Although you may think of Facebook as a way to share cat videos and Twitter as a way of keeping up with your favourite celebrity, they're actually important platforms to help develop your online brand.

An online brand is essentially your own way of representing yourself, your personality, and the many things about you in an online form through social media, says Trevor Smith, experienced associate at PwC. Your brand can include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Tumblr, even a personal website. Managing these mediums in a way that presents you in a positive light should be the main focus of your brand.

Potential employers often scout their applicants online, so it's important each of your platforms is professional and appropriate. Each is distinct and has its own set of guidelines. On Facebook, you need to monitor your settings to ensure the right information is being presented to the public. Youtube is great in creating a vivid snapshot of you and what you stand for, in a way you can't demonstrate on other sites.

If some sites seem foreign to you and out of reach, don't panic. LinkedIn, for example, does a really good job of walking you through making a solid profile, adds Smith, and how to really build it to a point where it's useful to other people.

Twitter is another medium altogether, since you can follow and lightly interact with recruiters and industry professionals.

Some of these tools that previous generations didn't have can help students gain connections and help them build their brands, says James Davidson, senior manager of campus talent acquisition with PwC. When I go onto campus, I might think ÔÇÿOh, that student's actually following me on Twitter' or ÔÇÿHe tweeted me and told me he was coming to this event,' and I may spend a few extra minutes talking to this guy. Interacting with these recruiters in an appropriate manner can help you get your foot in the door, even if it's just a small gesture.

Posting a picture on Facebook of yourself having fun downtown on Friday night? You might want to think again if you haven't activated your security settings. Although social media tools are beneficial, they can also be detrimental. LinkedIn, for example, should only be used to connect if you've actually met the person you're trying to connect with.

I get a lot of LinkedIn requests from people I have never met and I have no idea who the person is, says Davidson. For me, it's about making sure you tailor your introductions and spend more time. Rather than just spending 30 minutes firing off 20 connection requests to different people on LinkedIn, it's stepping back and thinking, 'Why would this person connect with me? What's the hook I can use?'

Also, be sure to conduct yourself professionally on all mediums. It's okay to have a personality, but don't be offensive or inappropriate.

I can recall something that happened recently, recounts Davidson. A student we were arranging a staff member to talk to about careers at PwC tweeted an inappropriate comment. The person we had targeted to speak to him at a particular event took offence to the unfortunate comment and said he didn't want to talk to this individual at the event. It also made us revaluate whether we wanted to target this person to join PwC. Students need to be really careful what they put out there.

The important thing to take away from online branding is that it's an ongoing process. It's a time commitment and something you have to continuously work towards, says Smith. You need to schedule in time to work on that and be thinking about it during recruiting and other times you'd be meeting a lot of people.

To check out PwC's online brand, as well as information about their recruitment efforts, check out pwc.com/ca/personalbrand and visit our brand calculator at pwc.com/ca/brandcalculator.