Know Thy (Social) Self

As we prepare to go deeper into the strategies and tactics that make up an effective social media plan for a brand, let’s first look inward and explore your own social media use. Throughout the course, you’ll learn best practices that apply to both brand accounts as well as the plans you could use to build a personal brand. Here are steps you should take at this moment to add a professional sheen to your social media:

1. Create a LinkedIn account, using the platform’s checklist for students, or improve the account you already have, making it a dynamic and informative profile of your professional attributes. LinkedIn also offers more resources to students for improving their profiles and landing jobs.   
2. Make sure you have a suitable profile image that makes you easily identifiable. You should be dressed appropriately, be the only person in the photo and the background should be uncluttered.
3. Could a banner image further enhance your profile? A picture from your campus, a beautiful landscape photo or a snapshot of you presenting to a group can convey optimism, professionalism or other impressions you’re hoping to get across.
4. Your account profiles should be optimized, listing any appropriate affiliations (school, organizations, professional groups, etc.) and URLs to sites such as an e-portfolio or personal blog.
5. Past posts should be free of profanity, embarrassing party photos, excessive complaining and attacks on other accounts. Discussing politics, especially in an uncivil manner, is also risky. Remember, it’s likely that a potential employer will scan your social media to determine professionalism and how you’d fit into the workplace culture.

It’s likely that your social media presence includes a mix of the personal and the professional; vacation photos are interspersed with photos from a conference, Twitter musings on your favorite TV show share a feed with your contributions to a Twitter chat focused on your field. It’s also likely that you’ve given thought to types of content you will and will not post and have been put off by something you saw on someone else’s account. To put your best foot forward on social media, you can benefit from some strategies. At the least, a mission statement could guide you and potentially prevent you from being one of the aforementioned 57% with social media regrets.