Alexander Hill

In our role as recruiters, we search for candidates using a variety of sources. In this new “brave digital world” recruiters have a veritable feast of places to find hidden talent for those hard-to-fill roles. In fact, social recruiting has grown in profile considerably with many agencies now sporting Facebook Groups, Linkedin Company Pages and Twitter Channels. Why? Because we’re prepared to go further than ever before to match the right candidate with the right role; if this means casting our net wide into the digital landscape, that’s exactly what we’ll do!

This new trend of social networking also extends itself to the average jobseeker. We know your search for a new opportunity will go beyond the traditional means of scouring newspapers, registering with your local agency and posting your CV on online job boards. This is particularly true in this current economic climate where demand for jobs often outstrips supply. You’ll now be asking around on Facebook, getting yourself on Linkedin and following agency channels on Twitter – seeking out those elusive roles that match your skill set.

In short, we’re all becoming more social and all using our profiles to enhance our chances of conquering the job market. Inevitably this means all jobseekers should be very aware of their online profiles and what they say to a recruiter or potential employer.

How do I clean up my online profile and make it work for me?

Remember that nothing you post online can ever really be deleted! Every status update, comment on a forum thread, tweet, picture… will be saved somewhere. This includes social media profiles such as Facebook and Twitter as well as forums and websites. Here’s the best advice on keeping your profile clean and searchable:

1. Of course, the most foolproof solution is to think before you post and only post “what you wouldn’t mind your mother seeing!” – bear in mind however that you can’t control what your followers and friends post! They might tag you in a less than flattering picture, write on your wall, or tweet @you. With the best will in the world, you’ll still need to follow some strict rules.

2. Adjust your privacy settings on Facebook and Twitter to control who can see your status updates, pictures and personal information. Anyone who has access to your personal email can find your online profiles. Ultimately you will still want to remain searchable so ensure you have a respectable profile picture and your personal information is clean, inoffensive and non-contentious.

3. Although you can’t fully delete some things from showing on search engines such as Google, you can make the most of what shows up first. Use public professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Viadeo and Xing – fill out your profile, skills, interests and qualifications and you will start to build a much more professional digital footprint.

4. Inject some personality! This advice isn’t meant to strip you of your unique identity and churn out millions of corporate clones. If you have hobbies and interests that you’re passionate about and happy to share with others, share them! Recruiters and employers alike will look at hundreds of profiles per day and this could make you stand out for the right reasons. Comment on blogs and articles, provide quotes for journalists and guest blog on things you’re interested in. Ensure you are credited for your contributions and you’ll shoot right up to the top of the class on a Google search.

If you have any concerns or queries about how your online profile might hinder your chances of success, or would simply like to discuss how to better to market yourself using social media, please feel free to get in touch with your Alexander Hill Recruitment consultant.