Chances are, you have read multiple articles dealing with the second part of this questions. Not only that, you’ve probably been witness to multiple celebrities, business professionals, and even politicians torpedoing their careers and reputations because of ill-advised social media posts. Hopefully, at this point you know the type of posts and the associations that can cause you problems on social media.
What you may not know is how to use social media as a career building tool. Here are 5 ways that the proper use of social media can help you in your career.
1. Somebody is Going to Tell Your Story - Shouldn’t it be You?
Who’s The Boss was a hit television show for many years. Its stars included Tony Danza, Judith Light, Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro, and Katherine Helmond. Each actor in the series had previously worked on stage and screen, but this was a great opportunity for all of them. Long story short, the series was a hit and the players became beloved by fans. A few years after the series ended, one of the actors was plagued by rumors about his lifestyle. This was during a time when such rumors could destroy a career. He was told to embrace his story and tell it from the rooftops. The result was that a potential PR disaster became something that was absolutely empowering.
Before hiring you as a consultant, employee, or freelancer, people are going to look you up on social media. The decision that you have to make is whether or not you let your social media presence simply happen, or if you are going to actively create, and most importantly, control what is out there on social media sites.
2. You Can Use Social Media to Network With The Right People
LinkedIn and Facebook are great platforms for reaching out to former coworkers, alumni, college instructors, friends, old bosses, and a variety of other people. By making these contacts, you improve your job prospects and your ability to access people who can offer you support and advice as you work to develop your career. Of course, this must work both ways as your social media contacts will dry up if you do not offer your own advice, help, and encouragement as well. If it helps, many people have replaced the term networking with relationship building, because it more accurately represents things.
3. Social Media is a Great Vehicle For Highlighting Your Talents
There are many ways that you can use social media as a tool for highlighting your talents and accomplishments. Here are just a few of them:
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- Using Instagram to document the things that you have created
- Creating pin boards that act as your portfolio
- Producing videos that explain concepts you have mastered or show you demonstrating your talents
- Creating and writing a blog that helps you establish yourself as an expert and a thought leader in your field
- Sending real time updates and information through SnapChat
- Using SnapChat stories as a way to communicate your vision and the work that you do
If you really think about it, anything that you have created, overcome, or accomplished, can be captured and shared on social media, so that your talents can be seen by anybody who is interested in looking you up. You can also share your social media posts so that the right people can see what you have accomplished.
4. You Can Get to Know The Influencers in Your Niche Via Social Media
One of the greatest blessings of social media is that it gives you access to important people that you would have never known before. You can use social media to contact, follow, and build relationships to the people who have the most influence in your industry, and you can get them to friend and follow you as well. Take advantage of this! Identify the people and businesses that you want to be associated with and work to develop relationships with. Then, take it one step further and determine who you want or don’t want to establish connections with you. Remember, creating a successful social media presence means controlling your associations as much as it does seeking out beneficial ones.
5. You Can Use Social Media to Develop Your Brand
Your social media presence is more than a sum of its parts. It is a collection of your posts, your points of view, your habits, your taste, and your talents. Everything from the tone you adopt on your social media posts to the images you share influence what people think about you. It may be overwhelming to consider all of this, but ultimately this can work in your favor. You can carefully craft a brand that works for you on social media.
All you have to do is decide what shows your passion and influences you. You can do this through a blog, by creating a lifestyle website, and simply by tailoring your tailoring your social media posts to represent your persona. Before long, people will begin to recognize your brand and associate you with a specific collection of talents and skills.
Conclusion
Stop worrying about the harm that social media can do. You can prevent that by being a thoughtful person with common sense. Instead, focus on using social media to help others, develop your brand, showcase your skills and talents, and present the world with a holistic and genuine image of who you are.
Find a career in social media though our job board.
