According to a 2009 survey from CareerBuilder, 35% of employers decided to not employ an applicant after finding questionable social network content. We’re going to be looking at three different options to promote yourself positively on the internet: professional networks, personal portals and blogs.
Professional Networks
There are many professional social networks which allow you to post an online profile and network. Some are centred towards certain professions and all offer a wide range of options to promote yourself.
LinkedIn is a wildly popular website for an online résumé and networking to find jobs. Try searching for your name in LinkedIn and
you’re bound to find a list of others with profiles. LinkedIn allows you to import your résumé to better complete your profile. LinkedIn can be used for professional networking and allows others to contact you (if privacy setting allow), give recommendations and to search for jobs.
An example of a profession centred network is Behance. Behance is a network for artists and creative professionals and allows you to upload creative pieces and to connect with followers who enjoy your work. Behance is by invitation only and requires the filling out of a description of your creative work before gaining entry into the community.
Personal Portals
Personal portals allow you to create a simple webpage about yourself. They are very easy-to-use and there are many websites that offer a personal profile.
About.me is a new start-up, recently purchased by AOL, which allows the quick creation of a slick personal webpage. It has the options of a background image, headlines, subtitles and a block of text. To make the most of it you can connect it to web services you’re using, just make sure you stay professional. For example, don’t connect to your personal Facebook if you post personal content on it!
Flavors.me is in many ways more complex than About.me. It allows for more customisation, which can be good or bad (depending on how much time you have). Both of the websites allow you have a personal URL which you can add to your email signature, about me in Facebook and business card.
Blog
A blog is a great way to promote yourself and show that you know your industry. Most blogging platforms are simple to use and allow the quick promotion of yourself on the internet. If you’re using it to promote yourself make sure you add yourself as an author or have a ‘about me’ page. Good blogging systems allow you to connect your blog to other websites you’re using such as Twitter or Facebook.
WordPress is a great blogging system which can be used on a server with your own domain or with free sign-up at WordPress.com. The latter will allow you to have yourname.wordpress.com. WordPress is very customizable and allows the control you’ll want if you blog often. (Note: Linear Fix is hosted on WordPress)
Tumblr is a very slick blogging system with a beautiful user interface. Sign-up is a very quick process and you’ll be into the website in no time. Tumblr also has a thriving community of like-minded bloggers and has support for extra pages.
