Topic 3 – Reflective Summary

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Read some blog posts that caught my attention and sparked me to look into the question in more than one way.  As most of the posts are talking about the link with authentic online professional profile with personal branding which i shared the same perspective as them.

Came across to Wei Jie’s WordPress where he mentioned about conducting self-analysis which i agree it is very important that an individual should do before setting up your authentic online digital profile. His post gave me insights on how to enhance user control which others search up on you online. And how defensive googling helps!

image credits : Pinterest

Another point which got me thinking after reading posts is when i mentioned on the “cleaning-up” of your identities online, as we all know there are many data mining companies out there, there might be the possibility of our digital footprints are already tracked and recorded down before we could take it down or put it in a way saying that all information we posted online is being recorded. This gives us a risk of our past getting dig out which does not help in building our authentic professional profile right? One way can be found on social media examiner. Anyone wants to find out more about you, they go straight to google! How can you reduce negative search results? Maybe The Online Privacy Blog can help but Google is too big to control.

We can’t control others copying your professional profile online, taking it as a reference to theirs’ which may cause some misunderstanding like having similar profiles. How can you stand out from them? Maybe have recommendation letters which is unique to one or good testimonials.

Guessed we have to consider many more other factors when developing our authentic online professional profile, the internet is a game changer place!

View my comments on Junwai’s WordPress & Nicholas’s WordPress

References
How to Clean Up Your Digital Footprint and Your Online Identity
Personal To Professional: You Are Your Own Brand
How to push negative search results down: 4 steps to bury them
10 Simple Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out
Linkedin Training- How to make your Linked In profile more attractive to recruiters

Topic 3 – Is your online Professional Profile impactful?

Developing an authentic online professional profile it’s like doing personal branding online. Creating a professional online identity (links back to Topic 2) instead of multiple identities to market yourself as a brand.

How you speak + How you act + How you look = Personal Branding
“Personal Branding is the combination of one’s skills and talents to produce value for people that creates an impression, a perception and reputation in the mind of others” – Bernard Kelvin Clive

The internet is a game changer, using the tools wisely can be a competitive advantage. If you are having multiple identities online now, some clean-up needs to be done to help improve your professional profile. To avoid having contradicting identities when your audience do a research online on your profile.

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According to Jobvite, 73% of recruiters hired candidates online and 93% of recruiters reviews a candidate profile before making the hiring decision.

Why is having authentic online professional profile important? It helps us to connect with people for example for business related, job application and etc; For specific (important)purpose. Tailored for your target audience. Have more genuine information of yourself. Showing details on what you would want your employer(s) to see, at the same time keeping it professional away from having it linked to unwanted information. There are many ways to manage your professional profile.

Example of an online professional profile
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Start off with social media platform(s) you want to focus your identity on, example LinkedIn (the most powerful online B2B sales and marketing tool). Have a professional profile photo (consistent with other social media platforms). Well written summary of yourself and the usual points stated in your resume. Precise and strong summaries for each point as it can give your audience a good impression of you. Have testimonials or recommendations posted up too for extra points! Some starting points to start off with for a professional online profile! And it definitely have to be authentic, you wouldn’t want to shock your future employer when you go for an interview right? More steps to help you build your profile can be found on KOMARKETING or Jeffbullas which i find it helpful guidelines!

“Is your professional profile online impactful enough?” Probably you would want to re-look at your profile and compare to those that are really good ones which recruiters approach and “fight” to recruit them.

References
IF YOU WANT A JOB IN SINGAPORE, CLEAN UP YOUR ONLINE/SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE
Marketization and the Recasting of the Professional Self The Rhetoric and Ethics of Personal Branding
26 Tips for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand Online
2014 Social Recruiting Survey – Jobvite
“Why Manage Your Online Reputation?” by grovo.com | @Grovo
How to Create a Professional LinkedIn Profile
Managing Your Professional Online Reputation