Recently a friend asked me to review her resume before she sent it to a prospective employer. As part of her contact information, she included the url for her blog and her LinkedIn profile. A good idea — but one that could be taken a step further.

Consider these two job hunting tips before you send out another resume:

  1. Include a social media section with a list of urls that you want a prospective employer to see.
  2. Set up a Facebook page (not profile) for your professional identity.

There's been a lot of chatter in the media lately about companies asking job candidates for their Facebook passwords. I don't understand that and I don't believe many (if any) companies are actually asking for passwords (if I'm wrong, please leave a comment and correct me). However, I absolutely believe companies are checking the Facebook profiles of prospective employees and using what they see to make their hiring decisions.

You can argue the fairness of that all day long, but why waste your time? It's reality. Deal with it and know that if your personal profile includes profanity, slurs, irrational rants, and photos of you indulging in questionable behavior, it could affect your job search.

Even if your personal profile doesn't include that sort of negative content, will it serve as a strong, positive recommendation to a prospective employer? A well-crafted Facebook page can do that for you.

facebook iconMost of us think of Facebook pages as being for businesses, but individuals can set them up. Go to www.facebook.com/pages, click on “artist, band or public figure,” then use the drop-down menu and choose the category that best describes what you do in the business world. Agree to Facebook's terms, click on “get started,” and set up your page.

Populate the page with a profile picture and cover image that show you in a professional setting; timeline entries that list your professional achievements; and letter-perfect, typo-free status updates designed to impress prospective employers with your knowledge and dedication. Ask enough of your friends to “like” the page so Facebook will assign a vanity url — ideally, the name that's at the top of your resume, but if that's not available, choose something close. From your page, visit and like other business and organization pages that relate to the type of job you're trying to get.

Important: A Facebook page is not a substitute for a strong LinkedIn profile. I'll share some LinkedIn tips in a later blog.

Jacquelyn Lynn
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