If you haven’t stepped up your online professional presence by now, today is the day! Now more than ever, employers are turning to social media outlets to find their next candidate. Why? It’s quick, easy, and effective.

First, let me hit you with some astounding statistics about recruiting via social media:

• 94% of companies are using social media to recruit
• 14.4 million job seekers have used social networks to find a job
• 73% of companies successfully hired a candidate with social media
• 93% of companies use LinkedIn for recruiting, 66% use Facebook, and 54% use Twitter
• Having a professional LinkedIn photo makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed

If you haven’t checked your LinkedIn account since that time you had to make one for marketing class, think again. Networking has become a vital tool in today’s job market, and LinkedIn makes it easy! You can literally find and apply to jobs and internships across the country on LinkedIn. Of course, you should first try digging through the 1,000+ jobs and internships on the OwlNetwork. If you don’t know what that is, click the link and explore!

If you’re going to be job searching on social media, keep your LinkedIn profile updated, professional and complete. Don’t forget a professional head-shot as well! As I pointed out, having a professional LinkedIn photo makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed, and the career center literally does that for free. Yes, save your monies for more Richie’s, and let us take a fabulous professional photo of you so your LinkedIn profile can shine!! And if you haven’t seen our very own Hooter the Owl get his head-shot done, you missed out, Here’s that gem:

Another thing to keep an eye on is your personal social media. If you do not want potential employers going through your tweets about the giant pizza you devoured at Philly Style at 2 a.m. last night, keep it private! Check all your settings across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Recruiters won’t think twice about throwing away your application if they find your profile picture of you doing a beer bong at your fraternity party. 92% of employers would reject a candidate who made negative comments on social media, so just keep your personal accounts separate or private, and be mindful of who could be seeing your posts.

If you are a forward thinker, and have made a professional Twitter, go you! It’s not a bad idea to create a Twitter just for the workplace. Follow industry leaders and influencers, share articles pertaining to your interests and re-tweet newsworthy information for your field. This can get you noticed, and lead to more connections and possibly to job or internship offers! Just don’t forget to check which account you’re tweeting from…

So give yourself some time to get your social media and LinkedIn accounts looking fab and ready for the real, professional world. Tip: do this before you apply to jobs and internships!

Check out our upcoming events here and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more updates!
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By: Emily Street
Communications and Design Intern
Temple University
Junior, Art Direction Advertising

Sources: 

http://www.jobcast.net/26-social-recruiting-stats-and-facts/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2016-linkedin-stats-you-should-know-updated-katy-elle-blake?published=t