The art of the perfect fit

Using social media for self-promotion

Posted by D.R.A.W in News · May 2018

When job hunting, it is important to ensure your ‘social presence’ portrays the image you want to present in a professional capacity. Many prospective employers will look you up on social media platforms prior to interviewing you. Take a look at our 6 tips to creating a professional image.

When job hunting, it is important to ensure your ‘social presence’ portrays the image you want to present in a professional capacity. Many prospective employers will look you up on social media platforms prior to interviewing you, while it’s perfectly acceptable to have a life outside of your profession, you don’t want a potential employer to be put off interviewing from anything you’ve posted online.

Think of social media as a powerful self-promotion tool, make sure that you have used security settings appropriately or that any information you do share publicly can be termed as ‘clean’. By this we mean photos, language used and any expressions of views or political interest if they could potentially be considered as offensive.

LinkedIn is one of the most valuable social tools in your search for your dream job – it’s the go to platform for recruiters, head-hunters and prospective employers alike. So how do you use this to your advantage? Well, first things first let’s discuss your profile image.

In the age of the ‘selfie’ it can be very easy to lose perspective on what is and isn’t crossing professional boundaries. If hiring a professional photographer isn’t a possibility, and you are attempting to take your own professional selfie, take our tips into account:

  1. Dress to impress – you should be in professional attire, or something that is appropriate for the profession/role
  2. Stay up to date – we’re all guilty of keeping a photograph for a year or two longer than we should, but it’s important that people can recognise you from your picture
  3. Use a proper camera – high quality images will look far more professional when published or uploaded to professional sites. If you do decide to use a smart phone, remember the back lens is usually higher quality than the front.
  4. Keep it simple – stand against a plain wall or background.
  5. Natural lighting – it’s always best to take the photo in a room with plenty of natural light, a sunny day if possible but watch out for shadows in the final shot.
  6. Strike a pose – not unlike taking a selfie for social media, try taking a few different photos from slightly different angles to determine the most flattering option and produce a photo you are confident with. Try to be natural and relaxed to achieve a better photo.

Remember, when looking to present yourself to prospective employers, colleagues, clients or any business environment, a typical, informal selfie is rarely appropriate. However, a well-executed professional selfie will help convey a small part of your personality that you want to present in your professional life.

 

Now we’ve covered professional photography, check back next time on our blog when we’ll be exploring tips on how to write an effective LinkedIn profile.

Take a look at our latest jobs here – your dream job could be waiting for you.

Notes from DRAW · 08.05.2018

Read More

Update from Julia @DRAW

Congratulations Julia on completing her CIPD Level 5, Julia is now an Associate of the CIPD! Julia tells us a bit about how this came about and how it can help you.         Since leaving the corporate world behind and starting my own business, nearly 15 years ago, it seems like every day has…

Working in the Arts – Art Tech Special: Rebecca Davison-Mora

Rebecca Davison-Mora is the Communications Manager at Arcarta, a due diligence platform that supports the art market. Previously she worked in various leadership roles at arts institutions and commercial galleries in Toronto, Canada. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management…

Working in the Arts – Art Tech Special: Nick Walter

This week for working in the arts we spoke to Nick Walter, CEO of Vortic Art. Vortic is a powerful virtual reality and digital exhibition ecosystem for galleries, institutions and collectors to quickly and sustainably curate, share, and revisit exceptional exhibitions with any viewer, anywhere in…

Working in the Arts – Art Tech Special: Tanya Van Sant

For the next few weeks we are focusing our Working in the Arts segment on the intersection between art and technology. To kick things off we chatted to Tanya Van Sant, Vice President of Personnel at Artlogic. Since 1994, Artlogic has been building technology to improve the art world. With complete…