As has already been reported, Facebook is gradually taking the Timeline to all its users. The new enhanced Timeline profile format also makes the popular social networking channel much more job-search friendly. It’s a resume, after all, when you pause and carefully look at it. From the cover image right at the top to the subsequent chronological organization, your Facebook profile effectively is a professional image booster, making it extremely relevant from your career point of view. So what does this really mean for prospective job seekers? Let us try to find out!

It has been well established that that a growing number of employers, recruiters and HR managers in recent years have turned to the social media platforms and other online avenue to gather more information about candidates and even current employees. As Timeline goes live, this trend will get more prominent. The question to be asked is: How can you use this situation to your advantage?

Pick a good photo

A striking aspect in the Facebook Timeline is the cover photo. Pick a snap that jells with your personality, job profile, and professional identity so that it would impress the prospective employers who happen to check your profile. Avoid pictures at home or from a friend’s party or your birthday celebration.

A peep into your social past

Importantly, the Timeline will make presentation easier even for those who are not fully Facebook-savvy. In its earlier version, the Facebook profile as we know, has given a current slice of a member’s life. In case one wants to peep into the past by searching for older updates say for a week, month, or perhaps year ago, it would take some searching.

This changes with Timeline, and what it means is that employers can easily find out more about a person by searching particular time frames and checking how the relevant details mesh together. As a result, Facebook will become the go-to site for employers and clients curious to check your social past. Prioritize and expand the information that you feel is pertinent so that it can be prominently visible. Personalized and well-manicured Timelines are bound to get more attractive.

Privacy settings remain the same; posts fall into place, and mixed media fits itself into a nice snazzy arrangement, as you’ll find. Though no privacy settings change takes place, yet those unsavory status updates you posted a couple of years ago might resurface and can be accessed with some clicking on your Timeline, so be careful.

Refine your target audiences

Facebook Timeline along with the overall privacy settings will work much better if you choose to refine your target audiences. Organize business contacts into a proper list to ensure they only get to see your business-specific content. By personalizing the profile to fit the reader base is going to make your Timeline more focused and effective.