Let your online presence do the
talking
The
year is 2013, over 50% of the
world’s population is under 30 years old,
Facebook has more than 1 billion
members worldwide and every second
LinkedIn adds 2 new members to their
database.[1]
The world we live in has gone digital. We have the ability to communicate with
anyone we’d like at any point in time and receive almost instant feedback. Most
of us carry all of this, in our pockets, on our smartphones – with more than 50% off all mobile users in
the US being smartphone users, we
literally carry the world in our hands.[2]
While
most of us will relate to this digital shift as a new way to interact with
friends and family, it will have a significant impact on your professional life
as well. LinkedIn, the biggest ‘professional
social network’ out there, currently has more than 225 Million members.
This new online landscape is changing how companies hire new talent as they
realize it is cheaper, faster and it allows them to reach a larger audience. The
online world also allows recruiters to attract ‘passive’ candidates –
candidates that are not actively looking but might be interested in the right
opportunity.[3] This goes to show that even while you might
not be looking for a new opportunity actively, they can still be handed to you
on a silver platter if you have an online presence.
Even
though LinkedIn might be the go-to place for professionals, your presence on
other websites can have an equally important influence to your professional
career. While it might not be vital to have a Tumblr account or an Instagram
feed when you’re applying for a position in private banking, not showing up on
any social websites when a recruiter searches your name can be a cause for
suspicion – ‘what is this applicant
trying to hide?’ – and a lost opportunity to impress whoever was out there
trying to find out more about you.
While
we’re not trying to encourage you to go and subscribe to every forum/social
network/dating site you can think of, we do recommend you to go out on the web
and explore which sites might be beneficial for you to be on, and give them a
try. You’ll probably enjoy it a lot more than you would think, and who knows,
it might land you your next job.
Thanks for reading,
Board Member
Centre for Entrepreneurship
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