Everyone has an opinion on the state of the job market right now, but one thing pretty much all college students can agree on is that landing an entry-level job or internship feels incredibly difficult right now. It isn’t uncommon to see TikToks of college graduates who are applying to 200-plus jobs but still barely landing interviews, and I’m sure most group chats are filled with rants about getting ghosted by hiring managers left and right. Standing out in the application process feels both increasingly important, but also increasingly difficult. So, what can you do about that? According to Hanna Goefft (aka @hannagetshired on TikTok and Instagram), one important thing to do is to make sure you have your digital and social media presence on lock.
For those unfamiliar, Goefft has dedicated her career to helping others find career success. Her social media pages are full of tips that are easy to understand and implement, especially for people that are entering the workforce for the first time. All this to say, Goefft knows a thing or two about standing out in the application process — especially when it comes to building and refining your online presence, which is becoming ever-more important in the digital age — and she teamed up with Canva to share her insight on the topic.
“Historically, the job search was really limited to either the people you knew personally, or the jobs you could apply to directly,” Goefft tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “But because there’s so much visibility, there’s so much new content being produced all the time, and people and companies are increasingly using social media to find candidates and find skill sets, it’s created this massive opportunity for people to use it to their advantage to get into the jobs they’re looking for.”
Especially for entry-level jobs, hiring managers are really looking for potential, because everyone is going to have differing amounts of professional experience in college.
In fact, in a 2025 report from Canva on the state of the job search and hiring process, 88% of job seekers said a strong digital professional brand is crucial in the hiring process, and 94% of hiring managers said they value candidates with an online presence related to their careers. Further, 68% of hiring managers said they routinely check candidates’ social media presence when hiring.
And while it may sound daunting to create or revamp your online presence on top of the already-laborious application process, according to Goefft, this is actually great news for college students just starting out in their careers.
“Especially for entry-level jobs, hiring managers are really looking for potential, because everyone is going to have differing amounts of professional experience in college,” Goefft says. “Everyone’s kind of on this even playing field, and so social media can be this great way to show how you are this high-potential candidate … It’s got so much potential for people to showcase what they’re doing, and then if you do it in a cohesive and professional way, that can demonstrate a lot of these important skills that employers are looking to hire for, like motivation, communication skills, and detail orientation.”
We as humans like to look at things that are pretty, so even having a more simplified resume template or portfolio that is clear, that is well designed, will take you far.
Goefft gives an example of this: “Even doing something like using Canva templates to create a cohesive color scheme and using consistent fonts across your resume and your LinkedIn profile and your portfolio — that shows a level of attention to detail that will translate to the workplace,” she says. “We as humans like to look at things that are pretty, so even having a more simplified resume template or portfolio that is clear, that is well designed, will take you far.”
But does this mean you need to fully overhaul your social media in order to be about work, and only work? Not necessarily. Sure, you can create a website that displays your online portfolio, or you can create a new Instagram account that’s solely dedicated to your area of expertise, but you don’t have to do all that in order to give your online presence a more professional makeover.
“[You can do] even things as small as using a professional photo instead of a Snapchat selfie as your LinkedIn profile pictures, trying to avoid photos of yourself partying, or [deleting] things that may be misconstrued when you are trying to land that first job,” Goefft says.
It’s not about erasing your personal identity; it’s about enhancing your professional one to give the hiring managers a better overall picture of who you are as a candidate — you know, outside of the standard resume and cover letter. “[You can do this] by showing how you’ve taken your own initiative to go learn new skills, or showing what you gain from a volunteer experience, or, you know, maybe you were involved in a nonprofit on your campus,” Goefft says, adding a few more prompts to spark ideas: “Have you participated in group projects where maybe you took a leadership role? Have you had to work on a team in any sort of capacity?”
The bottom line is, there really is so much that can be displayed in your online presence, and especially as social media becomes more and more a part of the hiring process, it is important to be able to use your platforms as tools to your advantage. After all, with how competitive the job market is right now, any sort of advantage should be one you grasp onto.