In 2022, Davida Padi, now 22, said she got an internship because of a post she saw on TikTok. Now, because of the content she engages with on Instagram, she thinks the platform serves her ads for potential job opportunities. “And I’m like, wait, like, this is a little bit scammy,” she said. When ads raise red flags, she’ll search the company on Reddit and sometimes find posts warning that the company led prospective applicants on, or didn’t exist at all.
IIt’s a daunting job-search landscape for young people, thanks in part to rising experience requirements for entry-level jobs, high unemployment rates for recent graduates, and lack of internships. On top of that, while social media is a tool that some experts say can promote accessibility and more opportunities, it also brings an endless scroll of advice that ranges from beneficial to scammy. Knowing what information to trust — or even where to look for credible postings and tips — can feel daunting.
Ashley Rudolph, a performance coach who founded the company Work With Ashley R, told Teen Vogue she recommends leveraging social media to find out more about somewhere you might want to work, or the people who work there. She suggests platforms like TikTok for what she calls “broad researching,” or getting a sense of what’s trending in an industry or whether there are any red-flag stories from insiders. Then, platforms like LinkedIn allow you to dig deep.
“I think that there is a place for social media in the job search, and I think that candidates just need to focus on using it more strategically,” she said.
What young workers are seeing
Young workers who spoke with Teen Vogue described using platforms made for work, like LinkedIn, as well as other social media for job-search purposes.
Tate, a 22-year-old working as an administrative associate, described using LinkedIn to find skills workshops or networking events, and sometimes makes connections via Twitter he’ll then add on LinkedIn. Most longer-term jobs he’s gotten were based on tips from friends, he said, but for internships, social media was an invaluable tool for spotting job postings and seeing people talk about what they do in their jobs. “Social media — I guess more so Instagram and sometimes Twitter — allow more direct access to people involved in my prospective career field,” he said.
For Daniella Atalla, a 21-year-old working in public relations, day-in-the-life TikToks double as a job-searching tool: Via videos of people in her field, she feels she gets a sense of whether she could envision herself in a potential workplace. Sometimes, if creators are engaged in comments sections, she’ll connect with them on LinkedIn, where she says she’s done the majority of her job-searching, thanks to networking opportunities, the chance to read what people in the industry are saying, and strong filter options.
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“Sometimes I’ll go directly from LinkedIn to their Tiktok,” she told Teen Vogue of experts she finds online. “Or I’ll just use Tiktok to look up, what are people saying about the industry? What advice are they giving?”
Meanwhile, Belle Townsend, a 24-year-old working in communications for labor and advocacy organizations, has trained herself to keep an eye out for hiring graphics on Instagram’s Explore page, and uses social media to stay in touch with organizations she’s admired from afar. They’ve also gotten advice on what to ask at the end of an interview via Reddit.
“Social media acts like a connector — one that democratizes access to information, at least to the extent that algorithms and censorship allow,” she told Teen Vogue via email. She also knows downsides exist, adding that many jobs posted on social media are underpaid.
“We’re a generation raised amid economic collapse, now chasing work on platforms designed for likes, not livelihoods,” Townsend said. “Social media has value in the job search, but it can’t replace what we really need: worker protections, living wages, and career paths that respect and dignify our labor.”
Check Your Sources
As with everything on the internet, checking sources is key. That goes for both job postings and job-search tips, according to experts.
According to Rudolph, the low barrier to entry for social media means “everyone is now a talking head, and now it’s up to the social media user to figure out who is reliable and who is not.” Since the job market feels so impossible right now, people are eager to take any advice that sounds good — and someone with an engaging persona can make a bad tip sound like a great idea, Rudolph cautions.
She suggests seeking out tips online from someone who is a recruiter in your field, a career coach that has helped people find jobs, and maybe other recent job-seekers themselves. “I think there is power in community, and job seekers can be a reliable source,” she explains, “but I would prioritize looking for advice from job seekers who have recently found a job successfully, or have been in the market and have found a job within the past two years.”
Rudolph added “the strongest advice that I’ve seen shares a tactic, but it also tells you why it works — there’s context there.” That typically means the advice can be customizable based on your field or circumstances, rather than assuming the same tactic works for every job search.
Rupdolph also debunks some viral advice she’s seen: she warns that employers are aware of the practice of sneaking keywords onto resumes in white font and have instituted systems to flag those paragraphs; notes that lying about titles or dates of employment to get your foot in the door can backfire; and encourages caution with anyone guaranteeing that their resume template is how you get a job. “You should probably be very skeptical about that, especially if the template isn’t flexible enough to cater to your context, your experience, your industry,”she said.
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Jui Ramaprasad, Associate Professor of Information Systems and Faculty Director of the Interdisciplinary Business Honors Program at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, echoes the need to ensure source credibility. “I would actually suggest that candidates start with an experienced career counselor or an HR professional in the industry, potentially accessed through the school’s career services office,” she told Teen Vogue via email, adding that social media personalities might also have these credentials, but it’s important to check.
In terms of spotting scams, Ramaprasad says it’s extremely unlikely to get offered a job you haven’t applied to or heard of, so texts or emails offering a position without any prior contact have a “high likelihood” of being a scam. She also suggests checking the source, not just the post, in order to make sure that the post is coming from a verified recruiter or an official company page. “I’d be wary of things posted [in] a spammy Facebook group, or if it’s a quote-unquote opportunity shared by just a random personal profile with no direct connection to the company,” she explains.
Ghost jobs are harder to understand, Ramaprasad said, since they often come from the company, which would typically be considered a credible source. “Here, I think applicants should look out for posts that seem to be missing critical information, don’t have a timeline or have an expired deadline, etc. — subtle flags that indicate that this company may not actually be hiring,” she explained.
A good rule of thumb, Ramaprasad says, is approaching everything with caution: “If something doesn’t feel right about the way you were approached about the job or the job posting – trust your instincts and dig deeper.”
Use your own social media
By now, you’ve probably heard advice to be mindful of your own social media presence, including potentially setting personal social media accounts to private if you don’t want a potential employer having access to them. (Even outside a job search, digital privacy is important.)
But experts say you can also use public-facing social media accounts to your advantage. Some even recommend a well-crafted cold message as a way to build connection.
Especially amid a chaotic job industry when job security feels flimsy at best, “there is security you can build for yourself when it comes to credibility, when it comes to your subject matter expertise,” said Upasna Gautam, a tech leader who has worked in the field for 17 years.
“The goal with building that personal brand, career portfolio, or that credibility, is to make sure that your voice, your skills and your expertise are so strong that they can stand by themselves without having to be attached to an external entity like a company,” she explained.
She suggests focusing less on titles and more on highlighting your skills and impact, using pinned content on LinkedIn to highlight work accomplishments or projects, and creating consistency in any public presence. Paying attention to building relationships — celebrating other people’s work, engaging with them in ways that are intentional and not transactional — goes a long way online, Gautam said.
Source – https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-avoid-job-scams-social-media