{"id":530556,"date":"2026-06-11T22:04:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/530556\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T22:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:04:23","slug":"how-graduates-can-clean-up-their-social-media-and-stand-out-to-recruiters-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/530556\/","title":{"rendered":"How graduates can \u2018clean up\u2019 their social media and stand out to recruiters \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graduates on the hunt for jobs should show their \u201cauthentic self\u201d in applications and \u201cclean up\u201d their online presence.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s age-old advice that people should tailor a job application for the particular role in question, but graduates may be missing other tricks when it comes to drafting their CV. \u201cIn the world of AI<\/a>, [employers] want to see the authentic student voice coming through,\u201d Venita Murphy, a careers consultant at Dublin City University (DCU)<\/a>, says. \u201cThings like your work experience or your hobbies and interests, a lot of employers are saying they\u2019re actually making CVs stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n

While education and relevant work experience will be front and centre, graduates<\/a> should also include \u201ctransferable soft skills\u201d they have learned through a part-time job or volunteering, Murphy says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always encourage you to put those experiences on your CV because of the transferable skills that you\u2019re developing, like your teamwork, communication, your problem solving – that can be transferred into any career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle <\/b>Coen, a consultant at UCD careers network, agrees \u201c100 per cent\u201d, adding: \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s going to get to the top of the pile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coen says a graduate\u2019s experience in a part-time job could be very relevant, regardless of which industry they\u2019re trying to break into. \u201cWere you training in new people? Were you the person responsible for opening and closing the shop?\u201d<\/p>\n

Including details like this tells a prospective employer, \u201cyou had roles of responsibility, you\u2019ve worked in teams – if that\u2019s in a caf\u00e9 or a busy pub – you know how to work with others, you know how to get through a shift\u201d.<\/p>\n

Coen says another thing many employers are looking for is basic AI literacy – they want workers who know how to use AI systems both \u201ceffectively and ethically\u201d. For example, if an employer wants a one-page synopsis on a topic, the employee should know to not put a classified file or personal information into an AI tool.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dos and don\u2019ts of starting a new job: 15 expert tips for graduatesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Another way to stand out is by networking – either by engaging in relevant conversations on LinkedIn or introducing yourself to people at events.<\/p>\n

Murphy says roles sometimes come up via the \u201chidden job market\u201d – where positions are \u201cfilled through word of mouth\u201d or contacts. \u201cNetworking isn\u2019t asking for a job, but it\u2019s connecting with people who have similar interests to you and establishing those purposeful relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

LinkedIn can be a useful tool for networking and finding job opportunities. However, graduates shouldn\u2019t only focus on this platform and forget about their wider online presence.<\/p>\n

Coen says a graduate should \u201cabsolutely\u201d be aware of what comes up when a person searches their name online. It can be \u201creally positive\u201d – such as showing they won an award or were active in college societies – but may also show \u201cold pictures or negative comments\u201d.<\/p>\n

Murphy adds: \u201cClean up your social media – even just Google your name to see what\u2019s out there about you, and make sure what you see, you\u2019d be happy for a future employer to see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Graduates on the hunt for jobs should show their \u201cauthentic self\u201d in applications and \u201cclean up\u201d their online…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,289,290,18,46878,46877,19,17,1420,82,12548],"class_list":["post-530556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-eire","tag-graduates","tag-graduates-in-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-students","tag-technology","tag-third-level"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116733743291325900","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}