Who does Google say you are?

By Stacey Gleeson - Job Search & Interview Coach - Brisbane

It’s a digital world. The vast majority of job applications are online and hiring managers regularly turn to Google in their screening process. Are they searching for interview questions? No, they are searching for you.

What does Google say about you? First, let’s hope Google knows who you are, then let’s hope you made the right impression.

One of the first things to show up is social media profiles, of course what you do in your own time should have no bearing on your application but what is the overall impression you get from your social media profiles? Are your posts well written, using correct spelling and grammar? Is it mostly positive? Even if your profiles are set to private, they are findable. A single like or share means people outside of your friends list can see it. A social media profile is never completely private. Make sure you know what is showing up in search results and what can be seen by someone who is not on your friends list.

LinkedIn is another huge part of the recruitment process so make sure you take advantage of this. Sign up if you haven’t already, complete your profile and start joining groups, conversations and grow your network. This will help employers find you easily when they are sourcing candidates and show that you are passionate about your role to employers who are checking your social media after receiving an application.

Apart from having a great social media presence though, what can you do?

Find ways to share your ideas and insights on the industry you are part of. You could create a blog and write articles, contribute to someone else’s blog or website, if you are not comfortable writing maybe you could try your hand at infographics, there are plenty of sites where you can create and share infographics for free, there is also slideshare as another tool for sharing ideas. Make sure to share your content too, with your network and across your social media channels to build that visibility.

This is all part of building thought leadership. It takes time to get to thought leader status but every single thing you do adds to your profile and builds your professional reputation. This builds your online presence and ensures that a potential employer can find you and have a great impression.