How to Make Your Social Media Profiles Look Professional
As in today's online world social media is becoming number one area of marketing where we can do digital marketing like never before. Thus social media platforms are up to create thousands of online jobs for the whole world. Which is very good for all of us as we can make money online by joining companies which are hiring agents online. But the main thing is when we have a junk looking social media profile we can't imagine our dream job invitation. Why? because hiring managers of each and every company which is operating online check social profiles of employees to make sure they are a good fir for them and if your profile is not looking professional, nobody will invite you to join a service or company. Now another questions raises here "how to make our social media profile look professional" and the answer is right below. Just read this guide and in the end you will be able to create a professional looking social media profile which will get you hiring invitations from big companies.
In simple words, on your social media profile you shouldn't update any inappropriate thing or if you were posting things that has nothing to do with your next job then remove those posts or set a privacy gate so nobody from the hiring managers can read or see your personal thoughts. This way you can make your social media profile look professional and clean.
For an example: If your name is George Clinton and your Facebook ID is at web.facebook.com/geo131hh. It will be like you are not serious about your social media profile and not so productive. But when your user name is like web.facebook.com/GeorgeClinton then it will give an impact and make your hiring manager think that you are product and love perfect things. Which is the key factor on why social media networks are providing you the facility to edit your user names and have a custom URL for your id.
Another fact is you should have just one profile on one social media network. For an example: if you are on Facebook then you should keep one profile on Facebook and create another on Twitter. Don't dare to create two different profiles on one platform, as its against their terms and also may ruin your work life. As you can't manage those profiles and posting irrelevant things which can do harm to your next job hiring, you should stop this.
After all when you are following like-minded people and influencers in your industry you will be able to stay updated and get more job alerts on your social media timelines which is the best ever thing as a benefit of using social media networks. So its a must follow step for making your social media profiles look professional as hiring managers will also review who you follow.
For an example: if you are a professional in banking industry and you have a photo at your profile which looks weird and funky. What a hiring manager will think of you? and if you have a decent looking headshot as a profile picture then what a hiring manager will think about you? I hope you got the answer and this is why I am recommending you to have a self-head-shot as a profile picture which is showing your real face.
As everybody loves to get updated for each moment in their industry and interests, if you can give them what they are looking for you will defiantly have a huge fan following and so the hiring managers will give you a higher position just because you can influence people about that particular company or their products. So be updated and update your friends, followers and community members for getting hired quickly for a best position and make your social media profiles look professional.
I want you to know that there is a privacy policy of every social media networking website/app and they want you to follow that. Like that you can set your own privacy on your social media profiles and choose what you want to share with public and what you don't want them to hear about. If you can't manage your social media profiles and don't have time to update them regularly then you should make them private and hide your sensitive data like your updates and images you upload on different occasions. You can just show Bio, Profile Image and cover image to the public and hide other information like Address and contact options.
This is not recommend, because you may ruin your online presence. But its better to hide your data when you are sensitive and don't want everyone to know more about you. Hiring managers can also understand it and send you private message for getting more information. So its your choice now, whether you want to make your social media profiles look professional or hidden.
Step 1. Inappropriate Posts
There maybe so many social media profile updates and posts which you should remove from your accounts as they may make your profile not professional. For an example if you have published something like "You hate Banks" and a hiring manager of a big bank is going to review your social profile. What it will say? you will probably get fired before getting hired. This is why you should delete or at-least hide those inappropriate posts from public access. Almost every major social networks is providing you the ability to delete or hide a post on your social timeline. You can delete Facebook posts or set privacy to only friends, you can archive Instagram posts and also you can delete or set privacy on your Twitter updates.In simple words, on your social media profile you shouldn't update any inappropriate thing or if you were posting things that has nothing to do with your next job then remove those posts or set a privacy gate so nobody from the hiring managers can read or see your personal thoughts. This way you can make your social media profile look professional and clean.
Step 2. User Names
Not just the posts, there is something more which should be unique and interesting and also related to your industry. You should edit your user names and have custom short URL which should look professional.For an example: If your name is George Clinton and your Facebook ID is at web.facebook.com/geo131hh. It will be like you are not serious about your social media profile and not so productive. But when your user name is like web.facebook.com/GeorgeClinton then it will give an impact and make your hiring manager think that you are product and love perfect things. Which is the key factor on why social media networks are providing you the facility to edit your user names and have a custom URL for your id.
Step 3. Deactivate
We all were in teen ages and have created many profiles. If not profiles then other relative accounts which maybe showing our faulty images and thoughts to the hiring managers. If you think that your childhood shouldn't be shown to the hiring managers then you should deactivate those social media accounts. Also, if you were not using the internet and recently active in online world then you probably have created some not-in-use profiles which are still up. So this is the time to remove them by deactivating those accounts.Another fact is you should have just one profile on one social media network. For an example: if you are on Facebook then you should keep one profile on Facebook and create another on Twitter. Don't dare to create two different profiles on one platform, as its against their terms and also may ruin your work life. As you can't manage those profiles and posting irrelevant things which can do harm to your next job hiring, you should stop this.
Step 4. Your Bio
Everybody wants to know a bit more about you whether they are your friends on social media profiles are your hiring manager and the best way to describe yourself is have a professional bio added to your social media profiles. As Facebook and Twitter are offering the best Add Bio options you can easily describe yourself and expertise in a few words. I recommend you to have a quick and informative bio like:Umer is a Certified Digital Marketer, Content Strategist, Speaker and Experienced Professional Blogger since 2014. He is one of the top 10 bloggers in Pakistan.This is unique and to the point bio. Please don't copy this bio, just re-edit it with your expertise and experience. There's nothing like a science for adding your bio into social media accounts. You just have to make your profile look professional by adding professional looking bio not a poetry line.
Step 5. Follow Influencers
There are some influencers in every industry and some of them are those who can make their updates to be news updates. You can follow them and read their footprints. Don't just send them a friend request on Facebook, you can follow them on Twitter and Instagram to check what they talk about and how they handle latest trends. You can start commenting on their updates and interact with them.After all when you are following like-minded people and influencers in your industry you will be able to stay updated and get more job alerts on your social media timelines which is the best ever thing as a benefit of using social media networks. So its a must follow step for making your social media profiles look professional as hiring managers will also review who you follow.
Step 6. Photos
I have seen many profiles with fake photos on profile photo and cover image. Almost every teenager and new to social media person uploads different kinds of photos on their social media profiles. I recommend you to have your own headshot as a profile picture and your friends or a photo from your college mates part can be uploaded as a cover image. It will be best thing to make your profile look professional.For an example: if you are a professional in banking industry and you have a photo at your profile which looks weird and funky. What a hiring manager will think of you? and if you have a decent looking headshot as a profile picture then what a hiring manager will think about you? I hope you got the answer and this is why I am recommending you to have a self-head-shot as a profile picture which is showing your real face.
Step 7. Relative Updates
Everybody starts from many small steps. As you can see that influencers in your industry are at high numbers and their followers, friends and circle members are more than your thoughts in a day. They all have started from zero and then gained popularity on their small steps. If you too want to be an influencer in your industry and get hired by a big company for a higher position then updating your social media profiles with relative updates, news and videos or images can lead you to get more followers, friends and circle members.As everybody loves to get updated for each moment in their industry and interests, if you can give them what they are looking for you will defiantly have a huge fan following and so the hiring managers will give you a higher position just because you can influence people about that particular company or their products. So be updated and update your friends, followers and community members for getting hired quickly for a best position and make your social media profiles look professional.
Step 8. Privacy
Last and not least at all.I want you to know that there is a privacy policy of every social media networking website/app and they want you to follow that. Like that you can set your own privacy on your social media profiles and choose what you want to share with public and what you don't want them to hear about. If you can't manage your social media profiles and don't have time to update them regularly then you should make them private and hide your sensitive data like your updates and images you upload on different occasions. You can just show Bio, Profile Image and cover image to the public and hide other information like Address and contact options.
This is not recommend, because you may ruin your online presence. But its better to hide your data when you are sensitive and don't want everyone to know more about you. Hiring managers can also understand it and send you private message for getting more information. So its your choice now, whether you want to make your social media profiles look professional or hidden.
