Your Resume Informs. Your Social Presence Reveals Who You Are.

By Cody Barlow

Let's be real for a minute.

Most of us don't think much about our professional social media presence until we're looking for another job.

Then suddenly we're updating LinkedIn, changing our headline, adding skills we forgot we had, and trying to remember what we actually accomplished three years ago.

Sound familiar?

But here's something I've been thinking about lately.

What if we stopped treating our professional presence like something we only need when we're looking for a job?

What if we started using it to tell our story before we ever needed to?

A Resume Only Tells Part of the Story

I've worked in education, leadership, technology, and sales over the years.

And if you looked at those positions on paper, you might wonder how they all fit together.

But to me, there's a common thread.

Working with people. Solving problems. Building relationships. Helping others succeed.

Whether I was working with teachers and students or helping a customer understand a software product, a lot of those same skills carried over.

The challenge is that a resume doesn't always communicate that.

It tells someone your job title, where you worked, and hopefully a few things you accomplished.

But it doesn't necessarily show how you think, how you communicate, or what kind of person you are to work with.

That's where I think social media can make a difference.

You Don't Have to Pretend to Be Someone You're Not

This is probably my biggest issue with the whole personal branding conversation.

Somewhere along the way, people started making it sound like everyone needs to become a motivational speaker on LinkedIn.

Every post has to be some incredible life lesson.

Every career change has to be a journey.

Every ordinary Tuesday apparently needs to teach us five things about leadership.

I'm exaggerating a little, but you get my point.

I don't think building a professional presence means you need to become someone else.

Actually, I think the opposite.

The best personal brand is one that still sounds like you.

If you're naturally funny, there's nothing wrong with showing a little humor.

If you enjoy teaching others, share something useful.

If you've made mistakes and learned from them, talk about that.

And if you're someone who prefers to keep your personal life private, that's perfectly fine too.

You don't have to share everything to give people a better understanding of who you are.

Start Sharing What You Already Know

One thing I've learned is that we often underestimate how much experience we actually have.

Something that feels completely normal to you might be valuable information to someone else.

Maybe you've spent years managing employees.

Maybe you've helped implement new technology.

Maybe you've dealt with difficult customers, solved scheduling problems, trained new hires, or found a better way to organize a department.

Those experiences matter.

And you don't need a fancy title to share them.

For example, someone working in local government could write about improving communication between departments.

A teacher could share an approach that helped students stay engaged.

A sales professional could talk about why listening to customers matters more than delivering the perfect pitch.

A customer service representative could share how they handled a difficult situation and what they learned from it.

None of those things requires a polished corporate speech.

Just explain what happened, what you learned, and why someone else might find it useful.

That's content worth sharing.

Think About the Job You Want Next

Now, I'm not saying every social media post should be designed to impress a future employer.

That would get exhausting pretty quickly.

But I do think it's worth asking yourself a question.

If someone looked at my professional profile today, would they have any idea what I'm capable of doing next?

Let's say you're interested in moving into management.

Are you sharing anything about leadership, teamwork, or solving problems?

If you want to move into technology, are you talking about the tools you're learning or how you've used technology to improve your work?

If you're hoping to move into a customer success role, are you demonstrating that you understand relationships, communication, and helping customers get results?

You don't need to pretend you've already held the job you want.

But you can show that you're developing the skills and perspective needed to get there.

And I think that's especially important for people changing careers.

Sometimes the hardest part isn't having the ability to do the job.

It's helping someone else see how your previous experience connects to it.

Don't Just Post. Have Conversations.

Here's another thing I think people overlook.

Social media isn't supposed to be a one-way conversation.

You can write a great article, post a thoughtful update, or share something useful.

But if you never interact with anyone, you're missing a big part of the opportunity.

Comment on something that genuinely interests you.

Ask someone how they approached a problem.

Congratulate people when they accomplish something.

Connect with professionals in industries you're interested in.

And please, don't make every interaction a sales pitch or a request for a job.

Nobody wants to accept a connection request and immediately receive a three-paragraph message asking for a favor.

Build relationships because you actually want to know people.

You never know where those conversations might lead.

I've learned throughout my career that opportunities often come through relationships, not just applications.

Be Careful What You Put Out There

I also think we need to talk about the other side of social media.

Your online presence can help you professionally, but it can also create the wrong impression.

I'm not saying you need to be perfect.

Nobody is.

And I certainly don't believe people should have to turn their personal accounts into corporate advertisements.

But it's worth remembering that what we post publicly can reach people we never expected.

Before posting something, I think it's fair to ask whether you'd be comfortable having a future coworker or employer see it.

That doesn't mean you can't have opinions, humor, hobbies, or a life outside of work.

It just means being intentional.

And if you have a family, especially young children, you can absolutely share meaningful moments without putting every detail of their lives online.

There are ways to be genuine while still keeping boundaries.

Being authentic doesn't mean giving the entire internet access to your personal life.

Your Next Opportunity Might Come From Something You Shared Months Ago

Imagine two people applying for the same position.

Both have similar experience.

Both meet the basic qualifications.

Both submit solid resumes.

But one of them has spent the past year sharing ideas, discussing industry challenges, and interacting with professionals in that field.

Now, I'm not saying that person automatically gets the job.

They don't.

But if a hiring manager looks them up, there's more to see than a list of previous positions.

There's evidence of how they think.

What interests them.

How they communicate.

And how they might contribute to a team.

That's valuable.

Not every employer will look at your social media, and a strong online presence won't replace the skills needed to do the job.

But it can give someone another reason to remember you.

And in a competitive job market, sometimes that matters.

You Don't Need Thousands of Followers

This is something I want to emphasize.

You don't need to go viral.

You don't need 50,000 followers.

And you definitely don't need to spend four hours a day creating content.

If you're trying to build a professional presence, I'd rather see you share one useful thought each week than post every day just to stay active.

Quality matters.

Consistency helps.

But relevance is what makes people pay attention.

If 100 people see something you post and one of them is a hiring manager, future coworker, mentor, or potential business partner, that interaction could be worth more than thousands of random views.

Don't get so caught up in the numbers that you forget why you're doing it.

Don't Wait Until You Need a Job

I think this is the biggest takeaway.

Most of us spend years building experience.

We learn new skills, overcome challenges, lead projects, and help organizations improve.

But we rarely take the time to document any of it.

Then when it's time to apply for something new, we're staring at a blank resume trying to remember everything we've done.

Why not start now?

Share a lesson from your work.

Write about a challenge you solved.

Talk about a new skill you're developing.

Support someone else who's doing good work.

You don't have to announce that you're looking for another opportunity.

You don't even have to know exactly what your next role will be.

Just start building a professional presence that reflects who you are and what you bring to the table.

One Final Thought

I've had a career that's taken me through several different industries, and one thing I keep coming back to is that we're more than the titles we've held.

Our experience doesn't disappear when we change careers.

The lessons we learn don't suddenly stop being valuable because we're working in a different field.

And our ability to connect with people, solve problems, and keep learning can open doors we might not have considered before.

So whether you're happy in your current position, considering a career change, or actively looking for your next opportunity, don't overlook the value of your professional presence.

Your resume might get someone interested in your experience.

But the way you show up, communicate, and share what you know can help them understand the person behind it.

And personally, I think that's worth investing a little time in.

Not because we're all trying to become influencers.

But because none of us knows exactly where our careers will take us next.