1. Clean up Your Image

We use social media for everything from showing off trips and events to expressing our opinions on what's going on in the world. While you are entitled to your opinions, both on and off the internet, employers are entitled to pass you over for hire if they don't like what they see on your social media pages.

Posting risque pictures, drinking, drug use or other illegal activity will send potential employers running in the other direction. The same thing goes for racist, homophobic or transphobic statements that could reflect badly on you and on any potential company you might work for. Clean up your image before you start using social media to network for job hunting.

2. Don't Use Pseudonyms

Facebook requires you to use your legal name, as does Linkedin, but on other websites, you've got the option to use whatever nickname or pseudonym that comes to mind.

If you're using social media for professional networking, stick to your legal name. You don't want potential employers to have to sift through nicknames and usernames to try and figure out who you are. They just won't bother.

3. Don't Be on Every Platform

There are a lot of social media platforms out there, and it's tempting to be on every single one to ensure you're not missing out on any potential audiences. You're doing yourself a disservice by spreading yourself so thin.

Stick to LinkedIn and one or two other sites, maximum. The ones you choose will depend on your field — text-based posts would thrive on Twitter, while a video or image-based ones work better on Instagram, Twitch or YouTube.

4. Create a Personal Brand

One of the nice things about using social media is that it gives you a foundation to build your personal brand.

While this is vital if you're going into freelance work or entrepreneurship, it can also be useful if you're looking for a new job in your chosen career path. Take the time to create your personal brand and showcase it on all of your social media platforms.

5. Choose the Right Keywords

Keywords are vital when you're trying to attract recruiters to your social media platform.

Recruiters use different search criteria when they're sorting through sites like Linkedin, looking for things like skills, job titles, work experience and other keywords that will make your profile stand out from the crowd. Use Google to figure out what keywords they might be looking for, then incorporate them naturally into your profiles.

6. Have a Social Media Hub

Sorting through half a dozen different social media accounts is likely to send recruiters to the next candidate. Instead, have a social media hub where there are easily accessible links to each of your applicable — and professional — social media accounts. It makes navigation easier and makes you look more professional.

7. Keep Professional Conversations Off Social Media

It might seem easier to chat with recruiters and coworkers on social media than to send an email or make a phone call, but you should always try to keep professional conversations off of your social media accounts. Potential employers may even have policies against this kind of unsecured conversation, so having it on your current accounts makes you look bad.

8. Add Them to Your Resume

There's no point in having social media accounts if no one can find them — and unless you've got a large following, natural engagement is challenging, especially on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

If you're using social media in a professional capacity, add your URLs or usernames to your resume so recruiters can see what you have to offer before they start reaching out with job offers.