Comments on: Your Brand – Is your presence online hurting or helping you?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:19:49 +0000

David – I agree, it’s not all about social networking. Those other sites mentioned are however online and if it makes sense for your brand to be there, that’s online reputation and marketing too.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:18:38 +0000

All – I appreciate your thoughts and opinions on this topics. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough in my post. My intent in this post was to show that the internet is a viable way to market yourself to employers and make sure that your online reputation is strong in case you ever need it. The internet plays a role in the hiring (and firing) of employees and I think it is something for everyone, regardless of profession, to take into consideration. The level of value, as Dan says in the comments above, in proactive marketing of your brand online most likely depends on your profession.

By: David

David — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:22:23 +0000

About.com just added 3 new sites to their Top 10 Employment sites list:

http://www.linkedin.com
http://www.realmatch.com
http://www.indeed.com

Only one of them is a social network. Employers and recruiters dont care if they know someone, they want to hire the most qualified candidate….nothing will ever change that.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:51:59 +0000

Great post by Jamie. It is incredibly important to be cognizant of what is out there online about you, because it is your personal brand. In today’s world, with everyone using the web to find out more about employees and potential employees, it’s extremely important for people who are actively searching for jobs to know what their online presence is telling potential employees and others.

I don’t really agree with Dan’s earlier comment that this post is only good for people trying to be famous or who are marketing a new product. I think what Jamie was trying to get across is that you are the product that you need to be worrying about with your online presence, and careful consideration of how you’re allowing yourself to be portrayed is extremely important, especially for those who are early in their careers and have yet to make a name for themselves.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:57:50 +0000

I wonder if google will someday eliminate the need to write a resume. If people can accurately portray you by what they find by googling your name, why bother with a resume? And if this is true, does it mean that we will have to willingly give up our privacy? Will it mean that anyone not willing to hop online and market the crap out of themselves will be left in the dust?

I think this post is great advice for someone wanting to be famous, or someone who wants to market a new product or idea. For most folks, though, I think this is overkill. In fact, I think most young professionals would be better served to cleanup and minimize their online presence (i.e. damage control on facebook images).

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:50:18 +0000

“With great power comes great responsibility,” no?

Something else which I find to be critical is the power of authenticity, being true to yourself and others when you allow for your blog and online presence to speak for you.

You came close in discussing the use of one’s real name and finding a niche to talk about… but that niche has to pertain to one’s passions, and the posts have to truly represent the author.

Grammatically correct, coherent sentences free of spelling errors always matter, of course, but if one is not a scholar, he or she shouldn’t be over-intellectualizing matters. Even when using one’s true identity, Web 2.0 still has the potential to anonymize actual personalities, but nothing can be gained from misrepresenting one’s self.

By: Walker Evans

Walker Evans — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:24:09 +0000

Thanks for the link. I hadn’t read this blog before today. Will have to spend some time cruising through it.

By: abrown

abrown — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:41:51 +0000

As one of the two guys who gave you two cents, I feel obligated to say how impressed I am with the “Newly Corporate” blog. I’ll be sure to include it in my upcoming talks in Athens and Ada.

It’s amazing how much we as employers can learn from a potential colleagues online presence. Someone is always watching, and we’re curious what you’re doing. It’s a fine balance though – we want to find you participating in the social media world, but we also want to like what we see!