You’ve been out of work for a while and you’re applying for that dream job in healthcare. The job has cushy perks, a big salary and a rep for treating its employees like heroes. Trouble is, yours won’t be the only resume on the HR manager’s desk. Chances are, it will be covered with candidate's resumes, possibly more qualified that you.
The good news is you meet the job requirements and you’ve been busy building a social media presence. You’ve kept in touch with peers and healthcare industry organizations and you’re wondering if it might help to include contact info about your social media exploits. After all, who isn’t on Facebook, twitter and the dozens of semi-professional social media sites out there these days? There’s also your personal website. Should you steer a prospective employer to it in hopes of gaining a leg up?
It depends. If, for example, the position deals with patients in an educational format, you might want to include professional Facebook and Twitter pages on your resume. The average person spends a considerable amount of time “connecting and learning” on social media; so showing that you’re social media savvy might help.
On the other hand, if your Facebook and Twitter pages are loaded with personal vacation photos and more intimate information, you might want to include only professional networking pages like LinkedIn. Many employers nowadays will “Google” applicants to see if their personality is a good fit. So before you send out your resume, edit your social media and web pages to make sure they are “presentable.”
For an added perspective, check out this video:
If you have any thoughts or suggestions about using social media on resumes, feel free to share them in the comments section.
Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients. Please see more of his blogs and view additional job postings on Beyond.com.
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