Social Media Audit

80-90% of all HR Managers and Recruiters will search your social media online to learn more about you. You have to make sure that your digital footprint reflects a professional image of who you are. Check out our helpful guide before they check you out!

Begin Your Social Media Audit

You have to make sure that your digital footprint reflects a professional image of who you are. Check out our helpful guide before they check you out! Each of these sections will give you insight and best practices from HR and industry experts.

Young Man Saying Hello with Social Icons

You’re ready to connect with companies that you want to work for – but the competitive landscape has changed. The pursuit of your dream career doesn’t come with the classic “get good grades” and “know the right people.” Your new introduction is your digital footprint. Your digital brand must be properly curated for you to stand out and land the position of your dreams!

The 5 keys to a Social Media Audit:

Assess, Analyze and Attention to detail.
  • Assess what accounts you are using
  • Analyze what your profile communicates about your personal brand
  • Attention to detail with the content on your profile and updating your information
Understanding who your audience is.
  • What are recruiters and hiring managers looking for?
  • What are recruiters and hiring managers looking at?
Develop Your Personal Brand
  • Market yourself as a brand
  • Do your research about the industry and the role that you are interested in pursuing
Information and Investigation
  • What information is currently on your profile that is not professional?
  • Create and share content with your goals in mind
  • What type of experience do others in your potential profession have?
Take a Final Look
  • Create goals in developing your personal brand
  • Define the ideal mixture of your personal brand and your best professional self
  • Can you be a positive reflection of the company that you want to work for?
Young Business Man at Podium with giant key

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional and employment-oriented networking website. LinkedIn is a useful tool for students, recent college graduates, recruiters, professionals and businesses. If used correctly, LinkedIn gives you the power to advance your career, connect with alumni and business professionals in order to grow your network and build your future.

  • Based on your profile, do you appear to be someone a company would want to hire?
  • Do you appear knowledgeable about your intended industry?
  • Do you appear passionate about your current future career?
  • Does your digital brand communicate that you have what it takes to succeed in the role you want?
  • Set a goal: What do you want to communicate to recruiters/hiring managers
  • Utilize the “Profile Strength” barometer: Goal is “All Star”
  • Browse and look at a few profiles of people at the companies you want to work at – who have the title you would like to have now or in the future.
  • Use a professional photo
  • Write a bio in the first person
  • Include examples of your work or school accomplishments [Photo, Link, Video, Presentation]
  • Request testimonials/recommendations
  • The best way to get more recommendations is to give recommendations first.

Facebook

Facebook is the world’s largest social network. You may be familiar with using the site to keep in touch with friends and family, but recruiters and hiring managers also look at your social media profiles before making a hiring decision. Many candidates get rejected due to inappropriate photos, comments or other posts on their social media page.

  • Review your privacy settings, timeline, and tagging options
  • Use “View As ” feature to review public visibility
  • Cover image/Profile pictures are public [Including past photos]
  • Review/Remove images and posts that you are tagged in that aren’t appropriate
  • Review/Update “Who can look me up”
  • Review groups you are a part of
  • Review past content you have posted
  • Customize your URL to keep it consistent with your other profiles.

Instagram

Instagram is a mobile platform driven by sharing digital media by way of photo or video. Digital storytelling is the way in which you differentiate your personal brand. You can view Instagram as your creative portfolio, a medium to express your personality and set you aside from other candidates. When evaluating your previous social media posts, we encourage you to be your best professional self.

  • Have an appropriate profile picture
  • Based on your posts. Decide if your account should be public or private
  • Review the list of companies you want to work for and follow them on Instagram
  • Review all previous posts and photos you are tagged in
  • Take note of any trends
  • Use hashtags on your posts in order to be found

Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blogging and social media platform used to broadcast short posts and hyperlinks. Twitter is another great tool that can be used to find a job and enhance your personal brand.

  • Set a goal for the job you want to find and the recruiters you want to attract
  • Browse twitter to see examples of great accounts
  • Review any photos and posts that you have posted in the past
  • Review who you follow
  • Take down: Any of those negative tweets/bad mouthing previous employer tweets
  • Make sure your photo is professional
  • Set the tone of your page with the header/banner
  • Write up your 160-character bio—Professional with a hint of personality
  • Add link to other social media profile, website, or portfolio
  • Share useful information
  • What would a recruiter want to read?

Conduct A Self-Search On The Web

70% of recruiters in the USA have rejected an applicant because of what they found online.

Golden Rule: “If you don’t want to talk about it in an interview, it shouldn’t be on the internet”

One of the first actions that a recruiter will take after receiving your resume is a full search of your name on the web. Recruiters are looking to see if you are credible when they look at your digital profiles. When they are researching candidates, they are looking for evidence of your previous work and any relevant personal information that could either benefit or harm your chances to land the job. We advise that you see what the recruiter will see by doing a search of yourself on each search engine before sending out your resume.

By having a great opportunity to "control the narrative," you can control your personal brand and online reputation. Follow these guidelines:

  1. Human Side
    1. Personality
    2. Well-rounded
    3. Interests
    4. Are your timelines filled with a positive tone and information.
  1. Professional Side
    1. Professional photo
    2. Testimonials/references
    3. Recommendations
    4. Portfolio/ examples of your work
  • If you want to remove a photo, profile link, or webpage from search results, you usually need to ask the website owner (webmaster) to remove the information.
  • Why contact the webmaster? Even if the search engine deletes the site or image from our search results, the webpage still exists and can be found through the URL to the site, social media sharing, or other search engines. This is why your best option is to contact the webmaster, who can remove the page entirely.

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