Networking and Social Media
Optimize Your Social Media Presence To Showcase Your Professionalism Melissa O'Neill Regional Chapter Coordinator/Social Media Coordinator, Kappa Delta Pi, Indiana
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rincipals and human resource leaders review social media accounts during the hiring process. Cultivating a teacher account on Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn provides you an opportunity to display your unique teacher voice, skills, and talents to provide hiring agents with a deeper look into your abilities. You can also use this account to gain insight into potential employers and their personalities as well as career trajectories. Start early to develop your professional presence on your favored social channels. Developing your brand or voice as an educator may take years, but getting started early allows you to exhibit your growth and lessons learned. Your social personality should be both professional and authentic. Every post should be thoughtful about your content and connections. Here are a few ideas to get you started in developing your personal teacher brand: 1. Share your ideas Display your projects, lesson plans, created materials, and ideas for improving your instruction. Also, share how classmates and students responded to help other teachers know how they might apply these ideas in their own classroom. 2. Showcase success Profound moments and accolades will help you stand out. When you receive feedback, share with your followers as to how you earned it. They’ll likely want to mimic you! These records can also help you track what you would want to share during an interview. 3. Don’t hide your failures Teaching may feel vulnerable and uncomfortable at times. You might be tempted to hide what you feel are failures. Instead, write about how you recovered from a difficult moment, such as a failed lesson, and how you would change that lesson now. 4. Connections matter Start making connections now! Take time to connect with local schools, principals, and teachers as social media provides you a free and easy form of networking. ü
Tip 1: Begin with fellow alumni from your program. You already have the connection from a shared experience giving you a perfect reason to connect. When appropriate, message them for information about their school, potential jobs, and advice for the application process.
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Tip 2: Many schools and principals have active accounts where they often share events of the week. This insight can help you see if a school matches your teaching philosophy. Interacting authentically with posts may provide name recognition for you as well!
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Tip 3: Local and national teachers of note, including State Teachers of the Year, also provide ample amounts of professional development and ideas. If becoming an award-winning educator is one of your goals, learn from as many of these examples as possible.
Beyond your teacher presence, be sure to exercise prudence on your personal accounts. Even if your professional account is public and your private accounts secured, your personal posts may still come up during searches. While you can attempt to delete the past or use security controls, the internet is forever. By putting your skills first, you can stand out from other candidates.
48 American Association for Employment in Education
