For job seekers, social media presents vast opportunities to promote yourself to prospective employers. Just as popular social media sites allow users to connect with friends and family, they also are powerful ways to create two-way conversations with your WGU peers, alumni and employers.

Through social media, you can:

• Engage your audience. Engagement is a great way to establish trust and to build a relationship that can develop over time.
• Build your brand. Engagement leads to loyalty with your brand. Users can get to know you more intimately by how you present yourself in a professional way. Developing your profile to showcase your skills, experiences, education, and accomplishments can begin to build your value to prospective employers.
• Control the message. Build your story of who you are both personally and professionally. Use industry keywords to show relevance to your chosen career path. This will also show employers how you are branding yourself to that industry.
• Create new leads. Reach out to WGU students and alumni by using LinkedIn’s Alumni Tool to find your peers who are pursuing the same degree and who are on the same career path.
• Ask for advice. When you find those who you want to connect with, start out with a simple introduction and request to connect. Don’t ask for a job or if they are hiring, as this can be considered a red flag. Instead, consider requesting an informational interview to gain valuable feedback and to further grow your network. You never know where opportunities may present themselves.
• Research employers. Identify top employers of interest. Then, create a list of keywords from their company sites and pages that align with your career path. These keywords can also be used as part of your digital and resume profiles.

WGU Career & Professional Development provides great resources for strengthening your digital presence. We are also available to provide one-on-one assistance to make sure that all your social media questions are answered.