Building personal brands and managing your online reputation
You're already managing multiple profiles on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube - but are you managing your own personal brand? Whether you're enrolling in accounting classes or an online business degree program, how you present yourself on the web has never been more important.
Play well with others
If you're under 30, you belong to "Generation Y." You may have heard your generation referred to as Millennials or any number of buzzwords, but one thing is true - the world is a very different place than it was in your parents' day. Now, online reputation management and personal branding is crucial for success in the job market, and whether on your Facebook profile or your LinkedIn page, keeping things appropriate has become an essential skill for today's job seekers.
"It’s a huge cost to your career if you’re not online and actively managing your reputation," Dan Schawbel, a workplace consultant and management expert, told USA Today. "In order to get jobs and opportunities now, you have to be found."
Just as you need to maintain an immaculate online presence to stand a chance of securing the best opportunities, you also need to highlight common workplace skills in your online presences, including being a team player and an effective communicator. Overcoming the fact that not everyone may be as tech-savvy as you is another vital skill in the modern workplace.
"Generation Xers and baby boomers have a home face, a friend face and a business face," said Nicole Lipkin, a psychologist and management consultant, as quoted by WetFeet.com. "Millennials have to accept those boundaries and work within them."
Play it safe
It's not just random strangers who can find things about you on the web through your Facebook and Twitter profiles. Today, employers and even college admissions officials are taking to cyberspace to research job candidates and college applicants. In fact, the issue of reputation management has become so important in the digital age that several companies specialize in improving clients' online presence for professional and personal purposes.
"I believe that we are heading into an era where there will be the equivalent of a WikiLeaks moment for everyone," Michael Fertik, chief executive officer of Reputation.com, told The New York Times. "Every two weeks we find new and novel ways that people can be harmed on the web."
