Today’s “how to become more employable” topic: a few tips to help you improve your online brand.
1. Google yourself again today. These days, every prospective employer will see this info. Look at it through their eyes. Is the info good, bad, or nonexistent? If you don’t exist in Google, make yourself exist. Set up a Google profile. Don’t feel obligated to update your info more than once per year. Just get a head shot and bio out there so that it is easier to stalk you.
2. Mesh your online self with your real-life self. We all know people who talk like this online: “SOOOOOOOO EXCITED FOR THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
….but talk like this in real life: “Eh, I’m tired. Meh, weekends make me tired.”
Employers don’t like that. They like consistency. Here’s the deal: prospective employers are going to google you before an interview. If you end every online post with multiple exclamation points, they’re going to be expecting a pretty exciting (perhaps manic) person. Don’t let them down.
3. “Josh, why do I see the same, boring, slightly tilted photo of you all over the internet?” A wise person recently informed me that consistency is the key to becoming recognizable. Use the same avatar for everything. It’s not about a lack of creativity. It’s about making it easier for people to remember you.
4. Get on Twitter. “But Josh, I despise Twitter.” It doesn’t matter whether or not you despise Twitter. It matters whether or not your prospective employer despises Twitter. Set up a profile. Follow a few influential people. Tip: when an employer looks at who you are following on Twitter (and they will), you want them to see a mix of industry experts, leadership gurus, etc…not a mix of celebrities, porn stars, or far-left or far-right-wing political activists. Also, If you aren’t going to post many updates, set your account to “private”. Now that wasn’t so painful, was it?
5. Get on LinkedIn. This blog post is helpful.
6. Start a blog. Here are my 3 reasons why everyone should blog. It doesn’t matter whether or not millions, thousands, or (in my case) dozens of people read your posts. It matters that a prospective employer, when they google you, finds the online brand that you have created for yourself.
‘Here’s the bottom line: being proactive is the key to online branding. You can put in a little time and effort to mold your online brand…or you can let your online brand mold itself. Never leave the internet to its own devices to mold your online brand. It can’t be trusted….I’ve seen the movie Eagle Eye.
Do you have better online branding tips; or, do you disagree with mine? I’d love to hear it. Leave a comment.
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