Many people use Instagram to show off cool pictures of the sunrise and selfies from the weekend. But did you know that the app could actually be helping you land a job?
It’s no surprise that employers are interested in what prospective colleagues post on social media, but in this case, Instagram could be a gigantic asset. Just ask Douglas Friedman, a photographer hoping to land a gig with a large advertising agency. Instead of commenting on the official portfolio he brought with him, his interviewers asked him about a vacation—that they saw on his Instagram profile. Friedman ended up landing the job over some steep competition all because of the personality he showed online. The moral of the story? If you’re in a creative field, there’s no better way to flaunt your personality, design aesthetic, and vision than through a personal social media profile.
Need more proof? Hannah Perinne Mode, a creative manager and design lead at Shellhammer.co, landed the job because of her Instagram feed. “[Shellhammer.co’s founder] hired me I think very much based on being able to see that I have a creative eye in general, and that I am a multifaceted person for art and design, which I think is represented pretty well through my Instagram," she told Fast Company.
Both Friedman and Mode serve as examples of the power of mixing photo storytelling and personality through social media. In other words, look at your Instagram feed and ask yourself, based on what I post, do I look like I’d be awesome to work with? The answer could be the difference between getting the job or getting passed over for someone with a more creative portfolio—a more creative Instagram portfolio, that is.