Social media continues to play a larger and larger role in networking, so regardless if you’re job searching or employed, you want your online presence to be professional, yet speak to your personality. Don’t worry! Polishing your online persona does not take a lot of time. Follow these 10 quick tips:
- Google yourself: Before you begin going through your social media profiles, Google search yourself to see what others see. This will help your determine what you need to focus on first.
- Use the same profile picture: Different clothes and different haircuts in different profile pictures can confuse your audience, especially if you have a common name. Keep your profile picture consistent across all your profiles so you are easier to recognize.
- Use vanity links: What looks more professional to you? www.linkedin/in/john.doe or www.linkedin/profile/view?id=012479&locale=enUS&laksd? It only takes a few clicks of the mouse to customize your social media profile links.
- Connect your social media sites: You can add your LinkedIn profile link to your Twitter profile and vice versa. Facebook has ways to add links to your other social media pages, too. Take advantage of these features to make it easier for your audience to navigate through your pages.
- Keep a consistent color: If you use color on your resume and business cards, consider using that same color on your blog and other sites, too.
- Post industry-related stories: Take a few minutes a day to post, retweet and comment about industry-related stories. It’s a quick way to show expertise in your field.
- Ask for LinkedIn recommendations: You can say all you want about your experience and qualifications, but what do others say about you? Sending a recommendation request only takes a minute, and it can make an impact on how others view you professionally.
- Build up your bio: Take the time to write more about yourself on your blog, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn and Facebook bios. Again, people looking at your profile want to learn more about you, and you have the ability to highlight your uniqueness through your bio.
- Add a touch of personality: You’re more than just work experience and knowledge about your industry. Post that skydiving picture on Facebook, and tweet that article about your favorite musician! People want to connect with actual people, so they appreciate seeing the outside interests.
- Clean it up: We’ve saved the most important step for last – Keep your profiles clean! Watch out for spelling and grammar errors, and more importantly, avoid inappropriate posts and suggestive pictures at all costs! If any exist online, untag yourself and delete them immediately.
Have an additional tip? Leave a comment!
