Fried Logic

Job Search: Tailoring your online presence to intended career path

Earlier this week, Jeff Cohen, social media marketing manager, and I were discussing my post about the benefits of an online presence.

Jeff reminded me while an online presence is important during a job search, it is critical to tailor your sites to your intended career path. An interviewer would be more impressed with a candidate’s blog about industry-related topics, opposed to a personal blog about sports.

This is something I have been doing through my blog and social media accounts. I want to pursue a career in public relations and social media, so my personal blog consists of industry-related topics and news. Below is some advice I was given by Jeff and in my classes for tailoring an online presence:

Content: Once it is created, find information on people and topics in your industry and talk about why you like it. Use your blog as an online portfolio by utilizing portfolio sites and custom WordPress themes.

Participate on relevant sites: For example, if you are a photographer, create a photo blog. Furthermore, you should comment on blogs relevant to your industry and retweet industry leaders.

Create a personal brand: List contact information on all of your sites. Be consistent and one way to do this is creating a digital business card. In addition, create a domain name on Google so your “presence” will pull up when a potential employer searches for you.

Networking: Use an online presence to network in your industry. For instance, make sure you are connecting with the personnel in your industry on LinkedIn. Use sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and industry blogs to find the appropriate people to network with.

What have you done to tailor your online presence?