step 4: Read the Reviews
When you’re looking at a company’s social media page, check to see if it’s possible for people to post a question or leave a comment. If you can’t post something on their page, that may be a red flag. Most companies welcome all feedback, whether it’s positive or negative, and appreciate the chance to respond. In fact, the way the company responds is a good indicator of how they treat their employees. If someone leaves a negative review and the company doesn’t address their concerns, it’s possible they won’t address employee concerns either. After all, if someone who pays for their services isn’t considered worthy of their attention, how do they feel about people that actually work for them? It’s also possible to find employee reviews and rankings on sites like glassdoor.com, but take those at face value. It’s easy for disgruntled employees to post online and those stories are typically one-sided.
Step 5: Use Twitter to Your Advantage
According to an article by fastcompany.com, you can use an analytical tool called Followerwonk to search for specific users on Twitter. For example, you could search for Lockheed Martin and find a list of all the Twitter users who list that company in their bio. Once you have a list, you can scroll through employee Twitter feeds or start to follow them individually. It has the potential to give you great insight into the personalities you may be working with in the future and may also showcase some of the positives and negatives you wouldn’t normally see.
With so much information being presented through social media channels, it would be a mistake not to do some extra digging on the company you’ve got your eye on. So set aside some time, pick your favorite social media avenue and start your search. The results may surprise you.
