Overview

Are you looking for data science jobs but don't know what to say on social media? Don't worry, you are not alone. A lot of job seekers feel overwhelmed when it comes to social media. The good news is that there are five main topics that you can focus on when posting on social media. In this article, we will go over each one of those topics. We will also discuss and describe examples of what to post.

Keep in mind that one of the most important thing is to be consistent with your posts. You do not have to post every day. You need to pick a pace of posting that works well for you. Then, whatever you pick, stick with that.

All of this is important because... Employers and recruiters will be looking for you online, so make sure your information looks good. Let's get started.

Five Simple Topics Any Data Scientist Can Post About

There are five main topics. Or, five buckets of posts:

The "Connect" Bucket

Think of all of the things you might say in the connect bucket as "icebreakers." For these connection bucket posts you can write about your work, your career, your personal life, or all of the above.

Share updates about your data science career to stay connected with your peers and connections. These connect bucket posts keep your professional network updated on your progress. Sharing career updates shows folks that you're dedicated to your chosen profession – and that you're interested in connecting with other like-minded individuals. So don't be afraid to post those updates – you never know who might be reading and eager to connect back with you.

On the other side of the coin, more personal updates help build relationships and can make you more relatable. People like knowing what is going on in your life, so sharing personal updates is a great way to connect with others. Whether you're sharing news about a recent accomplishment or updating people on what's going on in your life, staying connected with others is always a good idea.

Overall, sharing a mix of both career and personal updates keeps your feed interesting and helps you build a strong professional and relatable image.

The "Educate" Bucket

When posting in the educate bucket, you will often take information from your data science portfolio and post about that information. There are at least two sub-points for this bucket. The first kind is where you created the educational and informative information (e.g a tutorial, a cookbook, a quick reference, etc.). The second kind is where you post information from others (but of course with attribution). Information from others could include everything from articles on data science trends from major outlets (maybe the New York Times, or maybe from here Data Science Career Services blog).

When you are pulling from your own portfolio you have the added benefit of an opportunity to showcase your good work. For at least some of the posts in this bucket, you want to leverage your professional portfolio. The format will be simple, in a social media post (longer form) you will: Explain what the task was that you were working on. Then, how you completed the task. And also, whatever challenges you might have encountered along the way plus the lessons you learned. All with a mind to help others who might be facing similar tasks also solve that problem.

The "Inspire" Bucket

Proverb: You can light a candle and then from that one candle you can light a hundred, a thousand or a million other candles, and the light from the original candle is undiminished. This bucket is about leveraging the lessons from the candle proverb.

The data science field can be challenging, so it's important to take time from your busy schedule to inspire and motivate yourself and others. Sharing inspiring data science content can help you keep motivated in your own work. The bonus here is that posts from this bucket build up those around you.

The inspire bucket is a great place for data scientists to share their passions and interests. This could also be anything from a bright and shiny data visualization to findings from personal projects on which you are working.

You can also simply share words of encouragement in this bucket. Another useful resource for posts in this bucket is to post inspirational quotations from others (with attribution). Whether you post about data science news or data-inspired and inspirational quotations, there are plenty of ways that you can inspire others in the field.

The "Job Search" Bucket

This bucket is not to be missed. Do not miss this bucket. In the job search bucket, you can share about your job search process. For pragmatic reasons, this bucket isn't necessarily for everyone because it's not possible for you to be completely open about your job search because your current employer might not like you sharing about searching for a new job.

However, if you are at liberty to share openly that you are on the job market, share that you are on the job market. Share about the kinds of jobs you are interested in. Ask others to share with you job descriptions that they see that might fit your skills and expertise. Also ask hiring managers and recruiters to connect directly with you. This is one of the best ways to spend time on social media for folks who are in the midst of a job search.

Under this bucket you might also post about data science conferences that you are planning to attend. You might be in the midst of informational interviews and, if you are, a topic under this bucket would be your advice for making the most of those informational interviews.

Related, under this bucket make announcements when you start a new certificate course. Of course also when you complete a course, make an announcement about your completion. If you have a final project from the course, share links to that project. In this way you can use social media to strengthen your data science network and find valuable resources for your data science job search.

The "Ask" Bucket

Finally, in the ask bucket, data scientists can pose questions to the data science community. This could be anything from technical data science questions to broader life questions. To reiterate and remove any uncertainty, the questions do not need to be technical in nature. Non-technical questions can serve their purpose on social media, too.

You can also use the native polls where LinkedIn, for example, has a polling feature where you can publish a poll. The poll will run for a certain number of days. Folks will vote, and at the end of the poll and then it'll tally the results. You can also use informal polls where you say, here's my question... tell me what you think in the chat... or tell me what you think in the comments.

Whatever you are looking to ask about, there is likely someone out there who who has an opinion. So don't be afraid to start a conversation on social media and get the data science community excited about what whatever topic comes to your mind.

Conclusion

With these tips, your social media will soon be more recruiter ready. Whether you are actively looking for data science jobs or simply trying to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in your field, social media is a great resource.

There are many different topics that you can on which you can focus when posting online. Above this article covered five broad topics (or buckets of topics). There are other topics to explore too, including job search strategies or career resources. With a little time and effort, you can make yourself into a recruiter ready professional who stands out from the crowd of other job seekers.

So what are you waiting for? Start using social media to boost your career today!