Where are all the Jobs?: Job Seekers: Guess Who’s Looking For You Online?

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Job Seekers: Guess Who’s Looking For You Online? | Career Rocketeer

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Job Seekers: Guess Who’s Looking For You Online?

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 03:30 AM PDT

Let's say you are a job seeker fresh out of college. In your university career, you've landed impressive internships, networked with tons of influential people, and have a GPA that could rival anyone's.
However, because you never made it a priority, your social networking presence is not portraying you as a professional. After all, when many people are in college, they post their party photos on networks like Facebook, not industry related links or their work experience.
So, even though you may have the most experience or a shining resume, you're not landing any jobs. Why? Maybe because 89% of recruiters are looking for you online.
Surprised by the statistic? You shouldn't be. Since many of us live our lives online, it's a natural progression that employers will want a complete picture of a prospective employee. With this in mind, what can job seekers to do to ensure their online brands are positively portrayed online? Here are a few suggestions:
Keep it PG. When you know someone influential is probably searching for you online, it makes sense to clean up your online image and keep it PG, right? Sure, mixing your personal and professional brands is completely fine, but try to not take it overboard. Think about creating a happy medium by promoting news about your industry, blogging about positive weekend experiences, and only posting appropriate photos and video that you won't regret later in life. Remember, the Internet is written in ink. Make sure employers don't perceive your brand as negative just because of what you posted years ago.
Stand-out as an industry guru. If you were an employer, would you want a candidate who needed to be taught about the industry, or one that is highly knowledgeable based on their online presence? Probably the latter, right? It would not only save you money and time, you'd most likely feel better about them working on their own.
Use your social networks and websites to stand-out as an industry thought leader. Ask questions on your networks that are based on recent issues, blog about the latest controversies and shake-ups, and actually show that you are informed. By standing out as someone who knows what they are talking about, an employer will probably be more prone to think positively of you.
Connect with employers. Why wait for an employer to research you when you can be proactive and do it first? Follow the company on Twitter, engage in their Facebook page, ask to connect on LinkedIn if you already know anyone in the organization, etc. This will not only show you have an interest in the company, it will also make it easier for the employer to find you. Additionally, if you interact with the employer enough, your name will be remembered. Stand out and make an impact; you have nothing else to lose.
If an employer was to search for you online, what would your platforms say about you?

Guest Expert:
James Alexander is Vizibility's founder and CEO. He's the guy with two first names. If you 'Googled' his name in 2009, you would never have found him. Now, he ranks within the first few results of a Google search. Find James in Google at vizibility.com/james.