Creating Online Professional Profiles

 

I’m sure we can agree from my previous post, we would all like to keep our professional and personal lives separate as we have different identities within the two groups. Following on from that, I will be discussing the ways in which we can develop an authentic online professional profile. Having an authentic online profile can be time consuming to create, however if done correctly will make you as an individual more employable.

Companies in this day and age view social media as an invaluable employment tool. It is believed that more than 75% of companies will use the forms of social media: (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to advert jobs and vet candidates as well. Due to the digital revolution we are currently, it is beneficial to both businesses and the potential employers to take on this new form of recruitment. But where does one begin when wanting to create an authentic online profile?

Developing an Online Profile

 

Above I have illustrated the different steps we can take to creating an online profile, the first and most important one being putting yourselves in the employers shoes. A simple way of doing this is googling your name and your area where you live to see what comes up in the search engine. This is what your employer will see when they search for you online.  Below you can see an example of when I searched myself online.

Creating a LinkedIn profile will also prove to be very useful as it is the most widely used recruitment platform and very popular among employers. This is one of the most important tools you can use to create your online profile. Below is a YouTube video that will explain what to include and not to include on your LinkedIn page.

 

Having a LinkedIn profile allows you to build on your achievements and network with others on the site by receiving endorsements on skills you have. It also shows off any skills or past work experience you have which is very appealing to employers.

However, I feel out of all of steps I have stated to creating an online profile, the most important step to follow is making sure you monitor what you say online and that your accounts are private if they are also used in your personal life. Why? You may ask, then we don’t have to look further than what ‘How one stupid tweet blew up Justine Sacco’s life’. This article shows us how if we don’t use social media correctly, how it can severely
backfire. In Justine’s case, one tweet she thought was a joke resulted in her losing a job and tarnishing her name. I would encourage everyone with an online profile, be it professional or personal to monitor their accounts closely.

 

References:

The Employable. (2014). How blogging can help you get a job. Available: http://www.theemployable.com/index.php/2014/10/28/blogging-can-help-get-job/. Last accessed 10th November 2016

Harper, C.. (2015). 20 Benefits To Using Linkedin Even If You Don’t Sell To Other Businesses. Available: http://socialmediafuze.com/need-linkedin-business/. Last accessed 10th November 2016.

Jobvite (2014) Social recruiting survey. Available at: https://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Jobvite_SocialRecruiting_Survey2014.pdf Last Accessed 10th November 2016

Neil. (2014). Curating your Online Profile. Available: http://www.neilsrecruitment.co.uk/2014/01/curating-your-online-profile/. Last accessed 10th November 2016

Tapscott, D. (2014). Five ways talent management must change. Available: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/10/don-tapscott-talent-management-millennials/. Last accessed 10th November 2016.

Ronson, J.. (2015). How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=2. Last accessed 10th November 2016.