Excerpt from Internet Your Way to a New Job - How to Really Find a Job Online
Building Your Professional Brand
You might think that I’m giving you backwards advice, but I’m not. Before you start writing or updating your resume or applying for a single job, you need to start building your online presence. The only exception would be if you’re looking for a retail, seasonal, temp, or similar job, where the hiring considerations are different and it’s easier to apply and to get hired. In that case, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a professional presence online, but it’s not a necessity.
It’s important to build your brand in order to:
- Create a professional presence on the internet.
- Market yourself as a strong candidate for employers.
- Connect with contacts who will help you with your job search.
- Help prospective employers find you.
What’s Your Brand?
In a nutshell, your brand is your online presence. You can, and should, have your own brand, just like Tiffany’s has for fine jewelry or Subway has for submarine sandwiches.
Your professional brand needs to reflect your skills, your interests, and your expertise. So, when someone finds information about you online, it connects them to who you are and what you can do.
Like it or not, if an employer is considering you for a job, they are going to Google you to see what they can find. What you don’t want prospective employers looking at is the pictures of your summer vacation or a party where you might have over-indulged a little. The rule of thumb I always use is the “grandma” standard. If there is something that you wouldn’t want your grandmother (or your mom) seeing on the web, you don’t want a prospective employer viewing it either.
I still cringe at the photos I’ve seen on some Facebook pages and in blogs. Some of the descriptions of the good times had by all, are cringe-worthy, too, when you look at them from a “what they can do to your job search” perspective.
Remember, once you put something online (or your friends do) it’s there just about forever. Perhaps employers shouldn’t consider your personal life as relevant to your qualifications for a job, but they do. So, that’s why you need to make your brand one that’s going to impress both potential employers and your networking contacts (the people who will help you find a job).
Here’s an example of a good professional presence, if I do say so myself. Google “Alison Doyle” and take a look at the search results. You won’t find anything regarding my summer vacation or my personal life. Instead, you’ll find my About.com Job Searching site (jobsearch.about.com), my Linkedin Profile (linkedin.com/in/alisondoyle), my blog (alisondoyle.typepad.com), my web site (alisondoyle.com), and my book listings on Amazon. That’s by design. It wasn’t hard to do, and I’ll show you how you can build a brand that you’re comfortable sharing online.
Another good example of brand building is Jason Alba (jasonalba.com), CEO of JibberJobber.com and author of I’m on LinkedIn – Now What???. Google “Jason Alba” and you’ll see all the results are related to his career; JibberJobber, his blog, his web site, and his LinkedIn profile.
When you look at the search results for both Jason and myself, you’ll see that we’re experts on job searching, careers, and job search management. That’s what we do and it’s immediately apparent what our area of expertise is.
Try the same searches with Yahoo and you’ll get similar results. It’s a little harder if you have a last name that lots of other people share, but even if you don’t get into the top 10 rankings for your name, your goal is for the top results to include all “good” content and none of the things you don’t want grandma to see.
How to Create Your Professional Brand
The first step in creating your professional brand is to consider what you want to highlight. For example, if you’re a computer programmer, you’ll want to highlight your tech skills. If you’re a marketing professional, you’ll want to promote your public relations/marketing experience. When you have multiple areas of expertise, it’s best to choose one to focus on. A diluted brand isn’t going to be as helpful as one that captures your experience clearly.
When you find me online, as I said, and you’ll find me as soon as you Google my name, you will know right away that I write about careers and job searching. That’s the point you want get to with your professional brand.
Once you have decided on a focus, create a profile on at least some of the top networking sites. That’s the first step in building your own brand.
