Social media has revolutionised the way hiring decisions are made today. So, if you haven’t got a social profile or understand how to optimise it, it’s a good time to do so. Today social networks are an opportunity to promote your personal brand (or do quite the opposite).

91% of recruiters and employers use social networks to review candidates. According to a recent study by social monitoring specialists Reppler, 47% of employees look at your social profile before they decide to have an initial conversation with you and 27% will do this after the first interview.

The majority of employers and recruiters look for Twitter handles and Facebook timelines to learn more about the applicant. According the same study, 76% of employers and recruiters use Facebook to screen candidates and 53% use Twitter

This has made it essential to re evaluate privacy settings and the content that you’re posting. If you don’t want an employer to see it, make sure you limit the visibility of your timeline to Friends. With Twitter, protect your tweets but remember that this is a lost opportunity to build your professional profile online. 

Some employers and recruiters have hired candidates based on their social profile – if you tweet about topics related to your industry, it demonstrates that you are switched on and reading relevant material. If you have a lot of mentions and followers, it demonstrates that you are a good communicator and networker which are essential skills for success in today’s competitive job market. 

The other social network you should have a profile on is LinkedIn. LinkedIn  is a great way to keep up with what’s happening in your industry by joining group and speaking to more experienced professionals in your field. And as they grow their network, yours grows too because if you’re ‘connected’ with them you can ‘get introduced’ to and ‘connect’ with their ‘connections’ making it possible for you to interact with people working in your industry who would previously been out of reach.  

- By Aminah Khan, Editor at TheGraduate

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