Topic 3: Building an Online Professional Profile
                        The Guardian (2013)
Discuss the ways in which an authentic online identity can be developed.
As a soon to be graduate (hopefully), looking for a job is one of my top priorities. Not having a job lined up has encouraged me to enhance my online professional portfolio. With social recruiting is on the rise, with Jobvite (2011) reporting 87% of recruiters are using LinkedIn to search prospective employees. Employers are also expanding their social recruiting strategy further than professional networks such as LinkedIn but to both Facebook and Twitter, with Jobvite (2011) also reporting that 40% of recruiters surveyed using all three networks.
The Basics
I like to think of LinkedIn as an online CV, but it is much more advance than this. It is not static like a CV. Features such as recommendations and endorsements give a totally different dimension to this platform (Frasco, 2013) This gives more depth to the individual in question and recruiters are more likely to trust others’ opinions over self promotion.
In my last blog (available here) I briefly touched on the topic of Twitter being the platform with most potential to show both an individual’s professional and personal partial identities. A professional portfolio should encompass your personal profile too which in turn should reflect ones offline identity. Twitter can be used to express professional insight into a subject and opinions can be expressed on the subject.
What both LinkedIn and Twitter have in common is the networks and connections you have. On LinkedIn this is in the form of connections and Twitter in the form of followers. By developing your network on both platforms, this will increase your visibility and exposure (NSC Blog, n.d), giving you that all important chance of getting your foot in the door and building your personal professional brand online!
Engagement
Although having an updated and full profile is a must for LinkedIn, this is not enough to develop an authentic professional profile. The way an individual’s authentic professional profile is developed is through their individual engagement in the communities they are part of according to Cavalli in an interview with Smith (2013).
Twitter is all about engaging with others. Silverman & Weber (2013) describe Twitter as “the new job board” and “becoming the new résumé.” This is an important point, Twitter is designed for conversations to take place, for sharing information and expressing views. Content in tweets is therefore important, as what is said, the way it is put across
Personal Experience
Throughout the week I have been trying to improve my online professional profile, particularly on LinkedIn. Through updating my profile on LinkedIn and asking and giving recommendations I have gained 3 recommendations, which I think is crucial for any professional portfolio as others recommendations may be more trustworthy than your own account of your work.
In addition to this I have been trying to actively participate in online communities on topics that interest me and especially in the advertising and marketing communities. In the beginning I was afraid of putting my opinion out there on LinkedIn networks as most the other participants have experience in the industry, but what I have noticed is that everyone has a different view on the same topic and it is nice to share ideas and thoughts which will spark more conversation.
Authentic online professional profiles have to be developed over time, it is not something that can be done overnight. The most important thing is to grow your network and actively engage on the platforms you are using. By actively engaging I mean taking part in conversations, voicing your opinion, adding value to discussions in the industry you are interested in working in.
References
Frasco, S.(2013) Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Exposure and Engagement:11 Tips, socialmedia today [Online] Available at: http://socialmediatoday.com/stephaniefrasco/1403626/optimize-your-linkedin-profile-exposure-and-engagement (Accessed 6th March 2014)
Jobvite (2011) Social Recruiting Survey Results [Online] Available at: http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/Jobvite-SRP-2011.pdf (Accessed 5th March 2014)
NSC Blog (n.d) What career is right for me? (Online) Available at: http://www.nextstepconnections.com/blog/graduate-advice/how-linkedin-can-help-to-improve-your-employability (Accessed 6th March 2014)
Silverman, R.E and Weber, L. (2013) The New Résumé: It’s 140 Characters, The Wall Street Journal [Online] Available at: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323820304578412741852687994?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424127887323820304578412741852687994.html (Accessed 5th March 2014)
Smith, J. (2013) How Social Media Can Help (Or Hurt) You In Your Job Search, Forbes (Online) Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/16/how-social-media-can-help-or-hurt-your-job-search/ (Accessed 5th March 2013)
