There's no doubt that social media has been an enormous trend in the last 10 years. A recent survey showed that 7 out of 10 Canadian internet users are regular social media users and 14 million Canadians check their Facebook news feeds daily.¹ Businesses and marketers are taking note of this and spending more time and money on social media to try and get our attention.

My question for you is: are you using social media to boost your career? 

HR is creeping your profile

If you're like most engineers, you're not using social media (or anything for that matter) to market yourself. Most engineers don't think of themselves as having to market themselves - marketing is evil, after all. But consider this: a recent study showed that 43% of hiring managers use social media to screen candidates. Of those that used social media:

• 51% of hiring managers found things online that convinced them to pass on the applicant, 
• 33% of hiring managers using social media found things that helped convince them to hire a candidate.
• 23% found content that "directly lead to them hiring the candidate"²

The plain and simple truth is this - potential employers, clients and colleagues are Googling your name and its important that they like what they see.

You're never going to be able to erase yourself from the internet, so the next best thing (if not the best thing in general) is to take control of your online profile and put your best digital foot forward.

Taking control of your profile

So how do you actually go about controlling your online destiny? Here are a couple dos and don'ts that will help to get you started:

Do

Set up a LinkedIn profile - a complete one - and include a professional picture. Try and avoid the picture of you half-buzzed at that party last summer where you had to strategically crop out your ex. I only say this because I have colleagues who actually have that as their profile picture. For real. Also be sure to submit updates here and there to keep the content fresh. Google loves LinkedIn, so this is a good place to start. When I Google "Patrick Sweet", my LinkedIn profile is the second hit. Boom.

Start a blog. I know, I know, blogging can be a lot of work, but the rewards are huge. Just think of all the time you spent either a) consuming social media (i.e. looking through Aunt Judy's 372 pictures of the apple crumble she made yesterday) or b) watching cat videos on YouTube. If you could even cut out some of that time, you could use it for writing a blog. I can't emphasize this enough - my own blog helped me get the job I have today (one that required twice the industry experience I have) and is the top Google hit for "Pat Sweet". 

Check your privacy settings - Honestly, you really need to double check what you're sharing with the world. Check your privacy settings on each and every profile you own. Then, Google yourself to see what shows up. It might also help to sign in to each social media site using someone else's profile to see what they can see on your profile.

Don't

• Use inappropriate language, poor grammar, or anything derogatory online.
• Post any picture that you wouldn't be happy to show your grandmother
• Show yourself drinking or doing drugs (you'd like think this is common sense...)
• Use unprofessional screen names (For example, SexyEng1987 is maybe not such a hot idea)
• Lie about anything
• Stay home "sick" from work then post pictures of yourself at the beach that day.

What are you doing?

What strategies are you using online to help build yourself up as a rock solid engineer? Do you have any stories about big wins or epic fails? Let us know in the comments section below.

About Pat Sweet

Pat Sweet, P.Eng. is a product manager, speaker, writer, and entrepreneur working in Ontario, Canada. His Engineering and Leadership blog is the go-to resource for strategies and information on leadership, management, and productivity for engineers. Go to Pat’s blog now to sign up for his free 12-week Engineering Leadership course.

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