By now, it’s a pretty well-known fact that your online presence can have an effect on your career, especially if incriminating or even less-than-flattering things come up when a potential employer looks at your Facebook or other online profiles. But as social media becomes more and more important to businesses and brands today, smart use of personal technology is not only important for improving your chances of being employable, it can actually help your chances of getting your dream job, too. Your presence on social media can be extremely beneficial to your career success, especially if you’re interested in a career in which knowledge of effective social media use is an important skill.
Blogger Blair Eadie got her current job at Tory Burch as their Accessories Director based on her personal style blog, Atlantic-Pacific, and knowledge and use of online platforms and apps, including Instagram in particular. Her use of social media can potentially do the same for you. While you can’t count on being hired based on your blog or Instagram account, smart use of these things can only grow your skill set and improve your chances of being hired. Here are some basic guidelines to being a smart social media user:
1. First, think about what your online presence says about you: If a potential employer saw your Facebook or Instagram profile what would they think? Besides the obvious guidelines like keeping any pictures that show you drinking or out of control, your social media should paint a holistic picture of you and your life. If you love to travel, it should reflect that, and if you’re a foodie, it should do the same.
2. Filter your social media choices: Even if you love to go out and have a good time, your online presence shouldn’t reflect this, or at least should do so in a way that keeps it classy. But beyond just this, the content you post online should demonstrate that you know what social media is about. Think about how people will react to and perceive something before you choose to post.
3. Use your personal social media as a learning tool: Knowledge of social media and its influence in the professional realm is crucial today, and being social media-savvy could very well help you in your career. The best way to do this is to be mindful of your social media use instead of passively consuming it. Even personal use of Instagram or Twitter should be informative to you: Even being simply aware of the time of day something gets the most likes or retweets or the kinds of filters or captions that make your followers more likely to engage with a picture are useful things to know. This should also be reflected in the people you choose to follow: If you’re an avid social media user, following influential people or brands that interest you will help shape and grow your savvy for the practice of using social media.
4. Market yourself as a brand, not just an individual: Many of the most influential people online today are ones that know how to use social media to market themselves and their strengths. Models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner owe much of their professional success to their massive Instagram followings, but models aren’t the only ones benefitting from their informed use of social media. Refinery29 fashion market writer Alyssa Coscarelli (@alyssainthecity) boasts 17,000+ Instagram followers thanks to her use of the app to showcase her stylish outfits and covetable food choices. Illustrator Donald Robertson (@drawbertson) similarly used Instagram to showcase his artistic ability, and eventually landed a gig illustrating for a children’s book based on his social media presence. Your goal in your use of social media should be to inform anyone who looks at your profile of your interests, skills, and experiences in a creative way.