Your online profile can be one of the most important tools in your job search.
For job seekers, LinkedIn is the hands-down king of the online profiles. If you’re looking for a job and you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you may not exist. (Check the mirror.)
Employers may or may not go straight to your LinkedIn profile (although we’re hearing that 75ish percent do), but they’re sure as anything going to Google you. Guess what pops up right at the top: Your LinkedIn profile.
That’s a good thing because it’s one piece of online information you can control. You can write or hire a professional to write your LinkedIn profile, ensuring it is professional, definitive, and differentiating. Do it.
The rest of the profiles
From the job-hunter’s perspective, the rest of the online profiles are less valuable. I’m not saying you can’t network with Facebook or that having a Quora profile is a bad thing. I’m just saying they can be harder to control.
Can you guarantee that an employer who looks at your Facebook page will like everything they see? What about your cousin who rants about the president every day using language that makes sailors blush? Or the depressed college friend who can’t stop sharing posters from the “Mommy Needs Vodka” blog? Are you going to be able to monitor it every minute so that you can hide the photo your well-meaning friend shared of you dancing with the yard of ale?
The point is that you’re not going to be able to control all of the content about you that appears online, but some well-placed profiles can offer a consistent and professional image for any employer who does a search.
If you’re procrastinating about finishing your LinkedIn profile, stop. Contact me right away to talk about how I can help you use your online profile to get found and get hired.
Related
Your Online Job Search: Post your resume
Your Online Job Search: How to use job boards
Photo credit: Pixabay.com
