For those graduates about to leave the warm embrace of university life, using social media may just help land you your dream job.

You may have experienced those emails that litter your spam folder from a site called LinkedIn.com. Most people may not realize that LinkedIn is a tool that you, as a student, can utilize not only to help  find a job, but help potential employers find you.

LinkedIn allows you to connect with friends, family and classmates, much in the same way Facebook does, but it also allows you the ability to present a more professional front and link yourself to other professionals in the workplace.

LinkedIn can send you job email notifications for recommended jobs, but even better than that, professionals in your field can look at you in a way that is more dynamic than just reading a resume or cover letter. This brings potential employers to you.

LinkedIn also provides a feature where other people can recommend you for jobs. The more people recommending you for work, the more attractive you are for employers. Students can use this through recommendations from faculty, which could increase employability.

LinkedIn is global. This increases your chances of finding a job out of the country by utilizing it to connect with international employers.

On Twitter, the more followers you have, the more often your tweets get noticed and retweeted. Expanding your connections on LinkedIn, even if you may not know who these people are, gives you more exposure among professionals.

LinkedIn’s Skills and Endorsements is a feature which allows your connections to endorse your skills. The higher number of endorsements, the better you look to employers.

Publishing content through LinkedIn is a great way for employers and other professionals to see your work and it allows them to interact with posts. This would be great for any graduate to showcase essays, projects and research done during your university career.

Employers can now do their research on candidates for jobs prior to the actual interview. Having drunk pictures of spring break on your Facebook feed, or dramatic tweets that include powerful expletives, may hinder you rather than help you land a job.

Utilizing lists on Facebook allow you to control what content goes where. Not only is this a smart move for your social life in-general, but it’s smart for professional life as well. These lists allow your friends to view those weekend drunk selfies while everyone else (grandma included) sees the selfies of you studying hard.

Social media only works if you utilize it. Stay current and use it often. Letting your social media remain idle is never a good idea when you’re trying to put yourself out there. Tweet/post, retweet/share and favorite/like often, and you will notice that your follower count will rise.

Linking your accounts is a great way for people to find their way to your twitter feed, as well as your Facebook account. This allows more exposure on different platforms and different levels that the other social media outlets may not have.

Another tip that students may want to consider is to make a professional email. Use your name as your email address rather than the one you set up when you were 16 years old.

Social media can be a great asset or a great threat to any professional life, so keeping up a good appearance is a great idea.