Can Pinterest Boost Your Career?

You may have heard that social media is a great tool to boost the career, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc. What about Pinterest? Did you know that Pinterest is the second fastest growing social networking tool and one of The 50 Best Websites of 2011 selected by Time magazine? It has gained skyrocketing popularity within three years attracting more than 50 million users over the world.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a new and unique online scrapbooking network site where you can add interesting images or videos onto virtual bulletin boards (i.e. pinboards). This personalized media platform allows you to “pin” by using the “Pin It” button and share items that interest you. There are many popular theme-based image collections, such as food recipes, travel, home design, fashion, architecture, you name it. You can also spread your content by “re-pinning” your pins and sharing them with your networks and like-minded people.

Matter of fact, Pinterest is not only a photo-sharing site of your own interests, but it also becomes an increasingly useful job search platform for job seekers and career changers. It’s an alternative for you to keep current on what’s been happening in your career field of interest and more importantly, to increase your online presence.

According to Career Enlightenment, there are many creative ideas to help you boost your career with this visual medium and I have extracted the main gist for you:

Create your own visual resume

Instead of a traditional full-text resume, have you thought of having an infographic visual resume uploaded on Pinterest? You could definitely stand out among other job seekers and even catch the eye of a hiring manager if you considered having a creative, graphic and colourful online resume. You don’t have to be the most talented graphic designer to make the infographic resume. Just keep it simple and tailor your resume with your work and volunteer experiences, education, skills, abilities, etc. Don’t’ forget to pin it on your pinboard. It’s a perfect platform for showing what you can do and what you have been doing.

Promote your personal brand

Build your professional brand to showcase your talents and have people spread your work. You can engage with your followers to demonstrate your credibility. What about sharing your inspirations and creativity on the user-generated pinboards? Want to learn more about personal branding? Read one of our blogs, Personal Branding: You're Marketable Brand, to see how you market yourself to others.

Get connected with your industry/ professionals/potential employers

You can search for your fields of interest and potential employers within that industry. You can also learn details on employers such as their mission, values, initiatives and ever their workplace culture by browsing pictures of staff events and activities. Other options to consider: follow other professionals’ pinboards, research employers’ job postings and other related pins to boost your networking connections.

Build up your online portfolio

Apart from a physical portfolio, an online portfolio would be another option for you to market your fabulous work. It’s especially effective for those working in visual arts and design fields, such as photography, fashion, graphic design, and filmmaking. You can pin about your work, school projects, or a YouTube video. A picture can speak a thousand words! Don’t forget to add a caption to describe your photos and videos!

As a great visual learning tool

Pinterest may inspire you with a lot of creative ideas on how to design a portfolio, business card and/or an inforgraphic resume. Also, explore other career-related topics. For example, when you type “How to prepare for job interview”, results range from: interview etiquette, interview do’s and don’ts, writing a post-interview thank you note, to tips on what to wear.

General Tips:

Don’t forget to be professional and show your enthusiasm! Keep your Pinterest fresh and try to update it regularly with intriguing pictures and make good use of this heavily visual-based site. If you want to learn more tips on how to use Pinterest to expand your career search, check out these articles, The 5 Ways Pinterest Can Boost Your Career and How Pinterest can Help Boost Your Career.

Pinterest may help develop your skills, connect with other professionals, and explore your career path. The fun part is that you can showcase your creative work and get some inspiration along the way. You may be amazed by what Pinterest can offer you! However, don’t blame me if you get addicted!

Lead image: creative-commons licensed photo by mkhmarketing on Flickr.

Jeannie Chong is a Special Projects Assistant with SFU Career Services, and a fourth year student studying communications and publishing. Jeannie volunteers at a radio station, spends time doing crafts and Chinese calligraphy, and loves to indulge her sweet tooth.