UOSM2008:Topic 3 Building your Online Professional Profile

Discuss the ways in which an authentic online professional profile can be developed.

Image sourced

In this blog post, I shall be aiming to do something a little different as I previously outlined my belief that an ‘authentic’ online identity is a necessity in this technological era. (Check out the aforementioned blog post here.)

Professor Cary Cooper’s contribution to Guardian Careers ‘You’ve been Googled: what employers don’t want to see in your online profile’ reveals:

‘Research by ExecuNet showed that 77% of recruiters said they used search engines to find background data on candidates. Additionally, 35% admitted they eliminated a candidate because of what they found online.’[1]

This reinforces the notion that ‘digital literacy [is] the new frontier in employability’.[2] How you present yourself and what you post online is important and will impact on your employability prospects. UCL’s Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic states: ‘you will need to master three things: self-branding, entrepreneurship, and hyperconnectivity’[3]this is indicative of the importance of online engagement and identity.

My research on this topic has caused me to review and make several changes to my plethora of online profiles to improve their ‘authenticity’ and professional outlook. I shall attempt to discuss and share these amendments with you here.

Developing and making improvements to your online professional profile

LinkedIn – The Case Study – http://lnkd.in/dT8KKyR

1. ‘Don’t use anything other than a professional looking photo’[4]

Before and After

I am not entirely happy with this photo and will look to make further improvements, however, I believe it is an initial improvement as it is congruent with my ‘Bio‘ on the website of my place of work LoveLove Films. Moreover, my attire (blazer) is more professionally suited.

2. ‘Don’t send people an invitation with LinkedIn’s default text.’[5]

I had not previously thought about this and it is now glaringly obvious that a little customisation to avoid the generic default message could go along way and I am going to keep it at the forefront of my mind when inviting people to connect in future.

3. ‘Don’t forget to include all your external links’[6]

Following this advice I have since updated my contact info by providing links to external sites: Twitter, the website I built for my employer LoveLove Films, personal blog and company’s twitter feed which I update and maintain.

4. LinkedIn recommendations

I was surprised to read how LinkedIn recommendations were viewed as precarious with Firebrand‘s Greg Savage remarking on the ‘LinkedIn tit for tat recommendation’ phenomenon and argues ‘How can we possibly take LinkedIn recommendations seriously when they are mostly solicited, reciprocal, and worst of all – self-published! If you don’t like what they say, even in nuance, you don’t approve it.’[7] I shall now be more weary of requesting LinkedIn recommendations and of returning the favour if it is only owing to feeling obliged to do so.

5. Include examples of your work

 

Providing links to projects you have worked on will make your profile more dynamic whilst helps to showcase and support the skill-set/experience you claim to have.

To conclude, developing and enhancing your ‘authentic’ online professional profile is, as stated earlier, a necessity. It is imperative that we attempt to control our online image and utilise online tools available that enable us to manipulate the way in which potential employers can access relevant information about ourselves. LinkedIn and some of the changes I carried out inline with this topic are just a starting point or a stepping-stone to improving, maintaining and updating an essential online presence.

I invite you to google yourself – we need to be aware of the results!

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