Whether you are looking for a new job or are looking at expanding your business then Social Media should be on your radar. LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, Ecademy, Xing and other similar sites should be entering your focus.
In becoming active on any social media site it is your Profile that says most about you and will assist you in making connections. It is therefore important that you pay attention to having a clear and well understood profile. I am connected to every type of person, including:
◊ Minimalist profiles – giving the barest information, their job and company.
◊ Maximalist profiles that use every character of space that can be used in each section.
Ironically both approaches are wrong. A profile should allow a visitor to decide whether you are a person they may wish to connect to.
Let us be clear before we go a step further. Sites like LinkedIn are NOT purely for job hunters, they are sites that professionals use to build professional connections. Yes a percentage of the population are currently seeking a job. Other members of the community are also building business connections. Whatever your current aim social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are here to stay and will be a part of a professional’s portfolio well into the future. The job-hunter of today will become the sales manager of tomorrow and will leverage their Social Media network as a business tool.
The profile should most of all be professional, and it should headline your capabilities and achievements in a way that invites people to want to connect with you. Remember you on-line social media profile is NOT your on-line resume, if you wish to do that then please make use if Visual CV or Emurse and leave it at that. You need to use your social media profiles consistently with what you are looking to get out of the medium, thus only if your are job-hunting should it look like a resume.
You should be able to have a consistent profile across a range of social networks, yet focus on the specific needs of the media used.
Where you can link your profile to both your personal blog and workplace website this will allow a connection to have as complete a picture of you as possible. Please also update this information on your profile when you move jobs.
So what is your name? I know you know what your name is, but consistency is key. Some connections of mine like to use pseudonyms and in some circumstances it guarantees anonymity. I am connected on Twitter and Facebook to a CEO, who shares day-to-day insights in the daily working life of a CEO (see onthefringe). I understand his need for secrecy as it allows him to make forthright remarks but also whilst I know his identity I am sworn to secrecy, but know we will be working together on future projects.
LinkedIn does not like the use of pseudonyms, but most other systems are OK with them.
Where ever possible be consistent in your username, use vanity ones where they are available. Facebook has recently implemented named user accounts, which allows me to find connections more easily. For example where possible I use ‘pgiblett’ for all of my Social Media accounts, but will never use this name for anything where security is required like Internet banking. Personally if make changes to my on-line profile then I will make all the changes to LinkedIn before permeating it out to my other profiles. One of the problems here is that certain profiles can become out-of-date and forgotten very easily. I am sure I have inconsistencies, although I now work through a documented list of profiles once I have completed profile changes.
Pictures are an important part of a Social Media profile. Fair to say that this topic alone could fill a large article, so I will make a brief statement. You should always have a picture or avatar and the one you select should be reasonably professional. LinkedIn insists that the picture should be of you and not your dog or your grandchildren. I think that such a rule is over the top, but I do think your profile picture should be professional.
