How to Navigate Social Media as a Young Professional

According to our latest Future Connect Speaker Dr Tessa Hartmann CBE, over half of the world’s population uses social media, with 5.04 billion social media users globally as of January 2024.

At our event Tessa explained how we should be using social media as a positive force in our careers, stressing that by utilising social media effectively it gives us a huge opportunity to reach, inspire and connect with our network, and create our own personal brand.

When building our own personal brand, Tessa explained that we need to decide which social platforms work for us. LinkedIn is an obvious choice when thinking of a social platform to use to elevate your career, however, depending on our messaging, platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok are also good to use, but we just need to be cautious of the line between personal and professional brand.

Top tips on building your personal online brand:

1. Share current news and information relating to your sector.
2. Ensure your feed is filled with like-minded professionals, who you can learn from and be inspired by.
3. Keep your content consistent, you can use your profile as an online business card so that when you connect and meet with people, they get to know you from your brand.
4. Always be authentic in what you post or share, your content should be items that mean something to you, or you are passionate about.
5. Always ensure what you are sharing is from a credible source.

Building your professional personality online doesn’t happen overnight.

It takes years but if you put in a consistent, branded strategy, over time you will reap the rewards. Regardless of your ambitions, whether it’s simply growing your network, looking for a new job, or elevating your presence, social media is a friend not a foe!

View all photos from the event on our Flickr page.