Skills Hub
Three top tips to boost your online
career profile
career profile
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Not so long ago, a stellar CV and considered cover letter would have been all that was needed to kick-start a fantastic career. Now, along with social profile checks, employers have access to thousands of CVs in a few clicks. So, how do you stand out from the next person on the likes of Reed, Monster or LinkedIn?
The CV is the cornerstone on which to build an online presence, displaying to the world your hard earned career experience and all of the skills you’ve obtained throughout. But here are a few starting points and top tips for each platform to engage an international network and attract more opportunities than ever before.
1) Job Boards
Job boards are a useful tool for getting a CV out into the market. However, it’s very easy to upload and then forget it exists, leaving employers and recruiters fruitlessly walking through old profiles. Therefore, one way a search is set up is by the last sign in date. This filter puts the most recently active candidates in prime page one position. So, the simple and easily applied way to ensure that you are at top of every search is to constantly update your profile. Just a few tweaks and little detail refreshes will mean that you are staying active and easily discoverable across job boards and your CV won’t be left gathering dust on page five.
2) Social Media
The line between private and professional life is blurring as companies use Twitter and Instagram to directly engage with their target audience, curating and creating stimulating content and bypassing the limits of traditional media & email. There’s opportunity and risk here; on one hand, job hunters can like/ retweet/ comment strategically to build a network of industry-specific peers and opportunities, on the other hand getting into a hashtag shouting match is not the best method to maintain followers so it’s best to keep a personal profile separate.
3) LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools to ensure professional aspirations and skillsets have a platform outside of the CV to thrive. The platform also has exceptional SEO, meaning that a few keywords can bring your profile ranking way up on a Google search. It’s therefore a great way to get your name out there and means that you can show the world of employers all of your first-rate skills. But keeping an ‘all-star’ status and writing a compelling personal profile is only the start. If you’re between jobs, strategically viewing relevant employers and reaching out to fellow professionals for advice and work experience is a great way to grow your network. Interviewing already? Use LinkedIn to investigate potential colleagues, look for trends in experience to bolster your knowledge of the company & the skills you offer.
The world of online job hunting is growing in leaps and bounds. New apps like Shapr make it easy for like-minded professionals to meet and exchange ideas that may just change the world. Building an online profile as strong as your CV and treating it as a living, changeable entity can catapult you into a world of new opportunities and incredible mentors that inch you closer to that dream job every day.
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