Tuesday 21 October 2014

Presenting a Professional Image on Social Networks

Social media has become a key player for both candidates and employers/recruiters in 2014.  While it is great for candidates to seek new opportunities and find out more about the companies they are interested in, it is also a tool used every day by potential employers and recruiters so be sure to present a professional image on all social media.
A recent Social Recruiting Survey completed by Jobvite shows that 93% of recruiters will review a candidate’s social profile e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. 55% have reconsidered a candidate based on their social profile, with 61% of those reconsiderations being negative.
Here are some key points to help you prevent sabotaging your next job prospect:

Profile Picture
Your profile picture is probably the most important part of your social profile when it comes to employers, it is the first thing they see when the land on your profile, choose something respectable and make a good first impression.

Build a Strong LinkedIn Account
Most employers will search for you on LinkedIn and will want to see that it matches up to your CV; they want to see your professional credentials so keep on top of it and show yourself in the best possible light.

Take Control of Your Privacy Settings
Adjusting your privacy settings allows you to control who can see what on your profile, you can hide certain photos and statuses for just friends and stop potential employers viewing the ‘ibiza 12’ album.

Multiple Accounts
If you’re comfortable with social networks and use it every day it may be worth setting up a professional profile as well as a personal profile, keep your professional profile open for everyone to see and your personal account for friends.

About Me
Keep your bio professional, we all have a friend on Facebook that says they work as ‘a penguin picker upper’; avoid putting things in your bio that might put an employer off and be truthful.
While an employer will never make a decision solely on your social profile it could be the difference in getting the job or not.
For further career advice go to http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/career_tools.aspx

Written by Liam Oakes
Liam is the Recruitment Office Manager at Aaron Wallis and has been with the company for 4 years after having a career with the RAF; Liam has helped hundreds of Sales Professionals secure a new Sales role and ensures that Aaron Wallis runs smoothly.



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