09 Nov Optimize Your Online Presence to Get the Best Response During Your Job Search
In the modern age job market, more factors are being considered for your acceptance than you might think. Besides your application, many hiring managers may consider you based on your resume, cover letter, portfolio (if you need to apply with examples of your work), or online presence.
Your online presence is vitally important in this digitally-led era. Is yours helping or hurting you when you apply for a job?
What is Your Online Presence?
Have you ever Googled yourself?
It sounds silly, but the easiest way to discover your online presence is to Google your name. Think of it this way: hiring managers won’t always know where to find you, so they start with Google.
Ideally, any work-related accounts should come up first. Your LinkedIn account, blogs/portfolios/websites, publications, etc. should all be on the first search results page. If they’re not, consider your personal branding and how you can stand out from the crowd—i.e., what will make you unique enough to be found in a sea of hundreds of other John Smith/Jane Doe people.
For some, having a uniquely spelled name is already enough to stand out. For others, they have to add a bit more to get that visibility.
Further, your online presence includes what is actually on those accounts. What does your LinkedIn page look like? Does your website show the best of your work? Are you up-to-date on everything?
Online Presence on Social Media
If your search results are pulling up social media accounts—such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.—make sure you check what’s all included on them. If your account is split between something work-related and somewhere to post all of your memes, you might want to consider creating a personal, private account to keep the two separate.
As funny as those memes might be, hiring managers won’t care for them (of course, unless you’re applying to be a meme creator). In fact, many hiring managers might disregard you if your online presence isn’t “serious” enough for their work environment.
So, take a close look at your social media accounts and consider how you should be presenting yourself. If your “work” presence on social media is not the best it could be, it might be time to create a separate account to attach your name to.
What Kind of Online Presence Should You Have?
Ideally, a “clean” and characteristic online presence would be best to maintain. By this, it means that there should not be any blips in your online presence that could create a bad reputation for you and it should be something undeniably you (or your brand).
Sticking to honest truths about yourself (or your brand) is the best way to go about this. While you do want to put your best foot forward—presenting your greatest qualities through your online presence—you do not want to be faking great qualities or building up extensive lies to showcase a skill you might only slightly have. So be honest, be realistic, and maybe show yourself off a little. Trust that your qualities will get you the right job.
How to Optimize for a Job
As an online presence will be the first impression many hiring managers will get of you past your application or resume, you need to ensure it’s aligned with the jobs you’re applying for. Now, this does not mean you need to be tailoring your online profiles to match each job you’re applying for. What it means is that you need to be conscious of the kinds of things you can relate to your online presence.
Places like Indeed, LinkedIn, and other work-related websites allow you to control the kind of content you’re showing to others. They allow you to create custom profiles with images, summaries, blocks for created/shared posts, spaces to include links, etc. There is also a space for you to showcase your skills.
Specifically, LinkedIn and Indeed allow you to take skill assessments. These assessments aren’t too long but can help give you an extra boost in the eyes of hiring managers. If the jobs you are applying for want a certain skill, see if there’s an assessment you can take! Having this badge will earn you an extra point with hiring managers and allow your profile to stand out more.
How to Maintain
As months and years go on, your skills and professional development evolve. While some skills will stick around in the long run, there’s no saying which ones have gone years without practice.
Every year or so, you should give a “refresh” to your online profiles. Google your name again, scan through the results, and see if anything has changed since your last look.
Once you’ve done that, do a deep dive into your online accounts. Clean up any social media profiles, update the images on your profiles, and ensure your skills are still up to date for where you are in life now. By doing this, you can have a more concise online presence. Further, this can also help you understand which skills you might need to have a crash course in again or find ones you don’t need to include on your profile anymore.
Are You Ready to Start Applying?
So, you’ve got your online presence under control and as up-to-date as possible. Does that mean you’re ready to start applying? Assuming that you’ve got your resume updated, too, then yes! If you’re still a little unsure about your chances of standing out to hiring managers, you might benefit from hiring a Career Coach!
Feel free to check out the Career Services we offer at The Jonus Group. From mock interviews, resume revamps, and LinkedIn optimizations to career coaching sessions and job search assistance, our Career Services team can help get you get that perfect job.
Let’s set up a time to talk!