5 Tips on How to Make Your Social Media Job Search Ready

Social media is a great way to stay connected with those around you. However, those social media platforms that everyone loves to visit can hinder your job search. Employers can peruse public social media profiles before candidates are given the chance to interview with them. Through these little glimpses into your private life, your potential employer has already made assumptions about you. In order to avoid this, the best thing to do is to prep your social media profiles across all the major platforms as you job hunt.

1. Privacy settings are your friend

   There are pros and cons to having a public profile. Instead of debating whether or not to keep your profiles public, like Facebook for example, you can take advantage of Facebook's various privacy settings. If you're applying to a position where it would be advantageous for you to display your competencies with social media, having a semi-public profile will definitely benefit you. You are able to edit who can post to your wall on Facebook, and choose which photos show up in your "featured photos" section on Facebook.

2. Delete offensive posts

   Your social media platforms are outlets for you to express yourself. However, if you're looking to land a new job, it would be in your best interest to censor yourself. You want to ensure that you are branding yourself in a way that will appeal to future employers. Putting forward a professional, presentable profile is in your best interest. Delete photos of yourself at the club drinking alcoholic beverages, or that tweet littered with curse words, or endless complaints about your job.

   As you conduct your job search, you have to be painfully aware of everything you post on social media. You do not want to put yourself out of the running for your dream job by drunken tweets or Instagram posts.

3. Brand your social media

   Think of your social media platforms as a way to enhance your chances of landing that dream job you've just applied for. Have you applied for a job in finance? Post about it. Demonstrating your knowledge and passion on your social media is a great way to catch a prospective employer's attention. Personal branding on social media doesn't have to be boring and professional. You can post about topics that you are interested in and would like to be known for. Personal branding based on your interests is a great way for you to control the narrative on your social media platforms without falling into the realm of "boring with no personality".

4. Activity

   Dead social media platforms with no content could be a hit or miss with prospective employers. A lot of the time, employers are expecting to find some kind of recent content on your social media. A nifty trick to generate activity is to participate in Twitter chats with those in your industry. Re-tweets and regular tweets are nice, but demonstrating your connections and your ability to be informed about the occurrences in your industry speaks volumes. There are different ways to participate in Twitter chats, either by following a trending hashtag or following an organization in your industry that hosts these chats. Another great way is to participate in a comment thread on a LinkedIn group post and building connections there.

5. Follow Influencers

   Following influencers is a significant method to pad your following list with people other than Grumpy Cat or Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. Not only will following influencers give you great content for re-tweets, but your prospective employers will also be impressed. As much as everyone loves the occasional Kardashian drama re-tweet, it's always best to balance the scales by following thought leaders on social media.

Grooming your social media profiles is an excellent approach to leave an impression on your prospective employers. Taking these 5 steps to stand out as you conduct your job search will go a long way, and could be the difference between getting the job or being taken out of consideration for it.