As many as 70 percent of employers scour the social media accounts of candidates before extending a job offer. That's why you should clean up your online presence, beyond just making your LinkedIn profile as sharp as possible, to leave the right impression with a company. Discover several practical things you can do to improve your personal brand online.
Remove Old Posts
Delete old tweets or posts that are irrelevant to your life today, such as those silly images you posted in high school back in 2008. What worked for you back when you first started on social media may not hold true for your current life. Remove images of that wild party you attended in college or that drunken spring break in Daytona, since you don't want potential employers to view such images during your job search.
Boost Your Personal Brand
Everything posted on your social media accounts add to your personal brand. Alongside your experience, skills and professional references, what you say and do online are a good indicator of you may interact with employers, colleagues and collaborators. Think about the type of image you want to project to potential employers when you clean up posts, images and responses. You want to come across as professional, polite and easy-going.
Get Rid of Controversy
Controversial posts may include ones that are politically charged, overly negative and disparaging to previous employers. Get rid of these unprofessional social media posts so you do not have any negativity or controversy on your feeds. Employers want to see positivity from new hires instead of negative, controversial posts that stir up trouble.
Stay Accurate
Your resume says you worked for Acme Brick for three years from 2011 to 2014. Your social media timeline should reflect that, especially when it comes to Facebook's timeline feature or your LinkedIn profile. Double-check your account activity and connections to ensure that your previous employment is in-line with your resume.
Adjust Your Privacy Settings
Consider making some personal accounts private to prevent an employer from seeing certain posts or images. You don't want to completely erase your online persona, but a Pinterest or Instagram account with family photos or wedding pictures may cause employers to make judgements about your personal life or the amount of time you may have to spend at work. Your privacy settings give you more control over who sees what.
Add More Posts
Do not just delete posts you feel are not a part of your personal brand. Connect with new people on LinkedIn, share relevant posts that talk about your chosen industry, and create new posts about your professional life or developments in your field. Updating your posts with new material keeps your personal brand fresh and active in the minds of employers.
Your social media represents ways your future employers can see what you're up to beyond just a resume and checking your references. Consider cleaning up your accounts, making them private or deleting them altogether if they may pose a problem. What would you do to spruce up your online presence ahead of an interview?
Photo courtesy of Biondo Creative at Flickr.com
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