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Your social media and online profiles are some of the EASIEST ways for potential employers to establish their first impression of you.
When interviewing, getting your foot in the door is crucial. Many of us worry about the first time meeting with a potential employer; however, odds are they already know you before you even have a chance to speak, due to the prevalence of online profiles like social media and LinkedIn.
Don’t fret! Luckily, our online persona is ONE thing that we have the most control over, so let’s use that to our advantage. Having a neat and professional online profile can serve as a home-run first impression. Putting the effort in now builds your personal brand and boosts your chances of being hired.
A well managed profile indicates thoroughness, thought, and care. You are serious about getting the job, which is evident in your effort to prove yourself. Whether you are a pro or a newbie, we can always edit, improve, and bolster what we already have, so let’s see some of the best places to start!
1. Say Cheese!
The most simple, but most overlooked – your profile picture is a necessity. The biggest takeaway: make sure it looks like you! It is important that the recruiter can easily identify what you look like and having a matching and professional profile photo conveys trustworthiness and confidence. Smiling or stoic? It is better to air on the side of friendlier and more approachable so smiling is probably better, but if you aren’t really a grinner, feel free to have a calm and content expression.
2. Tell me a little bit about yourself…
An inevitable question, but now you have a chance to write your own narrative, not think on the spot to recall your life story. In the short bio section, instead of listing past jobs and skills, focus on crafting your brand. Share your interests and passions about the field you’re in. Why did you choose ~your field here~? What are your aspirations for the future? What are some key personality and work qualities you pride yourself on? And hey, the interviewer is a person too, so feel free to share what you do in your free time!
Less is more: developing a cohesive and memorable blurb about yourself will help you in your path forward. Practice your 30-second elevator pitch in the mirror so it’ll be good to go whenever you need it. And as always, make sure to spell check and have good grammar, this can often be a dealbreaker for a lot of employers!
Here are 10 really creative and well written profile bios.
3. Anything else?
Filling out job applications can be pretty straightforward: your years of work experience, what companies you worked for, and so on. Once you fill out these basic templates, you often feel like you still have more to prove and to show. It is important to link your supplementary materials to showcase your skills, experience and talent. For example, if you are in marketing or design, link your art portfolio filled with sample works. If you are in STEM and don’t have an art portfolio, you can still link a website with your latest projects. If a recruiter is really interested and they see that portfolio, they will know you are serious and will have the chance to learn more about you.
Amber Xu and Jacek Jeznack have great portfolios to gain inspiration from.
4. Bonus Round!
Let’s say you have all of the above and are good to go. Here are some additional fun tips to spruce up your profile.
It can be fun to add a nice neat color scheme to your background and profile photo as well as your resume. We like to generate some trendy and ~cool~ colors, but try not to add too many bright or too many dark colors, a nice balance is good.
There are a lot of bonus features that come with each platform, try using them out.
Once you make your profile, don’t abandon it. Interact with people by liking and commenting, build your network, and most importantly… update! Make sure to update your profile whenever you start that new internship, graduate, or are looking to reapply. Stay fresh!
If you make any edits, feel free to send hello@enroleapp a picture!
