Social media platforms have continued to evolve and become an increasingly popular way to connect with your peers & potential employees. As you begin your job search, it’s important to understand the role your social media accounts will play in your journey.
Putting in the extra effort to button up your digital footprint could put you one step ahead of your competition in the job market.
As practices begin to build a more robust online and social presence it only makes sense that you as a prospective employee should do the same.
Be Sure to Deep Clean Existing Social Accounts
It’s very important to portray yourself in the most positive and professional manner possible through social media and your job search. Use your social media profiles to create a credible image of yourself as a professional, likeable, career oriented individual.
Be sure to go through your accounts in detail to make sure they are employer appropriate. Delete or hide any old posts or photos that are questionable. As you proceed, consider everything you add to these accounts with an employer’s perspective in mind. The more thoughtful, knowledgeable, interesting, and above-board your internet image is, the better. Try to avoid political or religious posts and create a neutral, professional space for yourself online.
Why Social Media?
- Helps you build your personal brand
- Let’s you network and connect in ways you can’t in person
- Makes you “more visible” to hiring managers and recruiters that mine social media for prospective candidates – even when you aren’t actively searching for a job
- Gives you a chance to interact with companies you want to work for
A great LinkedIn profile can act as an electronic version of your nephrology CV or resume.
Be sure to update your LinkedIn profile with:
- a recent professional photo
- education
- experience
Connect with alumni, industry professionals and peers to build your network.
Other Social Media outlets should be locked down so your off-duty activities don’t overshadow your professional accomplishments in the eyes of potential employers. Some platforms you may want to consider or clean up are as follows:
X (previously Twitter)
X can be a great resource for connecting with other nephrology fellows and practicing nephrologists. X offers an easy platform to demonstrate your expertise. When you use it to post updates and connect with others online, using their handles in your posts can expand your professional network and get you exposure to potential employers. One thing you may not have considered: you can learn what’s new in your field by following X handles from professional organizations, conferences, and large health care providers.
Facebook
Most people consider Facebook a personal platform in the social media world. If you still have a Facebook page, you may want to consider cleaning up older posts that might not show you in the best professional light. If you are no longer accessing it on a regular basis and it’s full of party photos from high school/college, you might want to consider deleting it or at the very least setting it to private.
Instagram
Surprisingly, you can utilize Instagram as part of your job search. Take some time to create a profile and use this image driven platform to post photos of professional accomplishments, projects, aspirations, etc. Be sure to search popular hashtags and connect with companies and other professionals in the Nephrology community.
Tik Tok
For now, Tik Tok seems to be used predominantly for entertainment and education with STEM content being particularly popular with scientists, mathematicians, and health care professionals. Having a Tik Tok presence likely would not land you a private practice nephrology job as most employers are not utilizing it, but it could be damaging if any content you post on this site is not professional in nature.
