Personal and Online Branding
Online Branding | Online Presence
- Most savvy employers will check out candidates before inviting them to interview. Put your name into any search engine and see what comes up. Facebook perhaps?
- If you're serious about your career, take steps NOW to ensure that your online persona is in line with what you want potential employers to see. Employers will not be impressed by party animals who post all their exploits online.
- Remove yourself from "tagged" photos, close down your privacy settings and take preventative measures now to avoid negative data being uploaded for the world to see.
- If you have a Twitter account, go back through it and delete all tweets that you wouldn't want a potential employer, or the authorities, to see.
- Moving forward, only post updates that you're happy to share professionally and that will contribute positively to your online brand. You can still have a bit of fun... no need to be boring... just don't be foolish.
- Use a "professional" email address for all job communications and avoid "fun" email addresses that are better shared with friends.
- Create a professional profile on LinkedIn. This is the biggest online professional networking site and it is used extensively by recruiters and hirers - not just to check you out, but to identify potential talent. So make sure your profile is complete and keep it totally professional.
- Once you're on LinkedIn, make sure you participate in groups and discussions.
- If you write a blog, connect it to your LinkedIn profile.
- Also link your Twitter account to your LinkedIn profile.
- If there is negative information about you online, try to create new content about yourself so that the negative content gets pushed further back on Google. The same applies if there is someone with the same name as you who has negative content online - you don't want a potential employer to confuse you with someone else.
Personal Presentation
Your appearance is also part of your personal brand. Click here to see our tips on Dressing for Success.
