While having a LinkedIn account is important, you need to make sure your profile portrays you in the best possible light. Recruiters often use LinkedIn to find candidates, so it’s important to make sure your profile is professional, comprehensive, and eye-catching.

Tips for Including Your LinkedIn Profile on Your Resume

Before including your LinkedIn URL on your resume, consider optimizing your profile with the following tips:

Use a professional photo, not the selfie you hold your phone in. Customize your LinkedIn URL by adding your name: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yournam Add relevant keywords to each section. your resume! Tell your story in a conversational tone. Use a mix of text, images, and video to showcase your work. Ask people you know for support and guidance to give credibility to your claims.

Once you’ve sanitized your LinkedIn profile, you’re ready to add the LinkedIn URL to your resume. Just add it to your contact details at the very top of your resume.

Other social media accounts you can include on your resume

If you have other social media profiles, they can add value to your job application if presented correctly:

Youtube

If you create educational content on YouTube and have a large following, this is a great way to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Be sure to remove any comments that might make a bad impression on potential employers.

Twitter

If you regularly follow a business and comment on industry trends in a meaningful way, it is worth including your Twitter handle (the username that appears after the @ sign) on your resume.

While not every tweet should be related to your profession, your tweets should be strictly professional. However, if you primarily use your Twitter account to comment on celebrity gossip or TV programs, or to voice your opinion about poor customer service, do not include your Twitter account on your resume.

Facebook

Your Facebook account is your most personal social media account. Unless it is directly related to the role (e.g. social media position) you are applying for, there is no need to mention your Facebook account on your resume.

If you choose to open your Facebook account to employers, you don’t need to share the personal unfiltered version that you share with your friends. Instead, use Facebook’s privacy settings to present recruiters and employers with a professional image of yourself.

You also need to consider the possibility that any information you share with friends and family will still be available to employers. Just in case, avoid posting anything that could harm your image or reputation.

Instagram and Pinterest

Since images can convey more than words, Instagram and Pinterest can be great personal marketing tools. If you’re applying for creative work, these platforms can be used to showcase your portfolio. Just keep in mind that employers will not be interested in photographs of your dinner or your dog.

Social media accounts to not include your resume

Like other platforms, Snapchat allows you to share videos and images to tell stories. The biggest disadvantage of Snapchat, however, is that you don’t leave a digital footprint on the platform. Any content you share disappears immediately after viewing.

If you need to share live content with recruiters and employers, it might make sense to mention your Snapchat account. if not, leave it on your resume.

Tips for Including Social Media Accounts on Your Resume

Regardless of which social media accounts you include on your resume, the following points should be considered:

Compliance with job description

Do you use your social media accounts to share your thoughts on industry trends or promote yourself? Insightful Twitter tweets or educational content on YouTube can help demonstrate to employers your suitability as a candidate. However, if you only use social media for personal purposes, avoid mentioning them to protect your privacy and public image.

However, no matter what industry you work in, please include your LinkedIn URL. Recruiters and employers will expect you to have an account, so be sure to create one if you haven’t already!

Sequence

Make sure your name is the same across all your social media accounts; this includes hyphens or name changes due to marriage. Using different names can confuse recruiters and employers and make them wonder if you are the same person.

Professionalism

Whether you choose to include links to your social media accounts on your resume or not, your employers will almost certainly look for your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts. They will want to know more about you as a person and check if you have posted any controversial content (related to race, gender, politics, etc.). This is why it pays to apply privacy controls to your accounts so that you only share personal content with friends and family.

This may not be available on platforms like Twitter where the content is public, so please review all your tweets and remove any content that might be considered inflammatory, just in case.

As a general rule of thumb, avoid posting or tweeting anything that could be used against you in a job application (like your semi-nude photos, incendiary remarks about previous employers, etc.), even if your settings are confidential … If you have hundreds of friends or followers, one is enough to share an inappropriate photo or post. In this interconnected world, you never know who is friends with your employer.

Pronunciation and grammar

Finally, make sure that any content you post on social media is free of spelling and grammatical errors. This tip applies to your resume as well. You don’t want to ruin your good work by giving the impression that you are careless and oblivious. Sweep your social media accounts and fix or remove content that might reflect badly on you.