Can your social media profiles impact on landing that dream graduate job? We reached out to the recruitment experts at Yolk for a few pieces of advice and insights on managing your social presence while on the job hunt.

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LinkedIn:

Let’s start with the number one professional social media channel. LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also a great job search engine as well as an amazing networking tool. And there is no doubt that an all-star profile can increase your exposure to graduate job opportunities and boost your chances of landing that dream one.

At the end of the day, your LinkedIn profile is an online CV so make sure your profile is active, truthful, complete and up to date. Include any relevant soft skills or experiences. You can also include portfolio work on there. For example, if you’re applying for a job that’s applicable to your dissertation, why not upload it to your profile. Don’t be afraid to connect with potential employers and build your network. Also share relevant industry posts you come across and comment on others.

However, don’t be one of those who end up on The State of LinkedIn on Twitter. If you haven’t come across this twitter profile yet, it’s well worth a look of how NOT to do LinkedIn!

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Personal Channels:

In the same way a complete and active LinkedIn profile can send a positive image to your network, your activity on non-professional social channels can be to your detriment.

Many employers and recruiters will review your social media profiles before interview stage, in fact, a study for Monster found that nearly half screen job candidates through social media. They’re on the lookout for any red flags, such as posting inappropriate material, continually ranting or posts that lack proper spelling and grammar.

Remember Tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts are part of your personal brand and should either private or employer friendly. Therefore, either delete those freshers’ photos of you, your mates and that “borrowed” traffic cone, or lock your profile down. How many stories have you seen in the news or shared online where an employee has been disciplined for sharing inappropriate content that may affect the perception of a company’s public image?

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The Social Rules:

When it comes to your socials, what should you do to your profiles and their content? Here are a few tips:

• Either make your accounts private or hide and delete any inappropriate posts.
• Deactivate old accounts.
• Add an appropriate profile photo. We don’t mean getting a professional headshot but make sure that your profile and cover photos are appropriate i.e. you drunk in the SU isn’t going to cut it.
• Edit your profile handles and URLs – it takes less than a minute and @joe_bloggs1 looks much better than something random such as @Joe467416888452.
• Avoid publicly complaining about your job, boss or customers (even if it’s a job you had at uni).
• Never share racist, sexist or any immoral or provocative content.
• If you’re going for the more public and professional look, especially on twitter. Post, share or retweet anything that’s related to the industry you want to be part of.

Above all, when looking at what’s publicly viewable on any of your social profiles. Ask yourself, would I want that to be brought up in an interview? If the answers no, either delete it, set to friends only or delete it completely.

Now, you could argue that your personal life shouldn’t be used to judge you as a candidate. But you simply can’t expect a ranty Twitter profile not to have an impact on someone’s expectations of you, even at a subconscious level. Remember, people have a negative bias and damage is easier done than repaired. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Here’s what Yolk’s Marketing Team Manager, Aaron had to say:

“I don’t necessarily look at non-professional social media profiles unless I am hiring for our team at Yolk. But some of our clients definitely like to check what kind of person they might be getting on board. It’s human nature. So you might want to ensure what’s publicly available on you doesn’t undermine the time you’ve spent perfecting your professional image”.

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Have you had any awkward situations when it comes to job interviews and your social media profiles? Let us know on our Facebook page.

Yolk are an award-winning recruitment business operating from their Cardiff HQ across 6 core markets; Technology, Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Finance & Accountancy, Office Support and Legal. If you think Yolk can help you with your graduate job search you can find out more here.