So you’ve recently graduated from a prestigious University and you’re ready to dive into the real world and begin your career. With a fresh diploma in hand, alongside your well-edited resume and an opportunistic mindset, you begin your search. Early into your search you discover that you are a very small fish in a very big sea – and the state of the economy doesn’t help. So how do you make yourself stand out? Use Social Media to improve your online visibility!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ve most definitely noticed the dominating influence that Social Media has had on the online world. Dozens of Social Media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have gained significant popularity among a wide range of Internet users. These sites are almost always free and allow the user to control the content.
So how exactly can you leverage Social Media to build your personal online brand?
LinkedIn, for example, is a great tool for building your personal online brand. This social networking site basically acts as an online resume allowing users to post past work experience, education credentials and even personal recommendations from other LinkedIn users. To help make yourself stand out to potential employers or clients, create a profile. Build it. Manage it. By doing so you are helping control your online identity and reputation, as well as increasing your web visibility.
Beware: Social Media has a dark side.
I’m trying not to sound like a broken record but – I cannot stress how important it is to build and manage your online reputation. But be careful. Popular Social Media sites such as Facebook have been known to tarnish users’ personal reputation. An inappropriate picture or wall post is all it takes for an employer to disregard your resume and move onto the next guy. So what should you do? Manage your account. Control who can see what information on your profile. Remember, Social Media is user content driven – so use this power to manage your personal online reputation.
Personal Online Reputation Check
How clean is your name online? Try a simple test – Google your name in quotations using Google.ca and…see what comes up.
In order to build your online brand, I suggest creating and managing accounts on Social Media sites.
Start with these:
Are you using Social Media to build your online reputation?