My blog this week was clear, to the point and well approached. Like me I realised many people didn’t understand the importance of authenticity before this topic. Therefore, I approached this week’s blog by explaining the theory and importance whilst giving some tips on how to make a blog authentic. One way to think of it, is marketing yourself. How do Apple brand their products? They make you want to buy their phones, right? That’s how you have to market yourself! Professional, Authentic and Unique.
What I have also learnt is that many people will have different views, take for example Will Knapman who has consistent social media accounts that are linked, allowing him to have several means of validating his online presence. A point that intrigued me from Will’s response was, “I would reply by asking why we need to be ‘controversial’ to enjoy the online world,” but we cannot define these boundaries for everyone. What is seen to be controversial?
Whilst we are constantly advised to have a social media account to network and stay on top of things, this is no longer an advantage but more seeming to leave room for error. The link below shows the importance of having an authentic and professional presence even for top positions. If you read the requirements for the job advertisement for Lyle and Scott’s CEO, “a modern, tech-aware retail CEO who is social media literate.”
While many think it is a good idea to have multiple accounts, it is in fact Facebook’s regulation that you are not allowed more than one personal account (Facebook, 2016). So ideally, have fun on social media and think about it from a third person’s perspective if they saw your social media account.
Having an authentic online presence, means having a ‘genuine’ identity of yourself that represents you in a professional manor. An authentic online professional profile in today’s generation is highly important and if you haven’t got one, you are already one step behind (Weiss, 2013).
The Importance?
CEO of Tapscott (2014) group has said that recruiting employees will move away from the traditional methods and move towards initiating and evolving relationships. This is already occurring. In 2014, 93% of recruiters reviewed a candidate’s social profile before making a hiring decision, 73% of recruiters had hired a candidate through social media (Jobvite, 2014).
He also says that ‘some of my best talent is not inside the boundaries of my company,’ which is indicating that one’s network and contacts are extremely valuable and could play a part in becoming hired. So pay attention!!!
Having a professional online presence is crucial in to networking and branding yourself and is supported by the theory ‘Six Degrees of Separation.’ which says that on average anyone can be connected to any person with a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries (Carruthers, 2012). A professional profile will help you reach that contact and it could be your future job!
Of the recruiters using social media to recruit, 94% use LinkedIn to assist in their recruiting efforts, indicating that this is the platform to focus your profile on (Jobvite, 2014). Other forms such as Blog posts are also seen as a unique approach to enticing persons of interest. This will show that you have commitment, dedication and creativity over long periods of time allowing the reader to engage in you further (Admin, 2014).
It would be wise to avoid anything that may be controversial that could put you at a disadvantage. A prime example of this was Justine Sacco who became a Twitter sensation for all the wrong reasons and even lost her job. See her tweets below (Ronson, 2014).
Opinion
I personally wouldn’t want to put the same mug shot of me square on all my photos, but then again what do I prioritise…my career! After the last couple blog posts, I would market and brand myself the way I would expect my employee to represent me and stay consistent showing my interests in my desired field of expertise! (Harris,2014)
Isabella Lo (2013) Professional online profile | brand your business by branding yourself (BeMyBest). YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF9LaXDiINE [Accessed 11 November 2016].
Isabella Lo (2013b) Professional online profile | brand your business by branding yourself (BeMyBest). YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF9LaXDiINE [Accessed 11 November 2016].
(Kisner, 2015)
( D’Alessio, 2016)
Nikhil Anand's Blog 