You Heard It Here First: Social Media Profiles Are the New Cover Letters
Here's how to get yours right.
Photo: ColorJoy Stock
Gone are the days of submitting your résumé and cover letter and calling that: “applying for a job.” Today, employers are looking for an extra edge, for your humanity, and for what makes you tick. We hire people after all, not machines.
In comes social media: the ultimate look inside who you are, what you believe in, and what makes you you.
Here’s a pro secret: before your potential recruiter, boss or CEO even downloads your résumé or scans your cover letter, they will search your name. Your LinkedIn profile will pop up, maybe your Twitter, perhaps your Instagram profile will appear right in front of their eyes.
Are you proud of what’s there? Are you putting your best foot forward to a potential employer?
The key to nailing social media and secondarily, manifesting your ideal career opportunities, is to be proactive and infuse your expertise, value, personality, and humanity into your online presence.
Here’s how to optimize your social media presence for your job search.
Why You Need to Proactively Position Your Social Media Presence
I always say, “If what you’re posting isn’t okay for your future boss to see, then you probably shouldn’t be posting it at all.” Social media is no longer just “social media;” social media is the internet. What you put out into the world, stays in the world.
Now, this isn’t to convince you to create a two-dimensional, ultra-professional-looking social media presence, because that’s what your résumé is for, right?
As an employer, I am not looking to hire human doings. I am looking to hire real human beings. I want to envision the type of person I am working alongside.
Of course, they have to be able to do their job and have the right talent, but they also need to add value to the company and fit in with our culture. The way I, and any other employer, can truly find that fit is by viewing your holistic online presence.
Use social media as a way to tell your whole story. It is the 360-degree package of who you are that brings that extra level of authenticity and humanity to your application. Whether it’s LinkedIn or Clubhouse, TikTok, or Instagram, there are so many opportunities to share yourself and talk about your know-how.
4 Steps to Nailing Your Social Media Profiles
Optimizing your profile is a secret sauce when it comes to enhancing your social media presence.
Step One: Profile photos and a memorable bio are a must.
Since social media is all about making connections, your profile photo should reflect who you are, and so should your bio. Choose a high-quality photo that can be used across all social channels to increase your searchability. Beef up your bio with relevant successes and links to any of your ongoing projects or events.
Step Two: Update your website link to something relevant.
Think: a personal website, the link to your Medium account, maybe you’re an actor with a reel compilation on Vimeo, drop the link in your bio!
Step Three: Be accessible to potential recruiters.
Include links to your other social accounts, email, and website to keep the conversation flowing. In other words, make it easy to connect outside of social.
Step Four: Remember, what you share on social media is a direct reflection of who you are.
Create content, be an active participant in engaging and sharing other people’s content and you will stand out regardless of if you’re looking for a job.
You have the tools, now get optimizing.
But, What About My Actual Cover Letter?
Circling back to your actual cover letter, this should be the vessel to share your experience and your talent. But why stop there?
Infuse your cover letter with calls to action to check out your work and other accomplishments. Whether it’s your blog series, your podcast, your website, or even your SoundCloud, you can direct people to these mediums to help paint a fuller picture of who you are.
At the end of the day, you are a three-dimensional, living, breathing being and it’s your job to translate this to your one-page cover letter—and beyond.
“Use social media as a way to tell your whole story. It is the 360-degree package of who you are that brings that extra level of authenticity and humanity to your application.”
—Jessica Zweig, CEO of SimplyBe. Agency
About the Author: Jessica Zweig is the CEO of SimplyBe. Agency, a premier personal branding firm based in Chicago and serving clients across the globe. Named a “Personal Branding Expert” by Forbes, a “Top Digital Marketer to Watch” by INC, and honored with the Gold and Silver Stevie® Award for “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2018 and 2019, Jessica facilitates sold-out workshops and speaks on the power of personal branding to corporations including Google, Salesforce, Virgin, Nike, Motorola, Red Bull, and Bank of America. She also hosts the top-ranked marketing podcast The SimplyBe Podcast. Jessica’s debut book, “Be: A No Bullsh*t Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself,” launched in February 2021 with Sounds True, an imprint of Macmillan.
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How to Land the Job You're Overqualified For
Work that cover letter.
Photo: Christina Jones Photography
You have all of the qualifications and more, but you just can’t seem to land the job. Sound familiar? It’s harder to land a job that you’re overqualified for than you might think.
Employers want to hire an employee who is the right fit in every sense of the phrase. If an employer sees you as overqualified, their concern might be that the compensation won’t be enough to keep you in the role, or worse, that you’ll be bored in the role and won’t do well.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the result of poor job fit and employee turnover can cost an organization between 50 to 60% of the person’s annual salary. In other words, companies have to be extremely strategic when it comes to hiring, so if an interviewer or hiring manager has any inkling that you might not be the best candidate to fill the role, they will likely go with someone else.
Here are some tips for how to apply for a job you’re overqualified for—and get it!
TAILOR YOUR RÉSUMÉ TO THE JOB
Customize your résumé to meet the exact position you’re interested in. This is important when applying for any job, but when you’re overqualified for a position, it becomes even more crucial.
When you’re trying to customize your résumé to meet a job you’re overqualified for, the key is to highlight all of the skills and qualifications that the desired job description holds, and downplay unnecessary information that might deter someone from hiring you.
For example, if you held the title of client relationship manager and did everything from sales to client onboarding, to office management and administrative tasks, but you’re applying for an administrative assistant, you’ll want to highlight the office management and client-facing communication, and you’ll most likely want to downplay the sales aspects of your previous role.
Note: This does not mean that you should “dumb down” your résumé. It’s always great to highlight that you’re smart, strong, and capable, however when you’re applying for a job that you’re overqualified for, you need to highlight the requirements of the given job description and show your potential employer why you will be great and satisfied with the role.
WORK THAT COVER LETTER
You can only customize a résumé so much. Your cover letter is where you can explain exactly why you want this specific position, and why you would be amazing at it. When you’re applying for a job that you’re overqualified for, use the cover letter to explain why you want to take on a role that may be beneath you.
This could be any reason, from caring deeply about a cause or wanting to work with this specific company, or even something more personal like relocation due to a family member. Whatever your reason is, use your cover letter to explain yourself and show the reader that you truly do want the position even if it might be a lower-level position that you’ve held in the past.
CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
It’s easy to feel like you’re a shoo-in for the role if you have all of the qualifications and more, but try your best to look at it from the perspective of the hiring manager. Take note of the potential downfalls of hiring someone overqualified for the position, and aim to highlight why that won’t be a problem in your documents. Show all of the reasons why it would be beneficial to hire you and show the reader why you really want the job. Employers want to hire candidates who want to be there, and if you can show that through your résumé and cover letter, you will have a much better shot at securing the role.
Landing a job that you’re overqualified for is harder than you might expect, but if you can persuade your potential employer that you really want to take on the job and that you’re excited about it, the process will be much easier. Remember that it is a risk to hire an employee who is overqualified for a position, and show your potential employer why you’re worth that risk!
About the Author: A native San Franciscan, Michele Lando is a certified professional résumé writer and founder of writestylesonline.com. She has a passion for helping others present the best version of themselves, both on paper and in person, and works to polish an individual’s application package and personal style. Aiming to help create a perfect personal branding package, Write Styles presents tips to enhance your résumé, style, and boost your confidence.
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This story was originally published on May 17, 2018, and has since been updated.
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