Arleen Bradley Career Coaching

If you think Pinterest is only good for finding recipes and crafts, think again.  This blog and the next two will feature Pinterest for job searching.  First I will tell you what Pinterest is, then how to job search on it and finally, what employers and recruiters think of Pinterest for the job search.  It’s among the fastest growing social media sites on the web today.  It has been used as a bulletin board for recipes, crafts, fashions and wish lists since its inception.  However, in the last few months to a year, job searchers and employers have seen how it can be used for job searching and recruiting.  Before I get to that, I let share more about what Pinterest is. 

What is Pinterest?  It is an online scrapbook that can be viewed and shared by others.  Pinterest combines bookmarking items of interest from the web with social media.  Viewers can “like”, “follow”, and “repin” (the images on your board) on your board. The board is a virtual bulletin board—it is a place where you can pin anything from the web and save it to look at later or for others to look at.  Instead of text, the appeal of Pinterest is the visual side of information.

Of all the information provided on social media sites, images are the most enjoyed.  People like reading what you have to say, but it’s the photos that make the biggest impact.  Photos of the past or of an event happening right now are most viewed.  So it only makes sense that images of our creations, wishes and likes are going to be of interest.   

Some careers, such as photography, design, and architecture require a portfolio.  If you combine the interest in images on the web and the need for a portfolio, you get an perfect platform for job searchers in the visual arts to showcase their skills and experience.  Once they have their portfolio on a board, the résumé soon finds its way to a board.  Other job searchers begin to see how their job search efforts can be supported by this venue. 

Infographic resumes are becoming popular and are ideal for Pinterest boards.  Their bright colorful images are right at home among the other images found on boards.  Instead of saying in words skills and experience, job searchers use images, graphs and photos to show what they have done to attract the attention of recruiters.

My next blog will go into more depth about using Pinterest for the job search.  I will talk about posting your job search marketing communications, finding career search advice, and researching companies can be done on Pinterest.  But for now, take a look at my Pinterest page.  Click here.  I have just started it, so it’s rather sparse at the moment.  You can also pin this post to your board using the link provided in the social media sharing section below.