We are now well and truly living in a world where technology has helped facilitate a platform for our personal presence to be available across the globe. So it’s now more imperative than ever to ensure we are portraying ourselves in a positive light from every aspect, digitally speaking. If we’re thinking of our career, often the first thing people consider is their resume. Yes, having a competitively dynamic resume is one of the keys to landing that next role or promotion you’re looking for, however the depth and breadth of our network (both face to face) and virtually is more important than ever. Statistically 75% of people land their next role through their network, so your network is essential, but your brand in your network is just as important. The kicker for your networking, these days, is that networking is more electronic than face to face. The easiest way to build your network is through social media, lets face it we don’t have time to attend work social events or catch up for coffee with everyone we know or meet. Social media is so pervasive that it is now expected that you’re there. If you do not have any online presence, in this day and age, it may be seen as detrimental. It is the primary way people are connecting so not having a profile is making you invisible to the market.
So how is your virtual brand looking?
If you’re not on social media, people become suspicious of you,
if you are on social media, people will have already formed an opinion of you based on what they see.
What is social Media?
Whenever you put something about yourself onto the internet you’re in the world of social media, whether it be Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all the others. People use social media for many different reasons from Voyeurism to simply keeping up with friends. The ways you can interact with people from all over the planet now seem endless. Everything you put on the internet is stored somewhere and with enough knowledge and diligence can be found. Most of it is so much in the public domain that it takes little effort to source information on any and all kinds of people (the armed forces are concerned that soldiers tracking their training on Strava (a mapping tool) could be tracked by unsavoury characters for example). Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to what you put on social media.
What is “Your Brand”?
Your Personal branding is the way other people would describe you to a third person. You have several brands, your family brand, your personal business or working brand, your friends brand, your sporting brand etc. Your brand is made up of the collective interpretations people make of what people see, your body language, what you do, how you do it, what you say and how you interact with others.
We are always trying to ‘sell’ ourselves to others in some way, hence the use of the marketing term, and our ability to do that has a lot to do with our brand. It starts with first impressions, a snapshot of you (sometimes unfair I know) but people are starting to draw their conclusions about you immediately, sometimes based on what someone else says. It’s our natural nature to do that, we look for patterns and we build stories in our head. Most people don’t pay much attention to their brand, most people just get on with their days and the people around them, but you can, and should be, paying attention to and to some extent controlling of your brand.
Politicians are a classic example, they are continually trying to convey a consistent message to anyone they need to influence – could you imagine managing Trump’s brand?
So, the first step of your brand is just acknowledging that you are actually totally in control of every action and message you send out to people (con men understand and do this so well). Now that you acknowledge that, you can see how it can be managed, how you speak, dress, body language etc. is within your control to manage.
Now let’s return to the world of Social Media, you don’t have to manage that much complexity to manage your online brand. Social media is made up of what you say, your opinions on things how you write and the pictures you post (they can speak a thousand words).
For anyone interested in having a successful career, whether you’re a job seeker, consultant, student, employee or entrepreneur, your personal brand is everything. It’s your reputation, the size and strength of your network, and what unique value you can contribute to a company or your clients.
What is my Brand on Social Media?
Everything you put on Social Media will and can be seen by someone (whether you like it or not) at some time. If they see it, they will immediately start to interpret it. Given this is the only information they have about you, they will interpret based solely on what they see (makes sense) so if you are a career person, looking for a promotion, moving companies, or looking for a job, your “on line brand” will be there for all to see and it will be interpreted on its merits.
If there are a lot of pictures and messages around ‘partying’ then your brand may become that of a party person even if they may not be the image you’d like to portray. Whatever people focus on in their social media posts and comments starts to become their brand. A lot of it is innocuous of course, but if you start writing about your political views, or strong views on any particular topic, they will also add to your brand and the more extreme your views the more you will start to isolate people, because that becomes a brand people are cautious of. Of course it’s all a choice thing and we’re only talking about people who consciously want to portray themselves as a stable, intelligent, hardworking employee.
So, if you’re serious about looking for a new job or promotion, then be cautious about your social media profile. What is reflected about you on social media is important to management and recruiters, your branding image needs to mirror social working norms and their expectation of an employee. I have always advocated strongly that the person who gets the job represents the lowest risk candidate, therefor it is your job to mitigate the risk for your future employer through every avenue possible. A big part of this is managing your brand.
Managing your brand on line is essential, so it might be time to have a chat to us about what your social media is creating for your brand, whether you like it or not.
Contact us for your free virtual branding ebook here
About the Authors
Melinda Beyer is passionate in assisting clients to achieve their strategic and business objectives. She has a strong ability to assess, analyse and understand a client’s requirements or needs, and translate them into practical solutions and outcomes. Melinda Beyer is the General Manager at Career Life Transitions.
Peter James is a professional career coach, with expertise in the areas of strategic and ‘hands-on’ change management, coaching, group facilitation, leadership development and organisational design and change. Peter James is director at Career Life Transitions.
Dr Susan Roberts says: