Adding LinkedIn and Social Media Links to Your CV

The majority of recruiters now use LinkedIn when vetting candidates for job openings. Adding your LinkedIn profile to your CV is not only a good idea, it's also a key step in convincing employers that you're right for the job. In this article, we'll look at the following topics when it comes to adding your LinkedIn and other social media accounts to your CV.

• Why include your LinkedIn on your CV?
• Tips for a professional LinkedIn profile
• When and why to include other types of social media accounts
• How to properly format links and where to place them on your CV

Why include your LinkedIn profile on your CV

Your CV is the main document you'll use when applying to jobs, but it often doesn't tell the whole story of who you are as a professional. That's where an active presence on LinkedIn can make the difference. LinkedIn can help you show a bit of personality, professional interests, or even connections to a potential employer – all these details can make the difference for a hiring manager who wants to get to know you beyond your CV bullet points. To get started creating your CV with your LinkedIn profile, you can search Jobseeker's CV example for your job title, or check out our CV templates.

Tips for including your LinkedIn profile in your CV

Once you've set up your LinkedIn account, it's important to keep your profile up-to-date and professional so that hiring managers see the skills and experience you bring to the table. Before you add your LinkedIn profile to your CV, here's a checklist to make sure your profile is optimised for success.

Where to add your LinkedIn profile to your CV

Once you’ve polished up your LinkedIn profile, you’re ready to add your LinkedIn URL to your CV. Your LinkedIn profile should always be placed in the header, which is the section that contains your personal details at the top or on the side of your CV. Don't forget to update the generic URL LinkedIn creates for each account to include your first and last name (with a number if you have a common name). This can easily be done within your LinkedIn profile settings.

Below you'll find an example of a custom LinkedIn profile URL within a CV header.

Adding other social media accounts to your CV

While LinkedIn is the best-known social media platform for professionals, it's not the only one you might want to add to your CV. Depending on your job title and industry, some of the following social media platforms could be appropriate to include in your CV header.

Instagram

Instagram has become one of the best ways to display work to a wider public, especially in creative fields or services. If you're an artist, designer, photographer, videographer, florist, stylist, hairdresser or any other type of professional where you use Instagram to showcase your work, it's a great idea to include it on your CV. Just make sure that every post is professional and portrays you in the best light. Below you'll find an example of what a professional Instagram account on a CV header.

YouTube

If you create educational content on YouTube and have a large following, this is an excellent way to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Be sure to remove any comments that might make a poor impression on prospective employers.

X (Formerly Twitter)

It’s worth including your X (Twitter) handle (the username that appears after the @ sign) in your CV if you regularly follow businesses and make insightful comments about industry trends.

While not every tweet has to be related to your profession, your tweets should be strictly professional. However, if you mostly use your Twitter account to comment on celebrity gossip or TV programmes or to vent about poor customer service, leave your Twitter handle off your CV.

Facebook

Your Facebook account is your most personal social media account. Unless it’s directly related to the role (e.g. a social media position) you’re applying for, there’s no need to mention your Facebook account on your CV.

If you choose to open your Facebook account up to employers, you don’t need to share the personal, unfiltered version that you share with your friends. Instead, make use of Facebook’s privacy settings to present a professional image of yourself to recruiters and employers.

Pinterest

As pictures can convey more than words, Pinterest can be great personal marketing tool for designers, photographers, or coaches. If you’re applying for a creative job, these platforms can be used to showcase your portfolio.

Other platforms

Depending on your job title, there are a wide variety of other platforms that might be appropriate for your CV. For example, engineers and those in data, product, and technical roles can benefit from showcasing their work via GitHub. Writers and those with deep expertise to share may want to include links to a professional Substack or Medium account. Content creators, coaches and consultants may choose to link to TikTok. As long as your account of choice is professional and directly related to the role you're applying to, it's often a smart decision to include it on your CV.

Social media accounts to leave off your CV

Any account that could damage your professional reputation should be left off your CV, but you should also consider how useful the account will be for a recruiter trying to evaluate your skills. For example, Snapchat allows you to share videos and images to tell stories. However, the biggest disadvantage of Snapchat is that you don’t leave a digital footprint on the platform. Any content you share immediately disappears after it has been viewed.

Tips for including social media accounts in your CV

No matter which social media accounts you include in your CV, here are some points to consider:

Relevance to the job description

Do you use your social media account(s) to share your thoughts on industry trends or to market yourself? Insightful tweets on Twitter or educational content on YouTube can help demonstrate your suitability as a candidate to employers. However, if you’re only using social media for personal use, avoid mentioning them to protect your privacy and public image.

Consistency

Make sure that your name is the same across all of your social media accounts; this includes hyphens or name changes through marriage. Using different names could confuse recruiters and employers, and leave them wondering if you’re the same person.

Professionalism

Whether you choose to include links to your social media accounts in your CV or not, your employers will almost certainly look up your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts regardless. They’ll want to know more about you as a person and to check whether you’ve posted any controversial content (related to race, gender, politics, etc.). That’s why it’s worthwhile applying privacy controls on your accounts so that you’re only sharing personal content with friends and family.

This may not be an option on platforms such as Twitter where content is public, so to be on the safe side, go through all of your tweets and remove any content that could be considered inflammatory or inappropriate for work.

Spelling and grammar

Lastly, make sure that any content that you’ve posted on social media is free of spelling and grammar errors. This tip applies to your CV as well. You don’t want to undo your good work by giving the impression that you’re careless and don’t pay attention. Carefully look through your social media accounts and correct or delete content that may reflect poorly on you.

Key takeaways for including your LinkedIn and social media on your CV

Maintaining a comprehensive and professional LinkedIn account provides a big advantage during your job search. Not only do recruiters use the platform to find candidates, they also look up the profiles of those they're considering contacting for an interview. By creating a strong LinkedIn profile that showcases your experience and expertise, you can convince an employer that you're the person they've been looking for. Other social media accounts when used appropriately and professionally can also have a positive impact on your job search. Make sure to include all relevant links in your CV header so that a hiring manager can find them easily. You can also use one of Jobseeker's matching cover letter templates to add your social media handles to the rest of your application.