How To Find Your Perfect Personal Online Brand

The employment market today is more competitive than ever before. Baby boomers used to get jobs by fighting over who leaves their CV on the most important person’s desk in the company chain. Today things are a bit more different.

If you step into someone’s office to drop your resume or inquire about a job people will look at you as if you’re from the past century (and they’re not far from the truth either). Today email is the way. Or any other type of online communication preferred by that company.

The fact that now it is much easier to contact an employer means that a lot more people are doing it. So if you want to stand out you will have to make that extra effort in order to grab their attention.

So how do you that? You build yourself a great online personal brand. When a prospective employer (or anyone for that matter) performs a Google search with your name not only should they not be presented with photos of you from last night’s party but they should be taken aback by your web etiquette. Here are … steps to make it a golden one:

1. Check your current status

Go on Google and check out the results it’s returning when you look up your own name (do it for any nicknames too). If you’re an average Internet cruiser you should see links to your Facebook profile and other social platforms you are using, perhaps a few photos and any content you have put up online under your name, whether it’s photos, videos, blog posts and so on.

If you don’t like what you’re seeing it’s time to do some cleaning up. Delete any undesirable content associated with your name and if it’s not under your own account contact the right people to ask for a correction (or removal). Also, make sure you set up the appropriate privacy settings for each platform, depending on the type of

2. Determine your online personality

You know how everybody says your Facebook profile is only an idealised version of yourself? That’s quite true, or at least it should be. No matter how hard you try, there will always be difference between who you are online and who you are in real life. Obviously, one should reflect the other but this also allows you to optimise anything that’s related to your online persona.

We all have different personalities depending on our environments and situations associated with them. It’s important that you choose which one you would like to display to the public, regardless of your aim. Think of yourself as an organisation – what do you bring to the table that others in your industry do not? Know your strengths and create a consistent brand around them.

Ask yourself questions such as ‘How do I make people feel?’, ‘What words are others using to describe me?’, ‘What kind of people do I get along with?’ This will help you figure out what traits you should be highlighting in your online profile as well as the tone of the voice you should be using.

Tip: Make sure you include details about your current employment status, contact information and goals.

3. Recognise your niche

Ok, you’ve got the basics covered. You know who you are and how you would like to be projected into cyberspace. What’s next is establishing what you’ll be talking about and ultimately become an expert in.

We all have our interests and hobbies that most of us tend to keep under the carpet as a weekend-only type of activity. However, things started shifting thanks to lovely portable devices such as smartphones and tablets that make content more accessible and immediate. Now you can turn your passion into your marketing hook and use that as a way to become an authority in the field through social media.

If you love films you might want to start writing reviews about it. Or set up a Youtube channel with short clips featuring your favourite movie scenes. If you’re passionate about both films and video as a form of expression, you can start creating videos using bits and pieces from your favourite films. If your love is for films, writing and fashion you can start blogging about what famous actors wear in your favourite movies.

The possibilities are endless. It’s just a matter of finding the right conversations for you. The quirkier your topic, the greater chances to build an audience and make yourself an expert on the subject. Everybody can write about Star Wars but how many people can put Yoda and Mickey Mouse together?

Author: Andreea Magdalina, Enternships Content & Community Manager

Enternships is a platform that connects ambitious, entrepreneurial students and graduates with innovative companies.