"Discuss the ways in
which an authentic online professional profile can be
developed"
Picture source: http://www.webdcmarketing.com/2013/11/four-more-linkedin-hacks-for-insurance-wholesalers/
In the modern world, when our everyday life
becomes more and more online, the recruitment sector and employers are not the
last people who are using online facilities. On the contrary, they have taken
the recruitment to the whole new level where there is no need any more to carry
your paper CV with you. However, as a person who has joined this trend around
three years ago I had two main questions: Why do you need an authentic online
professional profile? And, how do you develop one? In this post, I will answer
both of these questions based on the research and my personal experience.
Why do you
need an authentic online professional profile? For example, “LinkedIn”:
- Well, the first answer could be: Why not? It is not very time consuming, it is accessible to everyone in every language, it is nearly always for free (unless you want to upgrade your LinkedIn) and you also can have your small portion of data on the Internet in this age of online information overload.
- It is easier to find a job, internship, placement, etc. My close friend, a young web developer, has received two job offers via LinkedIn. The point is, he haven't even apply, as they have found him by themselves.
- According to the studies, 75% of HR department are checking their
applicants online and 50% of them say that it influences their decision
How you
develop an online profile:
Better than my words could be just the
explanation via picture. Posted below are the pictures that I have scanned from
the paper given to me on the Carriers Fair held at the University of
Southampton, by ConnectUs recruitment consultancy. However, I will still point
out the most important parts of it, in my opinion:
- Have a professional photo. As most of the HRs deliberately do not
want a photo on the CV, an online identity with your photo is the only way they
can see you. Remember that the first impression is very important
- Have at least two or three references that have the most amount of
positive feedback about you
- Whatever you are writing, keep it short and sweet, and obviously provide the keywords that you think describe you and are searched by the employers.
- Join groups, both on local and international level. Just creating
a profile is not enough, join the discussions, share links and news, increase
the number of connections and just stand up of the crowd
And finally, don’t just copy your paper CV, but give a bit more
information about yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, interests, etc. In
LinkedIn you are not limited to two pages of paper as it is in the real world (Guardian News and Media
Limited, 2013) .
Last but not least, just a quick advice for
the post readers: be as authentic and correct as possible in showing your
identity! We all have to accept that during the creation of our own profiles,
both online and on paper, we often do embellish a little bit the stories about
us. It is completely normal, but to the some extend. I personally do remember
that on my first CV I have specified various programming languages that I have
pleasure to code in without specifying the degree of knowledge for each. I had
a very unpleasant situation when during one of the telephone interviews I was
asked the very deep questions of one of the programming languages I have
specified, that was quite a lesson for me.
Word Count: 620
References
Direct Connection, Advertising & Marketing, LLC,
2013. Four More LinkedIn Hacks for Insurance Wholesalers. [Online]
Available at: http://www.webdcmarketing.com/2013/11/four-more-linkedin-hacks-for-insurance-wholesalers/ [Accessed 8 March 2014].
Guardian News and Media Limited, 2013. Why
online CVs are essential in your job search. [Online] Available at: http://jobs.theguardian.com/article/4290335/why-online-cvs-are-essential-in-your-job-search/ [Accessed 7 March 2014].
Hyams, C., 2012. Personal Branding on
LinkedIn: 10 Mistakes to Avoid. [Online] Available at: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/11/09/personal-branding-on-linkedin-10-mistakes-to-avoid/#WByq6jGKiFd0UI49.99 [Accessed 7 March 2014].
Microsoft, 2013. Online Safety Research.
[Online] Available at: http://www.microsoft.com/security/resources/research.aspx#reputation [Accessed 7 March 2014].
Hi Eldar,
ReplyDeleteIt’s nice to see that building off my comment last week you have gone out your way here to constantly relate what you're writing back to the question with a close focus on LinkedIn as the main way to build an authentic online professional profile. I will say at times your sentences don't really make sense (i.e. It is completely normal, but to the some extend.') which isn't ideal. I also, and I apologise for being so critical, disagree with the second bullet point under the sub-heading 'How to develop an online profile.’ I feel that picking references which only portray positives about you will inevitably lead to them looking less credible and misleading potential employers. Furthermore this link is referenced to the Hyams blog, but I can’t seem to find anything on that page. I'm assuming its simply been referenced wrong (as I have done on many occasions) but it does undermine the credibility of your work somewhat.
Otherwise I'd be interested in knowing whether you feel that a persons blog plays any significant role in their online profile as I am of the opinion that LinkedIn's purpose is mainly as a hub to direct towards blogs and social media. You clearly see it as more significant than this, as you have explained very well, but that raises the question for me of whether an individuals blog has any part in their online profile?
Hi George,
DeleteHappy to know that you have mentioned the improvements. The point about the incorrect sentence is quite essential, thank you. However, relevant to mention that as a person who fluently knows 4 languages and the basics of German it is often quite hard to be exact in your sentence structure, and I will do my best next time.
Your disagreement about the second bullet point is quite well mentioned. But let's be honest with each other and admit that when you choose your references you choose people who have the most positive feedback about you, and not those who have bad memories related with you.
About the reference itself, I can explain it in two parts: Part 1, I wrote "2-3" because of the experience I have seen so far, as the most of the internships, jobs and universities require 2 at least and at most 3 references or recommendations about you. Part 2, by "good" I mean the QUALITY of the recommendations as it was perfectly explained by the Hyams' blog: "Remember, it’s not about the quantity of the recommendations, it’s about the quality of them." It is the last point that she have mentioned in her blog
Answering your question, in my personal opinion it all depends on the area that you are studying. As a person from IT course I have never mentioned anyone at all from employers being interested in your blog. It is obviously the part of your Online Profile, which answers your question. However, I don't consider it to be a part of Professional Online Profile, which is today's topic if you remember (unless you are studying something related, or your posts are related to the are that you are studying).
Thanks a lot for your comments, mate.
Hope to read more of them on the future posts.
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