Okay, so by now you’ve at least heard of this new social media site that’s blowing up. The Pinterest stats are crazy – Tech Crunch said in December that it had grown nearly 40-fold in the last six months! More recently, it has evolved into a top traffic-driver for retailers, according to Mashable. The Pinterest bandwagon weighs more than a stage full of opera singers.
What is behind this obsession? Some are saying it’s the site’s visual appeal. Women are just plain addicted—making up 80 percent of Pinners, according to Ignite Social Media (It’s true, I need Pinterest rehab).
But it doesn’t have to be just a girl thing — any job seeker can be one of the first to leverage this in the job search as a supplement to your resume and portfolio.
Allow me to break it down:
P is for pins! Pins are another word for bookmarks. This whole site is a collection of bookmarks of your favorite web pages that you can briefly describe, categorize and share with the public instantly.
I is for inspiration. As a job seeker, create an inspirational collage to showcase your passion for your profession: compelling graphs, pictures, articles etc.
N is for niche. Focus on creating as specific a category because broad boards are boring. People are simply too lazy to look through a board titled “Cool Stuff”—they want to know what they’re getting into before they even click on your board: e.g. “Cool Typography and Fonts.”
T is for timing. In order to reach a wider audience, spread out your pinning over several hours rather than minutes because, like tweets, your pin is just a drop in the giant pin bucket.
E is for exploration. Click on the “everything” link and you’ll explore for hours and hours. This is a great strategy to find new pinners to follow as well.
R is for repins. If you like something, repin but remember to change the description to infuse your own voice. Reminiscent of “reblogging” on Tumblr or “sharing” on Facebook.
E is for e-mail notifications. Unless you change your settings, the pinbot will notify you every time someone likes, repins, comments, follows, etc. (I turn it off because the site’s sidebar feeds me the same activity).
S is for smartphone. If you have one, the Pinterest app makes it easy to pin from anywhere, anytime.
T is for tagging. Just like Twitter, you can tag others using the @ sign when commenting on a pin. There’s not a whole lot of tagging action happening right now, but it’s an opportunity for a ton of engagement on your page.
One last thing: CareerBliss is on Pinterest! Follow our boards for blissful career inspiration and information.
