Digital literacySocial media - promoting yourself

It is not just businesses who can benefit from using social media to promote themselves. Through social networking, people can use sites such as LinkedIn, Beyond.com and Xing to find their next job.

Personal profiles

People can promote themselves by creating a profile to be posted on social media.

A good profile should be detailed and error free. A profile that is too brief or that has mistakes will not reflect well on the author.

The first section of a profile may include a photograph. This is an effective way of making an impression and communicating a message about yourself without using words.

The second section could be an executive summary to highlight key points that sum up the message to be communicated to others. Sometimes, this may be the only section that is read, so it is important that it sends out the right message.

The third section could be about experience. This could be related to jobs and educational history.

The next section could be about skills and qualities.