In today’s world, no one can argue that your online presence doesn’t matter. It matters socially, and when you’re a university student focused on establishing or developing your career, it really matters professionally. Think about it – what is the first thing you do when you come across someone for the first time? Chances are, you look them up online – I know I do!
Why would employers be any different? Easy answer – they’re not. According to Sutherland et al. (2019), over 80% of prospective employers are influenced by your social media presence. Which inevitably leads to the question – what are they finding when they look you up?
Quick tip, open an incognito tab and search yourself to see what comes up.
If you are hoping to present yourself as a reliable, intelligent, innovative and vibrant professional, then we would hope that is precisely what you will find!
If what you have found falls short of that description, it’s probably a good idea to clean up your social media and give some thought to how you want to be portrayed.
As career development consultants, we often talk to students about being mindful of cultivating their ‘personal brand’. When we say this, we’re suggesting you take ownership and agency of your story and curate a professional presence, both online and IRL, that fits with the brand you are wanting to portray.
If you would like a deeper understanding of this concept and some tools on how to develop your brand, book into the upcoming Personal Branding session as part of our online Careers Ready series.
When it comes to your online presence, besides ensuring your social media platforms are delivering a consistent and authentic representation of the brand you want to display, you also don’t want to neglect LinkedIn. Regardless of your industry or profession, LinkedIn is the world’s largest online professional network. It has more than 930 million members in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Suffice to say that if you’re not active on LinkedIn, there’s a real chance that you’re missing out on some opportunities.
Besides the daily advertised positions and personalised job matches based on your profile, it’s a fantastic tool for organising your network. You can follow potential employers and companies, professional associations, and industry leaders in the one place. And, if we go back to the beginning of this article, it is also the perfect place to manifest your ideal personal brand strategy.
Imagine if the first thing potential employers saw when they looked you up online was your well curated, targeted and professional LinkedIn profile, highlighting your strengths, talents and values in exactly the way you want your brand to be portrayed? Now that, you’d have to agree, would be ideal!
To help make this happen, book into the upcoming LinkedIn session as part of our online Careers Ready series. You can also have your LinkedIn profile reviewed instantly and for free through VMock Aspire.
This article was written by Career Development Consultant, Rindala Hadzic.
