Electus Recruitment Blogspot

Should you put social media links on your resume?

 Written by: Chane da Costa

Mashable reported that 10.9% of resumes have links to social media profiles, and this continues to grow. However there is a big debate amongst recruiters as to whether or not resumes should have links to social media profile.

Although social media profiles provide a sense of transparency and help potential employers become more comfortable when it comes to hiring you, it can however have a negative influence on your application if you have inappropriate posts that can be viewed.

This does not mean that if you don’t have links to your Facebook and Twitter page that potential employers won’t seek and view your profile. For those active job seekers, I cannot stress enough how important it is to monitor your profiles and ensure that your posts are decent and appropriate in case potential employers search your name.

There are 3 main social media platforms used on resumes. To determine whether or not you should use them, I have discussed each one with guidelines on how to use them.

1. Linked-In     

For those who don’t know what LinkedIn is, it is a social networking website for people with professional occupations.  It is mainly used for connecting with and growing a professional network as well as job searching. 

Linked In’s personal profile is in a similar format to that of a resume, which allows your networks and potential employers to view your qualifications and experience without requesting your resume. This will also allow potential employees to view your professional network, projects, skills and endorsements as well as recommendations from former colleagues and employers. It is however essential to constantly keep your profile updated so that it reflects all your recent information.

Often the LinkedIn profile URL’s are long and can make your resume look untidy. To shorten and personalise your URL, follow the steps below:

1.       Go to your profile

2.       Click the edit tab

3.       Under your name will show your URL, with an edit button next to it.

4.       Edit and  personalise your URL

2. Facebook 

Whilst Facebook is the most popular social media network in the world, whether or not to add your URL onto your resume is a difficult decision. Although it creates a sense of transparency for the potential employer, the purpose of your resume is to market yourself to the employer considering your applicant and Facebook might do the exact opposite. We generally use Facebook as a more personal platform to connect with family and friends about our comings and goings as well as our own personal thoughts and opinions. These thoughts and opinions could be contrary to that of what the potential employer associates with and could potentially intervene with your application.

So when deciding whether or not to add your Facebook URL, you can ask yourself if your Facebook page adds value to your job applications or not. If it would not add any professional value do not add a Facebook URL. However as stressed earlier this does not give you reason to relax and not monitor your profile, as potential employers can still do a search and view your profile.

3. Twitter

Twitter, like Facebook is an online social networking platform where users can send and read “tweets”. Twitter differs slightly to Facebook by being able to read and receive tweets about a specific professional industry. By tweeting with your industry specific influencers, you are able to get a foot in their network and this could show your potential employers your knowledge about the industry and your professional networking skills. This could create a good impression.

The correct way to put your Twitter handle on your resume: @ElectusRecruit - Never use the URL link.

The employee transparency subject that was brought up will come up again with Twitter. However, if you are not interacting with your industry/influencers of choice and are using Twitter for personal use this will have no benefit for your potential employers to view your Twitter profile.

As social media recruitment slowly becomes as an integral part of our lives, slowly the distinction between professional and personal social networking platforms will fade. It is of utmost importance for social media users to maintain a reputable online presence whether they are job seeking or not. Remember even if you do not include social media links this does not mean your potential employers won’t search your name.