5 tips on using your online presence when looking for a job
As social networks and blogging becomes more and more popular, the footprint that each person leaves online is becoming more visible. With companies now looking up prospective employees online, a person's online activities can act as both an advantage and a hindrance.
We spoke to digital marketing and social media expert [Krishna De](http://krishnade.com/) for her tips about how best to manage your online presence when looking for a job.
**1. Audit and clean up your existing online presence**
Before even beginning to develop an online presence, it is important to check what is already there. By following the same path an employer would take to check your online credentials you can see what else may come up in a Google search. It is then important to clean up anything you don’t want a potential employer to see.
“The first thing I would do is an audit of your own digital footprint,” said De. “People don't often look to see what comes up with people search for themselves. Then you need to clean up your online presence. Take a look at what you are doing already and have a think about how that content reflects how you want to be seen. Maybe you would then want to make your twitter account more restricted.”
**2. Use Linkedin**
Of all of the social networks that you can use to build up an online portfolio, Linkedin may be the most useful.
“From a business point of view, Linkedin is the de facto platform,” said De. “If you can only do one thing, get your Linkedin profile up to date. The other important thing is that Linkedin ranks really well in Google. Make sure you have a professional looking photograph and also look at the words you want to be found for. It is important to take the time to personalise your privacy settings.”
**3. Sharing content**
While you may not think much on what you tweet or share on Linkedin, the tone of your account can give a certain impression of you to a potential employer. The content you share can also show an employer if you are passionate and up to date in relation to the role you may be applying for.
“Make sure that you share content that shows you are on top of your game and know about trend,” said De. “You don't need to have created the content but you can identify and share content through twitter, linkedin and facebook. It is one of the first things people will look at.”
**4. Creating content**
The ability to create online content can be a great demonstration of your abilities to any potential employers. With the number of easy to use tools available, creating your own content online can be a great way of getting noticed.
“Some people can create audio using tools like AudioBoo to create a podcast,” said De. “Other people can create and share video, or other people may write content.”
Recently, De has met a couple of people who have found work directly through their online content. Amy Jones recently found a new role as a researcher with Manchester City Football Club through blogging, while Bjoern Uhss used social media advertising to attract the attention of the hiring managers he was hoping to meet through the recruitment process for his role with Intuit.
There is a small health warning when it comes to creating your own content. It is crucial that the content is of a good standard; otherwise a blog can be a counterproductive exercise.
“Make sure you are putting your best foot forward,” said De. “It is easy for us all to make small errors when we are writing content. Be very careful, people will make a judgment on whether the content is relevant and good quality.”
**5. Create a hub**
If you do not want to create a website or blog, it can still be very useful to have a page to drive people toward which links to the rest of your online presence.
“If you don't want to have a blog there are other tools you can use,” said De. “Use a tool such as About.me or brandyourself.com. They allow you to put together a little hub. From a professional perspective, when you are networking you can link to your content. You can bring all those things together and have something you can add to a resume.”
...
**Contact desk: digital@businesspost.ie. Sign up for our [free, daily newsletter](http://newsletter.thepost.ie).**
