5 Ways to Use Social Media to Promote Your Career Brand

Gone are the days when a resume was the sole medium to illustrate your career brand. Now you have many tools at your fingertips in the social media world with which to demonstrate your professional achievements, skills, and interests.

Tip: If you don’t know what your career brand is, ask! Question your co-workers and supervisor for their input, and ask them for specific examples of your most pronounced competencies.

Here are five ways you can effectively use social media to promote your brand:

• Capitalize on LinkedIn. According to a study by JobVite, 94 percent of job recruiters are on LinkedIn, which makes this social networking service a major marketing tool for you. Keep your profile as up-to-date as your resume. Pick a good quality, professional-looking photo (if you don’t have a photo, you can come across as a novice or having something to hide). Finally, write a clear headline that showcases how you want to be known.

• Get professionally active on Facebook and Twitter. These sites are widely used by businesses and organizations. On Facebook, you can “like” various pages of companies and organizations that appeal to you. Write comments, questions, and testimonials on their pages. Twitter is also becoming a popular site for job searches. Follow people you admire professionally as well as organizations. Tweet professional information and resources, and use hashtags to connect with specific content.

• Create a blog. This is a popular way to market your career brand. Write content-rich, relevant posts that share your thoughts and expertise. Write regularly to increase your visibility (and don’t forget to edit!). You can engage in online conversations as more people follow your blog; it will show that you contribute valuable content and are a strong potential connection.

• Share photos and videos on Instagram. This platform syncs with Facebook and Twitter, which allows you to share across media. Instagram provides a unique visual component to your social media strategy—people connect differently to pictures than to text, which gives you a more memorable online presence. Promote your career brand by creating videos of yourself sharing expert advice, and share photos from companies you’re interested in and career-related events you attend.

• Start pinning in Pinterest. Pinterest isn’t just for hobbies and social interests anymore. Create boards showcasing your professional skills, or boards that exhibit your values and ethics. If you’re in the creative field, Pinterest boards can even serve as online portfolios that include your resume. Follow users who share your professional interests.

For more tools and strategies on how to create and market your career brand, check out this month’s bonus TD at Work feature, “Marketing Your Career Brand,” by Michelle Carroll and Alan De Back.