HOW TO DEVELOP AN AUTHENTIC PROFESSIONAL ONLINE PROFILE – A REFLECTIVE SUMMARY

I’ve found the debate on authentic professional online profiling to be the most engaging yet. This is perhaps partly due to the multiple comments left on my initial blog from my peers. Each one strengthened my understanding and discussion on the topic, which I am very pleased with. Hence, I’m going to use this opportunity to expand on some of the insightful ideas my classmates introduced me to in their comments to advance my previous analysis.

My classmate Joy made me question how many professional profiles we should operate. I previously did not consider the importance of this but I have now come to appreciate its significance. Job-seekers must have enough active profiles to be visible but not too many to be blinding. CEO of AfterCollege Roberto Angulo stated that being too obvious online with numerous profiles becomes boring to recruiters, especially when this is not accompanied by some good insight. I think presenting fewer really effective profiles would give recruiters a greater impression online than a lot of unkempt ones. In addition, while I believe that multiple authentic professional profiles help job-seekers stand out, maybe a more personal approach is necessary when the time is right. You need to make sure you are original and thoughtful, not just a noise maker.

Secondly, my classmate Jake noted a weakness in my previous discussion that I wish to address. He asked how I think job-seekers can engage their professional profiles with recruiters. It’s all well and good having brilliant profiles but these are redundant if no one is finding them.  Positive activity on social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn will improve visibility to hiring managers, especially commenting on blog posts, responding to tweets and networking. Having an online connection with a company not only shows you’re passionate about the company, it often showcases your expertise which could lead to potential job opportunities down the road.

I’d like to finish with a quote from my classmate George that I love: ‘Building a successful online profile is comparable to playing cards with potential employers: although it’s important to play your aces, there are some jokers you’d much rather keep close to your chest.’

I believe this peer interaction aspect of studying has significantly improved my knowledge of authentic professional profiles. I now appreciate that the aforementioned issues are integral to this discussion. I look forward to seeing what I can learn from my classmates in the future.