I was fairly pleased with my incognito Google search. In the main, I'm careful with my Facebook profile, I try to keep my security settings high as I keep it for personal contact. Having a young child my Facebook is mainly filled with pictures of him and my contact with other mums - not the most professional but absolutely essential to my sanity! My only point of concern is that my name would be connected with our work Facebook as I am one of the main contributors and Facebook does attribute page posts to personal users.
I've been on Twitter for a good few years though I'm not prolific, I tend to retweet. I did notice that my Twitter profile picture is a baby photo so have resolved to update that ASAP. Twitter also gave me pause for thought though. I use Twitter at work being the main person behind our account but my personal Twitter very much reflects my politics and my passion for social justice. In terms of professional brand, how much is this likely to affect potential employers or partnership working in future? I'm still undecided on this, but I'd hope it wouldn't be a negative as I wouldn't want to hide who I am.
I had a LinkedIn account a few years ago but deleted it after a security issue. I opened a new one a few months ago but didn't get round to updating it. I've been working on it this evening but it's definitely highlighted the need to update my CV.
All in all, a difficult "thing" for me but I am starting to have an inkling of where I'd like to take my career over the next few years and professional branding is going to be crucial so it's something I'll keep working on.
Hi
ReplyDeleteThere are always issues around security and online presence that have to be taken into account. It is a balancing act between being anonymous and being too "out there". It's interesting that you are thinking about what potential employers might be looking at. Of course, how they react to what they find will depend on what the job is......for example, maybe they would see it as a big positive if you are prolific on social media, as that might be an area where they want to explore.
I always advise my students to just be a bit careful about what they put up on things like Facebook.....not to generalise, but they (in their late teens and early twentys, with no employment track record) are probably more likely to portray an unfavourable image to a potential employer. As you get more experience and a bit older, I think any "fear" of potential damage that a social media presence might do lessens.
I think I remember the security issue with LinkedIn. Was it back in 2012? A whole load of usernames and passwords were hacked, if memory serves. I just changed my password and got right back onto the horse, so to speak. I find that LinkedIn is a great way to keep in touch with my graduates, and there is nothing on there about me that I am not happy for the general public to know.
The Rudai23 Team