Career Impact! Managing Your Brand Through Social Media*

By Beverly Daniel and Denman Wall

When considering a career change, having a personal professional brand is critical to your success in today’s highly competitive race for finding gainful employment. Whether you’re looking for a new job or attempting to move up the ladder in your current organization, maintaining a professional brand can heighten your chances for a better career.

One way to establish your professional brand is by supplementing in-person networking activities through virtual or social networking. Today, there are many social networks that allow people to connect with others professionally and personally. Of the plethora of networks, LinkedIn and Facebook are the most pervasive when it comes to personal and professional brand management.

Both LinkedIn and Facebook add business career value if actively monitored. LinkedIn is a site where most professionals— non-profit or corporate—create professional profiles. A profile is the equivalent of an online resume for recruiters, business leaders, and professional contacts. By adding and maintaining a profile, those audiences can more easily become familiar with your professional background.

Conversely, Facebook is a more personal social site where you “friend” people you know from the past and present. Historically, Facebook was used as a type of online yearbook to stay in touch with friends, family, associates, and loved-ones. It is recommended that you use Facebook quite selectively because that information is available for most anyone, including prospective employers or association officers, to view. Therefore, if your professional life is important to you, use Facebook cautiously.

Networking, especially through social media, gets you a seat at the table because you can connect with other professionals (i.e., meet people) this way. While social networking is an important step for making potentially life-changing professional and business contacts, you need to follow-up with your contacts to increase your return on investment. If you do a great job networking, you can achieve a high RTN (Revenue Through Networking) score. Revenue through networking scores can be measured in various ways, including:

  • A salary that comes with a new job;
  • Merit raises at an existing job; or
  • Paid client work.

It is up to the individual as to what constitutes a high RTN score, but for many entrepreneurs and consultants, a RTN score of 100% means that they do not have to spend scarce resources on advertising.

Additional suggestions for LinkedIn include:

  • Be sure that your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete. Follow the on-screen prompts to help build your profile.
  • Utilize the built-in email feature of LinkedIn to let your contacts know what you’re up to. The free version of LinkedIn allows you to send mail to up to 50 contacts at a time.
  • Include a picture as part of the profile. It helps those people you met at the live event to remember who you are.

Here are some suggestions for using Facebook:

  • Review your profile from another person’s point of view, as if you were that person. Facebook allows you to select a person from your friends list to act as them when viewing your profile. Be sure potential employers see you in a positive light.
  • Be post positive by only posting positive things and deleting posts that may be offensive. Everyone has lewd friends and/or family who may not realize their negative impact on your positive frame of mind.
  • Share the good news about what you have accomplished, even with work related events and activities. Friends and family will like those items and be encouraging.

It is important to keep on top of your social presence. Just setting it and forgetting it is not particularly helpful. As potential employers review your online information, you’ll want to ensure your personal and professional brand are well groomed.

*This article is based on the presentation made by the authors at NYSAE’s November 27 Career Development Workshop. Two more workshops are scheduled. On January 22, they will discuss Career Impact of Micro-Blogging and Blogging. The third NYSAE Career Development Workshop session (date TBD) will be on the Strengths and Limits of Mobile Apps and Utilities.

Beverly Daniel is president of CareerGrowth Group (www.CareerGrowthGroup.com). To sign up a copy of her newsletter, contact her at bdanielcareers@aol.com or 212-980-2525.

Denman Wall is principal of Denmanwall.com, an Internet strategy and design consulting service. He can be reached at denny@denmanwall.com or 516-220-9658.