I'm extremely excited about the talk that I'm giving this Friday, January 31st at the St. Louis Business Journal's Women's Conference. As Senior Staffing Consultant at St. Louis Staffing, I have discussed the issue of "How to get Noticed by an Employer in a Social Savvy World" countless times with our President and CEO, Keith Jacob. These discussions are often sparked by people coming to us for career advice and then admitting that they aren't using LinkedIn or other social media to present themselves professionally.
They often say they don't have the time, but we counter: Doesn't your career deserve at least as much focus as you give to reading the news online? Taking ten minutes a day to tweak your LinkedIn page will have a ripple effect on your career because it links you in an ever-expanding web of possible contacts and networks.
When did you last Google yourself or try to find your profile on LinkedIn? If you’re seriously hunting for a job you should be regularly checking and maintaining your online persona. It should be complete, relevant and consistent between platforms. You wouldn’t send a recruiter a half finished resume, so make sure that you’ve carefully completed your online profile. By filling out each section you’re maximizing your chances of showing up in search results.
Beyond LinkedIn, there are hundreds of platforms, networks & forums where you can create a profile. Perhaps choose 3 or 4 to host your profile to start with. Choose 1 large professional networking website, 2 niche forums or networks relevant to you and 1 other ‘personal outlet’ (e.g. a blog or twitter profile).
The idea is to spend time thinking about how you want to be perceived. Between Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and message boards, our names, profiles and resumes are out there for the world to see. Once it’s on the internet, it can never be deleted! An employer or prospective employer can learn a lot about you in just a few minutes of surfing the web.
How do we know what's relevant and appropriate to the situation? Well, the most important rule is that your creative use of social media should be organic to you. Just because someone else can pull off putting her face on a billboard and saying "HIRE ME" doesn't meant you can. Maybe what's more your speed is taking that love of books to a new level by sponsoring a reading by a local author and inviting the CEO who you know is on the board of the Library Foundation?
The more time you invest in social media, in researching the key players in your field, staying current with what your friends and associates are doing, the more you'll discover ways to be creative. But always stay true to yourself. Remember, getting noticed in a social savvy world means getting noticed for the right things.
