With the increased popularity of Twitter, some students are making two Twitters: one personal and one professional.

Employers are starting to look at the social media sites when looking to hire a new employee.

“[Twitter] is such a large platform that reviewing it can be part of their due diligence in making sure they are hiring the most appropriate person,” said Robbie Richards, assistant director of the Career Center.

Justin Rutledge, a 2010 University graduate, created a professional Twitter account a year after he graduated, even though his personal Twitter is public.

“I made a professional Twitter account to get myself some more exposure and make new connections in the rugby field,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge, who has been playing rugby for more than ten years, made the Twitter to connect with other teams and coaches.

“I want to work in the journalism field if it is a full-time job…I also want to do coaching or something with the teams because I don’t want to give that up,” he said.

Richards believes that even though there are two separate accounts, they could be linked and information could be spread from one account to the other.

“Don’t get [the accounts] confused,” she said.

While people may confuse the two accounts, Richards also thinks that when searching for a job, people need to be wary of what they post online.

“Don’t tweet or put anything out there that could be harmful in the future,” she said.

Having two Twitters might make it easy for people to separate their personal and professional life, but the two accounts might be a “red flag to employers,” Richards said.

For sophomore Angelique Molina, having a professional Twitter would not work well for her career field, which is nursing.

“It wouldn’t be professional for me to have a Twitter like that. What am I going to do, tweet about patients’ lives? That’s not professional,” Molina said.

Twitter is not the only social media platform that employers might look at when deciding if they want to hire someone. LinkedIn, a professional networking site, is being encouraged for students.

“LinkedIn is a more professional Facebook,” Richards said.

To help people learn how to use social media effectively, the Career Center will host an event in April that will teach students how to use LinkedIn.

No matter what platform people use to communicate with one another, Richards still thinks that people need to be careful of what they post.

“I think that Twitter is such an amazing platform to spread knowledge,” Richards said. “I think that if you are going to tweet to get yourself out there, create a professional account…I would recommend more than one social media account.”