November 16, 2018 - Hellene Meyer
Everyone uses social media, but not everyone knows how to use it to boost their career. Here are some helpful tips to make your social media work for you!
You may think that social media is just a fun way to share things and communicate with your friends, but it can also help you get a job. Here are some tips and suggestions to make your social media presence work for you!
Brand Yourself!
How do you want to appear online when someone googles your name? Not sure? This is your chance to develop a personal and professional brand for yourself. This brand should reflect your most important skills and the impression you want to make when someone looks you up online. Ways to develop and improve your personal brand include removing unflattering content attached to your name, using professional language on all of your social media, and creating new content that paints you in a good light. For this last tip, it helps to post pictures of yourself helping your community, attending career events, and even just keeping a blog about your educational journey.
Facebook – A Wholesome You
Facebook is one of the first things that shows up when an employer googles your name. To carry on the theme of personal branding, make sure any inappropriate pictures are hidden, your account is locked down so people see only what you want them to see, and check what you’re tagged and request your friends un-tag you from not-so-great pictures. Always make sure to check how your profile appears to other people on Facebook, so you can get an idea of what they’ll see and change it if necessary. It can also help to upload more pictures of you doing positive things for others, volunteering, or doing things relating to career development.
Twitter – Tweet your way into a job
Twitter can also play an important role in making you look good to potential employers. It helps to follow people in the career field you want to work in, to learn what professionals in that field are reading and discussing. You can also use Twitter to stay on top of companies that interest you, and use that when researching for a job interview. It is important to realize that on a public account, people can read all of your posts and see who you’re following, so consider having a public professional account and a private recreational one.
LinkedIn – Nothing But Business
A LinkedIn account is like Facebook for professionals and can be a massive help in appearing professional online as well as for networking, job research, and finding jobs or being found by prospective employers. It can be a little tricky to set it up properly, as it’s a strange hybrid between writing for a resume and building a Facebook page, but that’s why CDEL office has a workshop designed specifically to teach you to be a LinkedIn pro! Read to the end of this blog post for details regarding our next workshops!
Other Networks – Tread Carefully
As for other social networking platforms such as Instagram and SnapChat, it can be tricky to network with employers on them given the nature of the medium. However, it is key to remember that whatever you may upload or share on these sites may remain there forever, so be cautious and sensible.
If you wish to learn more about how social media can help you develop your career and find employment, register for our “Using Social Media to Leverage Your Career” workshop and MySucess. Upcoming dates for the workshop are November 29th and December 11th. If those dates don’t work for you, feel free to visit the Career Peer Advisors Drop-In Hours from 10am-4pm every weekday and we can provide you with some basic resources and advice to help you get started.