When we speak of online profiles, many of us instantly think of popular social media platforms which we actively update about everything under the sun! From ranting about how the train takes forever to arrive, to squealing in delight about a cute guy… it is no wonder many of us find it difficult to conceptualize the link between online profiles to career prospects.
However, in this technologically advanced society, employers are shifting to recruiting through online methods hence a professional online profile is necessary.
Let the figures speak for themselves:
Images Source: Social Recruiting Survey 2014 via Jobvite
How then should we develop an attractive professional profile to stand out from the crowd?
1. Take note of the Nitty-Gritty details:
Email – Start by creating one using your birth name (eg. JasmineTanYN@gmail.com). This makes it easier for people to identity you, and is also helpful in keeping personal and professional emails apart. (You wouldn’t want Reebonz sending you discount codes in between important work emails right?)
Profile Picture – It is beneficial to use a picture which is clear and professional. No one is interested in knowing more about what you have to offer if you cannot even present a side which conveys that you are ready to take yourself and the job seriously.
2. Be Conscious about what you share:
When employers review your online profiles, they do not only look at professional networking sites such as LinkedIn. Often, they do check on your social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter. Many even hire through these platforms. Hence, always remember that what you share online could be the stepping stone towards your dream career, or the boulder that will crush your chances of getting the job.
There are eyes everywhere online, and you would never know when an innocent insensitive casual remark may spread like wildfire and reach your prospective employers.
Read about how an innocent tweet meant as a joke, ended Justine Sacco’s entire career.
Image Source: Freeze-frame of Youtube Video
3. Be Concise:
Get to the point. When writing a summary of yourself on your profile, share what makes you stand out from others – quality is always more valued than quantity. No one has time to read lengthy stories about you, they want to know at a glance why they should hire you!
4. Stay Connected:
Keeping yourself updated about industry trends will prove useful when applying for a job. It also reflects a genuine interest in being connected and relevant in the industry – something employers appreciate!
Building up your network is equally essential as you never know when a friend could provide a golden career opportunity, or when an acquaintance could end up as your boss or client!
Just to understand the reach of social media in recruitment, I tried it out myself:
Word Count: 447
References
Agenda, (2014). Five Ways Talent Management Must Change. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from: https://agenda.weforum.org/2014/10/don-tapscott-talent-management-millennials/
The Employable, (2014). How Blogging Can Help You Get a Job. Retrieved from: http://www.theemployable.com/index.php/2014/10/28/blogging-can-help-get-job/
BBC, (2013). Job Interviews: Making the Right Impressions. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-25217961
Jon Ronson, (2015). How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=2
Jobvite, (2014). Social Recruiting Survey. Retrieved from: https://www.jobvite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Jobvite_SocialRecruiting_Survey2014.pdf
Lisa Harris, (2014). Using Social Media in Your Job Search. University of Southampton. Retrieved from: http://moocs.southampton.ac.uk/websci/2014/03/13/ill-tweet-job-spec-snap-cv/
Lauren Shin, (2014). How to Create the Ideal LinkedIn Profile. Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/10/20/how-to-create-the-ideal-linkedin-profile/
Patricia Harper, (2012). How to Keep your Social Media Profile Attractive to Employers. [Youtube Video]
jastypes 
Hi Jasmine!
Firstly, what an informative post you have about professional online profile.
Your pointer on ‘stay connected’ has really intrigued me; I didn’t think that maintaining your relationship with friends will help build up your network. Backing up with research in Jobvite’s survery, 63% of the employers are using referrals as recruiting methods. So staying connected to your friends or news about the industry you are in is indeed a crucial step into developing your profile.
And your experiment to try out on social media recruitment is fascinating, just after 2 hours of posting the inquiry, 2 friends replied you to indicate their company has an opening for interns. This shows the power of Internet and how efficient it is now.
However do you think that there is any disadvantage of using online professional profile? For example, it maybe difficult to stand out because there are many more applicants in the online market compared to the past where we have to send resumes to company to apply for job?
I really enjoyed reading your post and looking forward to your next post ☺
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Hey there Jue Yin!
Glad that you brought up the possible issues of developing an online profile! I did consider the potential obstacles/cons of this approach, however decided to focus more on sharing how to develop an online profile instead.
I agree we should spend some time weighing the pros and cons of this approach, however I believe the pros still outweighs the cons. A possible issue could be as what you mentioned, difficulty in standing out from the crowd as there is a growing number of people using this online profile approach in the market, and also, while this approach continues to grow in popularity, I feel that we should also consider the company’s culture before employing this approach. Some companies may be traditional in culture and still strongly prefer resumes/Cv and Face to face interviews, so we should employ the approaches accordingly. What do you think? :o)
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Hi Jasmine! I cannot agree more with you on how to develop a professional online profile. People seldom take note of the small details like email and profile picture, email address like Yahoo and AOL are mostly sent to junk mail or spam, causing hopeful candidates to lose their opportunity to score their dream job.
In addition to your post, another way for individuals to stay connected with the current industry trends is to manage a blog. Candidates should always try to stand out when applying for a job and having a blog is a great way to direct attention because not everyone blogs about the current industry trend during their free time. Blogging is a great to impress recruiters because it shows your passion towards the job. ☺
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Hey there Luna!
Thanks for highlighting the point about blogging that would contribute to helping us stand out from the crowd, in terms of online profile. :o)
It is relatively a new idea hence often people do overlook it (as I had, unfortunately, as well!). I believe it will definitely grow in popularity with time, and lucky for us – this module is a great start and guide to craft and mould an attractive online profile for our future, don’t you think? :o)
Thank you for spending the time to take a look at my post, and engaging in this interesting discussion! :o)
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Hey Jasmine,
I really enjoyed reading your post; it was very clear and informative. You mention using a profile picture that conveys you’re serious about yourself and any potential job. I think it’s also important to mention that with how easy it is to reverse search an image now, you need to make sure that the image you use professionally isn’t connected to anything you wouldn’t want a potential employer to see.
I found this video from the CEO of Strikingly, which might interest you; he talks about mistakes that people often make with their professional profiles online. It is important to consider what you shouldn’t be doing as much as what you should.
http://wncn.com/2014/03/18/your-professional-online-profile/
Exposure is also important when developing a professional profile online, you want as many people to see it as possible, but you want those people to be the right people. Do you not think it is important to branch outside of your personal connections, by using a social media network like twitter perhaps?
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Hi Leah!
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Yes, I definitely agree that we shouldn’t overlook what we shouldn’t be doing when managing a professional online profile. The video you shared is really helpful and informative – thank you! The mistakes many people commit are often undermined – such as ill-timed activities and not distinctively segregating our personal and professional lives/profiles. And as you mentioned, we definitely need to ensure the photos we use professionally will not link and bring light to our personal lives – things may get complicated with the conflicting image we portray in both professional and private profiles. Excellent point you made there.
Lastly, branching out and building up our network is definitely beneficial and necessary. I thoroughly agree with your point. However, I believe quality of a profile will triumph over the quantity of platforms we have – hence it is always wiser to hold reigns over a couple of online profiles first before we expand to manage more profiles on a wider scale of platforms. I strongly believe in starting slow and steady but progressing definitely towards an ambitious goal.
Thank you for the great and thought-provoking discussion! :o)
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