One of the most important things you can do as a job seeker is to position yourself to be easily found online by recruiters and employers. To do this it’s important to build your online personal brand and visibility. When a recruiter/employer types your name into Google what do they find? Try it yourself.
6 tips to help you build your personal brand and online visibility
LinkedIn – It’s “expected”! (Put this on the top of your list). It’s critical to have a LinkedIn Profile that is 100% complete. Over 90% of recruiters and employers are using LinkedIn to identify job candidates. Don’t be passed over, take advantage of this ‘free’ resource to build your personal brand and be found.
Google Profile – This one is easy and who doesn’t want to be found on the 1st page of Google? To get there just sign up for a gmail account, once you have your account you’ll be able to create a public profile. Use this opportunity to build your brand and let Google bring you to the ‘top of the heap.’
Online Photo – So many people are resistant to adding a photo on LinkedIn, but perhaps this will help… statistics now show that you are 7 times more likely to have your LinkedIn profile reviewed if you have a photo. Plus, here’s what a recruiter might be thinking when they come to your profile and there is no photo “Hmmm…why is the photo missing, what is this person trying to hide?” Would you rather have the recruiter thinking that or actually reviewing your terrific background? And seriously… please leave the kids, pooch and parties behind – this is a ‘professional’ networking site and you need a professional photo.
Join Groups via LinkedIn – Join groups and start talking! Sharing comments and helping with answers will boost your visibility as well as your brand. Just remember that anything you share is public and becomes part of the impression others have about you – aka ‘your brand’.
Comment on Blogs – Google loves blogs because of the fresh content – so, commenting on blog posts is an easy way to gain more visibility. When you make a comment be sure your name is linked to either your website and/or your LinkedIn Profile so that you will be able to drive traffic to yourself via the blog comment.
Promote Yourself with Every Email – Another effective way to get people to view your LinkedIn Profile is to include your LinkedIn url in your email signature. Go into the account settings for your particular email provider and choose to include an ‘email signature’. But wait…if you have not customized your LinkedIn url then do this prior to setting up your email signature.
