A2X Consulting

You send Tweets from your smart phone. You update your Facebook status every day. As a college student, social media is all around you, every day. But have you ever thought that social media can help you succeed in your professional life? When used the right way, your online presence can open up both virtual and physical doors.

LinkedIn 

Considered the most professional social network, LinkedIn functions similar to a virtual resume. Some important features of LinkedIn include the ability to give and receive recommendations for work from co-workers and bosses, the ability to join discussion groups that focus around specific industries, the ability to share presentations and other samples of your work, and the ability to search jobs. Companies will exclusively post jobs on LinkedIn and hiring managers search it to find candidates.

Facebook 

The most popular social network site is not just a place to share photos and catch up with old friends.  Following companies you’re interested in interning for is a good way to find out what makes them tick. Are they quirky? All business? Do they even care about Facebook? You can tell a lot about an organization from its social media presence.  Just make sure your personal profile is “boss-friendly.” Take advantage of privacy settings to keep certain pics and updates only available to friends. 

Twitter 

The third of the big 3 of social networking sites, Twitter has an underserved bad rap of being full of people who post what they ate for lunch. While some users do tend to be on the dull side, there are many diamonds in the rough. After setting up an account, search for your industry. For example, I entered “writing” and a list of people who tweet about writing popped up.  Twitter is a great link-sharing service. You can post links to stories about your career and track stories other people post. 

Of course, there are many more, smaller social networking sites.  Using your profiles on these sites to the best advantage is a good way to get started with social networking for your career. 

By Danielle Bullen. Danielle is a writer and resident of the Philadelphia area. She can be reached at Daniellebullen@comcast.net.