by Mary Ellen Bates
You’re a Brand
- it’s how you show up
- it’s not what you intended to do, it’s what people see what they interact with them
- it’s what you’re known for
- it’s what Google shows about you, you need to show up, because they expect you to be there
Your Message
- an empty result is a message too
- email signature file
- cover memo
- internal website bio
- pictures and descriptions
- recent projects, successes
- even attendance of conferences
- where you volunteer, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you and how they perceive you
- social media
Why Get Social
- it’s like looking in a phone book, people expect you to show up where they expect you to
- need to be as findable as possible
- 40-80% companies used social media to research job candidates
What Matters?
- 57% professional image
- 50% good personality
- 50% wide range of interests
- 49% background & qualifications
- 46% creativity – if also have the ability to do the future job
Be Smart
- keep updates public, but remember that it’s public
- no political rants (or pick your battles) – be willing to live with consequences if you post
- easy on the family & vacation photos – okay, but be moderate
- “about me” updated with professional photo
- post regularly
- be authentic
- create and lead a group if you really want to establish yourself as an expert
- link with all clients and colleagues
- give recommendations – shows support, care about the profession
- post comments, retweet – forward what other people are saying
Ideas on What to Say
- insights from a conference
- read others’ blogs, tweets
- learn (take a class, volunteer)
- ask questions, conduct a survey
- share everything – gets more out there even if it’s copied
What to Say
- what are you passions? what gets you excited?
- what do you want your next employer to know about you?
For Organizations
- people tune out fast
- need to talk about why, not what and in readable ways e.g. “We search premium databases”, no!, change it to “We expand your horizons beyond Google” / “We have a wide range of databases” to “We provide global insights with unfiltered results unlike Google” / “I’m a librarian” to “I enable the discovery of new knowledge”
- talk about results
- figure out your value proposition
- see how others do it (especially vendors who have invested in it, make use of it)
- it’s not all about you – benefits to users, not features; results, not activity