Presenting Your Best Image on Social Media During College Search

This week, we’ve invited Social Media Consultant, Peg Fitzpatrick, to talk about how you can put your best image forward – on social media – during your college search.

Here are Peg’s top three tips:

Please use common sense! Don’t post bad language, inappropriate photos or other unprofessional images.
It’s time to think beyond just YOU but to your future and how you want to be viewed as an adult.
Highlight your accomplishments, share your volunteer work and show that you are a good member of your community.

When using Facebook, be sure that you have untagged yourself in any compromising photos, and check your privacy settings to make sure you aren’t showing too much. Remain aware that anything you post online (anywhere) has the potential of becoming public.

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, you should be! Twitter is a great place to meet people and learn things in chats such as #collegecash. Many people in social media are really helpful and kind. If you need to, read books and blogs to learn how to use Twitter and other platforms and attend a lot of chats in your area of interest.

Pinterest is also very popular because it’s very easy to search topics on college funding, school choices and virtually almost anything. You could learn about your new roommate by checking out their pins on Pinterest. There are also lots of Ramen noodles recipes: http://pinterest.com/search/?q=ramen+recipes, which is a “must have” for students. (All about Pinterest #CollegeCash Summary « College Financial Aid Advisors http://collegefinancialaidadvisors.com/all-about-pinterest-collegecash-summary w/ @Tribe2Point0.)

It’s important to remember when you are on social media (FB, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.) that you have already created your brand. Make sure that this is what you would like potential employers to see about you. Be consistent with your message through all your bios and use the same avatar.

LinkedIn is the start of your professional resume and should be used to prepare for your future job search. Ask for written recommendations but also ask them to post on LinkedIn as well. It is easy and people will be happy to do it for you. (@SteveCassady prepared an FAB slideshare for #LinkedIn for Students for #CollegeCash http://t.co/nv7ctiBa.)

When it comes to your bios and profiles, be clever and think about what type of career you would like to have. “Future social media pro” or “coming soon to a Fortune 500 Company near you” could go far. Don’t leave bios or profiles blank as this is a waste of space and searchability. Make sure you have a good, appropriate avatar. A friendly photo with a nice color pop works well.

Google+ is also great because it reaches beyond your current friends and family on Facebook and there is better SEO for keywords and topics. Besides, it’s a great place to meet smart people, and meeting new, influential people in the industry of your choice could lead to great connections and networking. But remember – you don’t have to be on every social media platform.

Having a relevant, consistent blog presence can be fantastic for students. It’s a great way to share some of your skills, highlight important things in your field of choice and it’s fun! Giving potential employers more positive, relevant access to your skills could be very effective.

Final thoughts: