Marketing guru David Meerman Scott recently offered someĀ Tough love for marketing and PR job seekers. He asked, “What happens if I Google the name on your resume and the most recent company you worked for?” He answers his own question by offering, “Sadly, for many job seekers, what pops up on Google are a few random things (like your membership in the company softball league), your LinkedIn profile, and not much else. Sometimes there is a Twitter feed but frequently it was started years earlier and has been abandoned or it’s only updated a few times a month.”
He argues that for marketing and PR folks seeking a job, their online content should speak for itself – and for them. Scott insists that if you cannot build a brand for yourself you probably can’t do it for any company considering hiring you.
Maybe you’re thinking, “That all makes sense but I’m not a marketer.”
Social Recruiting
Social recruiting software company Jobvite conducts an annual survey of employers regarding their plans to use social media for employee searching and vetting. Their 2011 Social Recruiting Survey found that 89% of companies surveyed either already used social media to find employees or planned to in 2011.
But more importantly, nearly three quarters of employers said that they checked online profiles of job candidates at least “sometimes.” When they type in your name, what are they going to find?
Your Online Footprint
So how to you go about creating that Google Resume? In short, you need to build a system of online links with your name in them. Here’s how:
- Build an online resume using WordPress. This will serve as your home base and be your main source of external links.
- Expand your online profile using social media channels but don’t rely on them exclusively. These free sites can be a great resource but make no mistake – you do not own your profile. You need to treat them as temporary because they could go away without a single moment’s notice.
- Participate in question and answer forums like LinkedIn, Quora and the StackExchange family of sites. Also comment frequently (and thoughtfully) on other blogs. All of these activities provide the opportunity to include links that can build your personal brand awareness and generate links.
To learn more, download the free #CareerGravity Blueprint.
Blueprint read, domain names secured. Next up, where do I want to be in 5 years. I’ll sleep on that. Tough question for a stay-at-home mom looking to reshape her career after 10 years…what do I want to do with this second half of my life? Excellent question. Excellent. Thanks for the tips!!!