How Social Networks Can Make You a Better Candidate

Slacking off on Facebook while you’re doing homework has never felt so productive.

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While going to college and learning about the world from expert professors, case studies, textbooks and research projects are the preferred methods to prepare for a career, there are some other ways to get ready to successfully navigate the working world.

Some say that you can also learn these necessary skills through your social media accounts. That’s not to say that spending all of your waking hours on social media will prepare you for life’s successes. Instead, you should supplement your traditional education with some of these top five skills you can master through savvy social media usage.

1. Reading Between the Lines

The first important skill you can learn from social media is the subtle art of reading between the lines. This essential reading skill can help you determine the true purpose of something.

When your social media friends post cryptic messages, you can start figuring out what they really mean by looking at their past history and at the comments that others leave them. That way, you can decide if what they’re looking for is attention or trying to attack someone else in a subtle way. This skill can also help when you’re trying to decipher a promising job posting.

2. Identifying the Trends

Next, being a regular user of social media can also help you understand what is trending in the world. Today more than ever, people are getting their news and information through social media posts and link sharing.

Instead of scrolling through all the updates and news stories, take a moment and digest the most popular trends and news stories that are constantly coming up. This knowledge about what people are talking about could benefit you in a variety of industries.

3. Building a Network of People

Social media also offers everyone a great way to build a helpful network of job possibilities. Instead of your former colleagues and neighbors drifting off into obscurity, you can continue to keep tabs on their important life moments by following them on social media. This article about USC’s masters of communications degree goes into more detail about the benefits that network theory and community building can offer.

4. Developing a Message

Smart social media usage is also helpful to those who want to develop communication skills. The whole idea of social media is to share your most profound thoughts, sometimes within a limited number of characters.

Developing this message takes some practice, and in your future workplace, this practice can help you with your oral and written communication tasks. If you choose a career in a field like library science, you can see some of the newest ways that technology such as social media is changing the playing field with innovative programs like one from USC.

5. Saying It with Style

The last thing to learn from social media is how to say something with style. Using visuals and setting a stage for your pictures of your life in social media can help you prepare to present information to others in your work life as well.

Learning the ins and outs of being a skilled professional may take several years of academic learning. Those who are social media experts can also learn other in-demand career skills to help them advance even further.