Are You Proud of Your Social Media Profile?

Posted September 11, 2018

There is no way to avoid social media's impact on today's society. It is everywhere, and now we are beginning to see more and more employers using social media sites as a recruitment tool. As this becomes more common, it is important to evaluate your social media image and how you are being perceived by perspective employers.

The importance of social media in hiring varies depending on the industry you are in. Industries like communications and public relations take social media profiles into serious consideration when hiring. Social media's role in job recruitment is likely to continue to grow. No matter what industry you are in, you may want to reevaluate your social media presence.

What Can You do to Better Represent Yourself?

LinkedIn can be a valuable asset, but only if you are optimizing your profile. You should not have empty spaces or an incomplete resume. Be sure to include any skills you have that may be relevant to future employment. Make sure the most important information, such as specific data pertaining to past successes and achievements, is included.

Make Your Connections Meaningful

When using LinkedIn and other social media sites, you want to make connections that are beneficial to your career goals. Join groups that pertain to your job or are related to professional organizations.

Making connections on LinkedIn is a no-brainer, but be careful who you are connecting with on Facebook and Twitter. It's common on social media to connect with people we have known in the past from college or even high school. Focus less on these and more on connections with people in your field. Strengthening these professional circles will show employers you have interest in a particular field.

Don't Let Your Profile Get Stale

You should be staying active on your pages. This means updating your information regularly with any new achievements you may have. Share articles and make new posts often. Make contributions to professional pages and engage other people. Nothing looks worse than a profile that has been put up and seemingly forgotten about.

Always Put Your Best Face Forward

Your profiles should have professional-looking photos where you look 'put together'. This means look through your profiles to get rid of those spring break pictures or anything else that you wouldn't want a perspective employer to see. Make sure any images you are using to represent yourself are of a decent quality. Avoid using low-resolution images or pictures taken in poor lighting.

Clear Contact

If an employer likes what they see on your profile and wants to contact you for the next step in the hiring process, they have to know how to get a hold of you. This means you should have your email address prominently positioned on your profile. Employers may move on to the next candidate if they can't easily find a way to get in touch with you.

At Ambassador, we help ambitious professionals take smart steps toward their next career objective. If you are currently looking for career assistance, please contact a full-service staffing firm today.