#UOSM2008 Topic 3: Creating Professional Online Identities
Discuss the ways in which an online professional profile can be developed.
An authentic online professional presence is vital for enhancing an individualâs employability prospects, not only through increased opportunity for engagement with industry professionals, but also because it then allows employers to identify those who are interested in that industry/company beyond what might be written on an application form. It can also help candidates explore more of the company beyond their professional website, reading conversations and interactions had between the business and individuals on social networks can give a more accurate picture of company ethos and âpersonalityâ, attracting potential employees.
Unilever utilises this approach effectively, not only interacting generally through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but also by altering the language used to attract potential employees depending on their category; graduates/students are shown the âopportunitiesâ available on the careers page, whereas âprofessionalsâ are asked if they wish to browse âvacanciesâ (Hebberd, 2013).
Many major global companies use social media platforms to search for potential future employees and also for recruitment processes (Holmes, 2013). Companies delving further into the personal lives of candidates is something I understood first hand at an assessment centre for my industrial placement year â being told we had all been searched for on LinkedIn and Facebook came as quite a shock ⌠thankfully there is nothing too incriminating to find! As mentioned in topics 1 & 2, privacy settings and monitoring content are key to creating a successful online presence.
There are many ways to develop a professional online CV, including utilising information and interaction through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google WordPress, Pinterest, YouTube (etc) accounts; each network displays key aspects of an individualâs âbrandâ to attract potential employers and stand out in this ever-increasingly competitive job market, whilst optimising key content about the individual on wide-spread social platforms.
One of the most important aspects of an online CV is the fact that employers can find you as easily as you can find them; online visibility makes you instantly more recognisable simply by branding yourself through social networks and interactions.
When looking into this topic I came across some research undertaken by Forbes Magazine, which shows that employers are now looking at resumes created using the LinkedIn âresume builderâ tool, enabling profiles to be used âpassively and activelyâ when searching for jobs (Forbes, 2011).
I wasnât aware of this tool before now ⌠I think it could be a great way to distribute your CV quickly and effectively to a wide-spread audience (and with seemingly very little effort!)
(Article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/02/21/5-reasons-why-your-online-presence-will-replace-your-resume-in-10-years/ )
References
Holmes, R. 2013. How social media is making job hunting better â for candidates and companies. Hootsuite [online] http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-job-hunting/
Schawbel, D., 2011. Â 5 Reasons why your online presence will replace your resume in 10 years. Forbes Magazine [online]Â http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/02/21/5-reasons-why-your-online-presence-will-replace-your-resume-in-10-years/
Hebberd, L., 2013. How Unilever use social media to recruit. Link Humans [online] Â http://linkhumans.com/case-study/unilever
