When it comes to hiring new people at the ‘Peg, familiarity with social media is key. Not just because we are a marketing company offering social media management services to our clients, but because we are also very involved in the community and communicating via social media is necessary. So if you’re looking for a job or an internship and you don’t think your social media accounts are important, you’re wrong.

Here’s why we care about social media.

Your LinkedIn Profile is Your Digital Resume

We do ask individuals to provide resumes and cover letters, but what we really want to see is their LinkedIn profile. Is it completely filled out? Is the profile picture appropriate? Is work history up to date? Are you actively taking advantage of LinkedIn Groups or the blogging platform? A complete profile separates the amateurs from the professionals and most employers are looking for professionals.

Your LinkedIn profile is your digital resume. You should put just as much effort into your LinkedIn profile as you do your actual resume. If the two don’t match up, you’ve got some work to do.

• Check out your connections’ profiles. What do they have on their profiles that you’re missing? Fill in the blanks and you might find you have more information to add to your resume.
• Make sure you not only have a profile picture, but one that is appropriate. Read this blog post to be sure your picture meets professional standards.
• Start making connections. Link up with work colleagues or classmates. Ask them to endorse your skills and write a testimonial about you as a professional.
• Join and become active in a few relevant groups. Talk with others in your industry and take some of those online conversations offline with an invitation for coffee.

Twitter Tells us about Your Interests

LinkedIn might be all business, but Twitter is where we discover more about you as an individual. What do you read, what do you think is funny or important, what causes are you interested in and how connected are you to your local community? If you think companies aren’t looking at your Twitter account, think again.

At Roundpeg we require all team members to be active on Twitter. Not only to help promote the business, but to allow our community to get a sense of who you are as a person and what your personal interests are. Do you love to knit? Do you dabble in latte art? Do you enjoy a good cat meme? These are things we want to know about you before you step into the Roundpeg office for an interview.

More importantly, we want to know if you understand how to use the platform properly. Are you sharing links to blog posts or articles you find interesting? Are you interacting with other users on Twitter? Are you using hashtags properly? These are all things we look for when evaluating potential job candidates. Employers also want to see original content on Twitter. Are you sharing blog posts you wrote? How about links to your online graphic design portfolio? Don’t just link your Twitter account to your other social media profiles and be done. Be sure to sprinkle in some original tweets to break things up.

Don’t worry, employers won’t punish you for not having a Twitter account (unless it’s required for the job). But some employers will suggest you create one after you’re hired. Read this blog post to help get you started.

What About Facebook and Instagram?

While Roundpeg doesn’t focus heavily on personal Facebook and Instagram accounts, other companies might. Take a good look at the content you’re posting on those accounts and clean up anything you think could cost you the job. But honestly, that’s a completely separate post for another day.

Social media profiles help employers get to know a job candidate better than a paper resume ever could. That’s why more and more companies are closely examining your social media accounts before they hire you, or even interview you. I suggest beefing up your LinkedIn profile since that’s typically the first place hiring managers look. Once your LinkedIn profile is sorted out, work on your other social media accounts. After that, all you have to worry about is getting hired, and that’s not too difficult, right?