Topic 3 Reflection: Building an authentic online professional profile
This week’s topic gave the group not only an opportunity into discovering how we could market ourselves successfully online but also what a necessity it is to create a streamlined professional personal representation whilst avoiding any tarnishing of that image, or ‘brand’.
Tamara Manton’s blog initially made me consider the title of the post more clearly in terms of how our actions must be ‘authentic’. Therefore more than ever, if we do wish to connect online profiles together to be professional representations of ourselves, we must ensure that our actions, unlike Justine Sacco’s are in line with our work ‘persona’. However if this is to be mixed with your social life, it should be done carefully, and with taste.
Following on from this idea however, reading Tatiana Sieff’s blog post made me start to further question how this authenticity could be closer or further from the truth, depending on the individual, and therefore whether this newer approach of hiring individuals based on their online actions should be necessarily always a move in the right direction.
This, of course, comes from the introduction of bias, which may be avoided in certain methods of hiring potential candidates. This personally interests me from the aspect of Labour Economics, where maximizing social equality of opportunities no matter race, gender or sexuality is key. The issue may not be hugely endemic in hiring for positions, but must be considered when trying to both empower people through usage of the web, whilst protecting them from its misuse.
Despite the possible shortfalls of the system, I personally, will look to ignore elements of processes I have no control over, therefore strengthening my business profile online, so that my employers are able to get a vital second opinion on my work ethic outside a simple CV.
Words: 298
Comments:
Tamara Manton:
https://tamaramanton.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/boost-your-brand-four-steps-to-success/
Tatiana Sieff:
https://tatianasieff.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/pathways-to-professionalism/comment-page-1/#comment-21
Sources:
Justine Sacco’s tweet, news article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=2
