Using Social Media and Personal Branding to Get a Teaching Job

Social Media is not the first place a teacher will look when starting the perilous hunt for a job post qualification. But the truth is, Social Media is the way forward for teachers looking for teaching positions! Consider this; out of the 6.3 billion people in the world, 4.8 billion own a mobile phone – only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. (Yuck!)

At Engage Education Ireland we find that increasingly our teachers come to us through Social Media platforms. We hope that this blog can help you to brand yourself more effectively on Social Media and ultimately help you secure a teaching job!

Why is it important to brand yourself correctly? All teachers have an online presence whether on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn and when you apply for a teaching job, one of the first things a prospective employer will do is google your name. What you put on your accounts says a lot about you as a person! What do you think a Principal would say about your profile?

The difference is whether you choose to consciously mould that branding to suit you or whether you let it define you without your input. Check out our top hints and tricks to improve your personal branding online below!

Facebook:

1. Make sure to make your profile private, and change your settings on posts and photos to ‘friends’.
2. Connect with other teachers, stay part of your PME group on Facebook (for future jobs that might come up in other schools).
3. Join groups for your subject area.
4. Update your work & University profile.

Twitter:

1. Create and share valuable educational content, add Principals, recruiters, other teachers.
2. Use hashtags to search for jobs #jobs #teaching #teachers #education #opportunities.

LinkedIn:

1. If you don’t have a LinkedIn then our advice is definitely set one up! You will thank us for it later 😉
2. The most professional of the websites & extremely important to brand yourself well here.
3. Use a professional photo of yourself. No to the trout pout & dress professional!
4. Make sure your information is up to date and correct. We want to see when you graduated, what schools you worked in, and what levels you have taught!
5. Use a good headline – John Smith | Enthusiastic Teacher looking for a new post.
6. Add other teachers, Principals and recruiters – Grow your network!

These rules apply in our own lives, but also as teachers we can educate our students on digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship is the concept of preparing students for the safe use of technology in a society increasingly obsessed with social media. Think about how you can incorporate healthy digital citizenship into your lessons. If we, as teachers set a standard, hopefully, the students will follow.

We are passionate about teaching and hold workshops on Social Media, Personal Branding, and Teaching in the UK.

Nina Boniface