HOW TO AUDIT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA IN THREE STEPS
How many social media accounts do you have?
Active now, maybe you’ve got a Facebook profile and LinkedIn, possibly Instagram, Twitter, TikTok - Pinterest or Snapchat perhaps. That’s not including the ancient Myspace you had through university, or the YouTube you briefly uploaded a few videos to 6 years ago, and then forgot about.
With the list of locations to display our lives online growing, data on our personal lives is easier to access than ever before - and if you can see those night out photos, the chances are, so can a background researcher.
It’s becoming more and more frequent that, as part of referencing, businesses turn to social channels when deciding to proceed with your appointment. If you’ve gone through a detailed interview process, test days, various phone meetings etc., the last thing you want is to miss out because of a tweet.
In today’s guide we are going to talk you through the three steps to social auditing - assessment, cleaning and finally, branding. However if you’d prefer to speak with a consultant directly, contact us.
Assessment
Stage One : the Where, What and Who?
The first step in this process is to discover exactly where you appear online. Some accounts, like those you use daily will be easy - but it is possible you may have old forgotten profiles that also need sourcing.
Sadly it’s not the quickest process, but quite simply, start on Google with a search of your email address (remember to also Google search older email addresses you may no-longer use). Make a note of all places you appear, paying particular attention to social channels.
Next try entering your email address(s) on social media channels, testing the forgotten password function for websites you can’t login to now. Bring this all together in one master list.
At this point it’s time to start scrolling back through your timelines; you may want to ask a friend to help you check through. You’ll want to look for anything that doesn’t represent you accurately or could damage your career prospects - like poor behaviour, strong political views, unfortunate photography etc.
It’s important to also consider if any inappropriate material representing you could be linked with other people’s social accounts, such as shared videos or photographs you’d prefer to forget.
Clean Up
Stage Two : Begin Editing
This is arguably the easiest part in the process. You’ve found yourself online, found what you don’t want seen and now, just need to remove it or prevent access to this content. The best practice in this scenario is either to simply delete items, or download and delete.
Alternatively should you want to keep unfavourable posts active, turn to the privacy settings on your social channels. From here on most platforms, you’ll be able to lockdown your account - however remember that this doesn’t guarantee you’re entirely hidden, and old images could still turn up in a Google search.
While cleaning out your social accounts, take a moment to think about who you want to be perceived to be by a potentially new employer. Most importantly, how do you look now and what needs changing to achieve your ideal?
Personal Branding
Stage Three : Setting the Tone
When it comes to personal branding, there are a few core rules to keep in-mind. One, remain consistent across all platforms - for example, if you’re a tech evangelist on Twitter and Instagram, maintain this through to your Facebook and LinkedIn channels.
Secondly, put others first. What I mean by this, is consider what a potential boss or new colleagues would want to see from you when reviewing your social channels. If you’re trying to secure a position with a Google-esque startup, coming across like a corporate robot is unlikely to meet the businesses cultural fit.
Third is conviction. If you want to be seen as a specialist in a specific subject, get involved. Be part of groups and pages, go to events, comment / like / share posts - be active! If you’re CV makes a point of your personal love for a specific subject, but there’s then no reference to it anywhere socially, it may cast a shadow on that statement.
Whilst you don’t need every social account to be in reflective unison, using high quality images for profile and cover photos that paint you in a good light, will be beneficial. Remember, this is your opportunity to sell you - your personality, life experiences, intelligence, values and everything you believe makes you perfect for a new employer.
There is one social channel that needs special attention when job hunting, and that’s LinkedIn. Your profile here will likely be the first thing viewed by hiring managers, HR and recruiters - and therefore must be inline with your career aspirations.
Headlines are the first thing any professional on LinkedIn with read about you. They appear against your name/picture in search results, can help you rank higher in search results for certain words, and set the tone for your entire LinkedIn presence. The headline is not a place to simply outline your job (e.g. FinTech Recruiter at Caspian One), for the same reason BMW don’t put out ads that just say “we make cars”, It’s uninspiring. The headline is your personal ad strap line and should grab attention from relevant audiences. 120 character limit.
Some best practices include:
Keep headlines concise and punchy, a simple one liner.
Write with your core subjects/keywords in mind.
Do Not Capital ALL Or Every Word In The Headline.
Be careful of symbols, in-fact, unless you have to avoid them all together.
Remember who will be reading your profile.
Next is the summary section, in-which you should write about your professional passions, experiences, successes, achievements and values. The best practices outlined for the headline also apply to the summary - write concise & clear copy, remember core keywords and keep content natural/conversational but still audience suitable. Remember you will go into more specifics in the job description area, so this should just be highlights.
Job description - In the main summary you’ve already provided a significant amount of information on who you are/what you do. In the job description section you now want to go into more specifics. Keep in mind that whilst you are ‘selling you’, this shouldn’t just discuss how great you are - put the target audience and what you can do for them, first in your mind.
A few points to keep in mind;
This isn’t a resume. It shouldn’t just be a factual outlay of what your job is, this should be a (somewhat) revealing insight into your skills, talents and experiences.
Keep this section easy to read. Often it’s more of a ‘skip over’ section, as most interactions are with the summary.
Keep writing tone conversational but professional.
LinkedIn questions to ask yourself:-
Are you using a custom LinkedIn profile URL?
Have you completed your LinkedIn profile 100%?
Do you have rich media content (articles, blogs, polls, infographics) you could present?
Are your personal contact details up-to-date?
Are your privacy settings allowing you to be seen in search?
Are you actively posting/sharing/liking content?
Are you a member / involved with groups on your target subjects?
The Results
At the end of this audit you should be confident that nothing within your social accounts will put your career goals at risk. We have talked a-lot about modifying your personal brand, but do remember to remain true to who you are - otherwise you’ll risk appealing to opportunities that won’t hit the mark.
