It’s difficult to escape social media in today’s digital world. While it’s definitely a great way to stay connected with people and share content, there are certain things that all MBA applicants must keep in mind. After all, a careless post from the past is enough to change someone’s opinion. As a case in point, there have been several stories about how social media posts have negatively impacted individuals professionally.
When you apply for an MBA program, you’re ultimately trying to influence the admissions committee positively so that you can get a favourable response. You’re not only trying to highlight your accomplishments but also your character. Similarly, the admissions committee has every right to take steps to ensure that it is admitting the right candidate. And this includes going through your social media profiles to check for any red flags.
Your social media profiles can also come into play during the interviews, especially if they’re of the blind variety. In such cases, the interviewers only have access to your resume (or not even that). This may prompt them to perform a quick internet search to get a basic understanding of you as a person. What do you think their impression will be if they stumble upon a controversial post you put up several years ago but then forgot about?
But that’s not all. Your social media profiles can also be checked at the time you’re applying for internships or full time jobs beyond the MBA. In fact, the checks that your prospective employers will undertake will be far more stringent than what you can expect from admissions committees. Hence, it would be prudent that you revisit your social media profiles and remove any posts that would cast any aspersion on your character.
The key point to note here is that social media isn’t the problem. What matters is how you use it. In fact, keeping in mind that social media is but a tool, it can be used to manage your personal brand. This is a very powerful idea, and MBA applicants should strive to take full advantage of it. In fact, you can even develop a proper strategy to ensure that your social medial profiles boost your profile and enhance your application profile.
You can use social media to share insights, write about relevant books you’re reading currently, post about important events related to your field, connect with experts and the list goes on. The idea is to manage the perceptions of those visiting your profiles through presenting information that supports everything you have mentioned in your application. As can be seen, social media can be a great asset to strengthen your MBA candidacy if done properly.
LemonEd can help you with all elements of your MBA application.
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