Facebook isn't just about posting on everybody's walls, however fun (and sometimes educational) that may be. And Twitter isn't just about second-by-second life updates either.
Saying that, though, if you've looked through apprenticeship vacancy listings and can't find the one you’re after - even on ours - then it's time to put the power of social media to good use, because you never know what you can find there.
The National Apprenticeship Service, for instance, has its own Facebook page at facebook.com/apprenticeships, where you can find links to news stories and videos - especially about the recent National Apprenticeship Week ... plus many featured apprenticeship vacancies, like Commis Chef, Business Administrator, Receptionist/Administrator, Dispensing Assistant - you name it!
At the moment, right at the top of the NAS Facebook page, there's a link to a webpage about Civil Service apprenticeships (they're looking for a hundred people between 18 and 21, and you have to click on a link there to register your interest).
So even though it might be taking some of the "social" out of "social media", the NAS Facebook page is worth a look.
And so are some of the 350 million or so tweets every day. Not that apprenticeships are high in the ranks of trending topics, you understand, but in amongst tweets to/from/for/with/about the Biebers and Gagas of this world, you might find some apprenticeship-related gems at twitter.com/apprenticeships.
Currently, we have Boots (the chemist) inviting people to their apprenticeship programme Q&A next week ... the announcement about 15 IT apprenticeship jobs available in London ... a vacancy for a Business Administration Apprenticeship in Halifax ... news of the new Edge Apprenticeship in food and farming ... and more.
So even though we're only looking at 140 characters max for each tweet, there's still enough information on twitter's apprenticeships page to make dropping by for a few minutes every now and then well worth your while.
Back to Facebook again - remember, it does work both ways. Profiles and pics can be a lot of fun, but when you've got people in HR offices looking you up online before basing their decision about whether to invite you to an interview or not, it's best to have an online image that looks ... well ... professional.
Maybe now would be a good time to look yourself up and see what you could edit out ... and what you could replace it with instead.
