In today’s competitive and shrinking job market, recruiters do a lot of research, before reaching out to you or asking for a CV/resume. They conduct research and screening to understand what skills, experience, passion and interests you have. Hence, online presence and personal branding are very critical in today’s competitive job market.
Personal branding (also termed as self-branding) is the continuous process of marketing (or presenting) yourself and your career as a brand. It is the image or impression perceived by others about you.
In today’s competitive job market, If you don’t have an online presence, you don’t exist in the recruiter’s world.
Building an online personal brand for yourself is something more imperative than you may think. The majority of the students and even working professionals do not pay that much attention to online personal branding. But, in today’s competitive job market, a strong online brand differentiates between a successful and mediocre employee.
But, how to work towards creating a strong online presence and personal brand in the job market of the 21st century? Let’s find out!
Tips for Online Presence and Personal Branding in Today’s Job Market
By Parinita Gupta
According to Forbes, personal branding is a distinct talent and what you represent, it’s what people say about you when you are not around and how you are positioned in the marketplace. Personal branding plays a very important role. Whether it is for personal or business purpose, your online presence impacts a lot. It creates a public image and reputation of the brand. In today’s world, building up a huge network and updating the personal details can lead to career progression. Staying updated on various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can open the doors for many job seekers.
Why Online Personal Branding is Important?
- According to Forbes, 92% of companies consider candidate’s social media profiles while hiring.
- In a social recruiting survey, “Jobvite” a Californian based recruiting platform revealed that 93% of recruiters review candidate’s social profiles before taking any hiring decision. In this social survey, it was revealed that 55% of candidates were reviewed again and 61% of them got a negative remark after being cross-checked with the candidate’s personal profiles.
- This study also gave some insights which revealed that many organizations use social platforms like LinkedIn to share updates, jobs or any details regarding the company. LinkedIn is considered to be the first platform used by many hiring managers for the entire recruiting process. They use LinkedIn for various processes like sourcing, screening, reviewing and for getting a pre-interview schedule.
- 26% of hiring staff review Facebook profiles while the rest 14% of the hiring staff refer Twitter while taking final decision of recruiting.
So any information which is being updated on various social media platforms should be coherent and should be applicable to the industry you are willing to work or working at. In some cases, candidate’s online presence can be the major criteria for background verification, in such situations, the information which has been shared will speak a lot about you than your personal behavior in front of the hiring panel. This is why the online presence is very important for getting better opportunities in career.
How to Build a Personal Brand through Online Presence?
In many cases, the hiring team considers candidates personal behavior on various platforms. In a survey, it was noticed that 65% of hiring managers looked at candidates professional behavior on these platforms and analyze whether they are suitable for their company or not. So to ensure a good impact there are certain rules which a candidate need to follow in order to get better opportunities in life.
DO
- Ensure a quality social media profiles. The content what you post and share on platforms should be relevant and should not be destructive in nature.
- Clean up all unwanted information which might keep up a wrong impression on you.
- Try to share the information which highlights your strengths and showcase your talents.
- LinkedIn profiles are very important to get identified in the job market. Ensure that your LinkedIn account has all your appropriate details.
- Ensure you join in some professional groups in a LinkedIn platform and try to participate in as many polls, survey, online discussions as you can. This will portrait a good image of your skills and intelligence.
- Upload your updated resume in the profile. This ensures you getting a call from the recruiting team as LinkedIn is the biggest tool used by many of the reciters while sourcing the candidates.
- Though Facebook is not used very frequently, it is also reviewed by the recruiters. Try to share the information which is relevant and always have a purpose.
- Publicize your skills and training programs clearly.
- Follow the pages of organizations you dream for. These keep you updates about the company inventions and innovations.
- Twitter is a platform which is used by top companies to share their official public updates. Following those twitter accounts can help you in getting the updated.
- Ensure you Tweet to the polls and discussions regularly. This will create an attention towards your profile.
- Look for the Twitter profiles who have a good background and where you feel you can identify an opportunity for your career.
- Update your contact details carefully. This can ensure that you get a call or reply from the hiring team.
Read: The LinkedIn Guide To Getting Hired In 2018
Blogs
- Personal blogs are the best way to put up yourself in front of others. Showcasing all your talents in one website can be really helpful for a recruiter while analyzing your profile.
- Share the information in your personal blog helps others to understand your knowledge and skill sets.
- Comment on different professional blogs, this can bring a lot of traffic to your blog.
- Subscribe and follow other blogs for getting updated.
Networking
- Networking plays an important role. Building a large and interactive network will always create more contacts with people.
- Create a network where you can learn, teach and show what you are good at.
- Build virtual relationships which will be beneficial in the long run.
Read: Networking – The Most Effective Job Search Strategy
Business Branding
If you are running a business then your online presence matters a lot. Ensure that all your company profile pages should have appropriate information related to your company only.
- Let your online pages speak more about your company.
- Ensure your company’s client’s testimonials are highlighted more which can bring many referral leads.
- Focus more on targeted keywords. This will help you in scheduling remarketing tasks for all the interested clients.
- Have a responsive business profile where your client can reach you easily.
- Ensure all your business social media accounts are linked up with each other. This ensures the high engagement of the customers.
DONT’S
- Never put up any kind of the wrong impact- Don’t share any kind of content which have a negative image. Delete such information from online and ensure all the information remain neutral.
- Never be Too Socialized- Never share anything which is very personal about you and your family. Ensure your private life is hidden and kept secret.
- Never Post Inappropriate Content- Posting inappropriate content like about drug usage, alcohol or of sexual nature should not be encouraged. This creates a negative impact on your thought process.
- Have no presence on Social Media- Ensure your presence on various social platforms regularly. Your social presence can speak a lot about you and your behavior. If you are antisocial then you will be considered an introvert. Staying active in at least 1-2 social platforms can help you out.
Your Online Presence will create your personal brand image. This brand image can bring many opportunities to you. The way you present yourself on various platforms is what your personal brand speaks about. Your online presence is capable of letting you grow in this competitive world.