Has anyone ever explained how to update your LinkedIn page, or any other professional networks for that matter ?  Nobody ever sat me down at school or at work to explain what I should or shouldn’t post online.
Dabbling in recruitment a couple of years ago and leading an intern-dedicated program at work were instrumental in improving my professional online presence.

Let’s be real : unless your job entails working on social media, you’ve probably never thought about what your online persona looks like for recruitment professionals. Don’t panic, it’s rather simple – and does not entail removing everything you ever posted online (looking at you teenage Facebook pictures !).

Here’s my step-by-step process before we delve into creating/enhancing your profile :

1. Google yourself. Put yourself in a recruiter’s shoes and think global : what pages, images, websites come up first ? You easily can contact websites easily if you don’t want your name or contact information to appear.
2. Check your confidentiality parameters just in case, so you can make an informed decision. Everything, in detail (especially on Facebook since tagged pictures may not have the same confidentiality setup that your pictures you intentionally put up).
3. Have a strategy for your online presence. As an HR professional, I mostly focus on having a well rounded LinkedIn page, and post on other social media from time to time. I aim to create more content, combining both personal and professional interests.
4. Have updated information online. For instance, a 2-year old resume may not accurately represent your current skill set. Same goes for your location, field and current company.
5. Set up a monitoring system, to keep track of where your name appears online. You can either set up a google alerts system, or a professional watch via various websites.

Now that you’ve googled yourself, set up your monitoring system you can focus on creating a professional profile. We’ll talk in depth about that in my next post.