Yesterday, we talked about why it was important. Over 70% of hiring professionals admit to using social media and other online resources to check out a potential employee.
When they Google you, they can see court records, mentions in the news, and potentially membership in clubs and organizations. One thing you might consider is setting up a personal website, especially if you are interested in working in a creative field (writing, artistic, graphic design, software design, architecture, etc.). This allows you to control the image the hiring manager sees and it can hold one of the top spots in a Google search result. Your LinkedIn profile will probably show first thanks to the relationship the two companies have, but if you have a branded website, that should be close to the top.
Some things you need to look for while you are doing your personal brand audit include:
- Political views – while you are entitled to your own views and opinions, just remember to keep it classy. You have no idea what political affiliation the hiring manager might have.
- Rants – we all get ticked off. Letting an organization or person have it on Facebook or getting in a Twitter war can shine a bad light on you. A potential employer might think you would do the same thing to their company if you ever had a bad day.
- Inappropriate content or offensive Memes – it’s important to remove this content from your social presence. You don’t want to portray yourself as insensitive or give the wrong impression.
- Negative talk about previous employer- This should be obvious.
- Photos – make sure your photos don’t show anything inappropriate or illegal. While you have every right to post pictures of your enjoying the pool or beach, you might not want a hiring manager seeing photos of you in a bikini or knocking back drinks at a party.
Today, I want to focus on some of the mistakes people can make while branding themselves.
- They rush through and don’t make all the necessary changes, updates or skip a process all together. If people can’t find you, no amount of branding will help.
- They are not authentic. Branding isn’t making up an image. It’s about portraying the parts of you that highlight your skills and values. People can see through fake. You want to attract the right employers to you, not just any employer.
- You don’t maintain what you start. Remember, I told you, you’ve got to dedicate at least a few minutes each day to keep things on track.
- It’s about quality not quantity. You won’t be posting online just to post. There should be a set a plan in mind and it needs to be one you can maintain going forward.
You might be considering making all of your social accounts private or just deleting them. Being a ghost doesn’t help you. In this day and age, many consider it unusual for someone not to have these accounts. It’s even worse if the job you’re applying for requires you to use or monitor these types of accounts. A hiring manager will assume if you don’t have one, you can’t know how to use them.