Apr 09
10
Projecting a professional image online and offline
In response to a post I read this morning by Frank Angelone, I would have to agree with his assessment on posting photos on Facebook, or any social media site for that matter, especially if you are currently in career transition, and seeking employment, or currently working and looking to change jobs.
Its really important, not just with photographs, but almost any online content, you should think before you post, who may see it, and how they may view it, especially if it is a prospective employer.
Keep it private if you need to. I wrote a post on my blog and made password protected, and shared with few people who I trusted, and have since made it private. It was an issue I had with copyright infringement that at the time was appropriate, but since I’ve been blogging for a while, I’ve learned to lighten up a bit and not take that issue as serious as I had.
I have chosen at this time to keep my Facebook profile public, I do have a Myspace page, but haven’t updated it in over a year, and don’t intend on doing so at this time, it is set to private so that only my friends can see it. Nothing to worry about there, just that I’ve chosen not to update or use myspace at this time, and made it private.
Two things I’ve done actually are matching up my online profiles across the sites with the same picture, for brand recognition mainly, so people know it’s me and what I’ve written. Secondly, when I change the photo one one site, I chage it across the board, even on sites that I would consider more social than professional.
I do have links to various social networking sites on my contact page. I do have a Youtube channel, I do have Picasa, and other photo sharing accounts which can be shared on different social media networks, but I have not and will not post inappropriate photos or videos of myself or others because on some sites such as Facebook you can Tag a photo with another users name, and it will be attached to their account, and can be looked up as well.
In my job search and in person networking, even meeting someone for the first time, I generally dress up than down, unless it’s stated prior to the meeting that it is casual.
Coming from a background in IT, the places I’ve worked in recent past have been business casual, allowing for polo shirts instead of dress shirts, and at times jeans instead of slacks.
I had an assignment through a staffing firm recently, and asked the recruiter about how I should dress for the assignment, and was asked to wear slacks, but when I showed up, almost everyone else was wearing jeans, I felt a bit out of place, but it was ok.
I had asked about dress code prior to the assignment, and done the work that was asked of me. I talked with one of the recruiters yesterday when I went to pick up my paycheck, asking him if there was any feedback from the client on the work performed, he said there were no issues, the work was performed quickly and correctly, and his comment was ‘no news is good news’. I hope to work again for that client, because it was an enjoyable work experience, and I learned a few things in the process I hadn’t done before.
Another good idea is to google yourself, or set up a google alert, which I wrote about here, because it can give you an idea of what employers can find about you online.
Happy Friday and Happy reading!
-Martin