I wanted to share this infographic with you today because I truly feel that this information is extremely important to anyone looking for work in today’s job market. The job hunting landscape has changed drastically over the past few years and it blows my mind to see how many job seekers are ignorant to these changes. While the time-tested-and-true methods (putting in those resumes, filling out those applications, networking, and sitting for interviews) are still effective and are a necessary evil, employers are placing more and more emphasis on what applicants look like online.
In the early days of social media we referred to an individual’s online presence as “social proof”. The more of it you had the better. How many places online could someone be found, and how were these profiles and channels managed and maintained? This is something that many early adopters saw as an important career building component. It strikes me as odd that with such mass adoption and acceptance of social channels these days that anyone could neglect managing their digital footprint pro-actively, but they do.
Today large employers, recruiters, and even smaller companies have gotten really good at mining the digital world to gather information about applicants and potential employees. Often, if you don’t stack up, you won’t ever have the opportunity to apply for a job and you won’t be asked to sit for an interview. This infographic provides some sound insight and guidance for those in the job market who desire to gain a much needed advantage in their pursuit of employment.
Much of my readership here is made up of people from within the social media, PR, and marketing world. Many of you are either already employed in this space full time, working as a freelancer, or aspire to obtain employment in this industry. The information and insight in the infographic below certainly applies to all of us…but perhaps more importantly, it applies to those seeking any type of employment who do not already understand how some of this works. Please share this post liberally within your sphere of influence to those that fall within that group. They will thank you for it!
Quite a while back I devised a 5 year plan for myself that would ultimately put me in a very good place to be able to stand on my own merits and credibility if researched. A huge component of that plan was my own digital presence. I needed an established personal “brand” and I set out to build it. I can honestly tell you that without things like my blog here, my LinkedIn profile, and my social media profiles I would not be where I am today. I say this simply to establish that I really, really believe in this topic today! Enjoy the infographic, I certainly hope you find some value in it.
