Tips for Creating a Successful Professional Profile in Social Networks
22 de April de 2021
22 de April de 2021
Philip Kotler —considered by many as the “father” of Marketing— used to say: “If you’re not a brand, you’re a commodity”. A statement that, decades after being made, remains as relevant as ever in an increasingly demanding and volatile labour market.
As companies and processes are becoming increasingly digitalised, it’s crucial to build a strong personal brand in which we show what makes us different — that which we want to boost and develop in order to stand out among other professionals.
Giovanna de Prat, a Business Advisor and Headhunter with a long trajectory, offered a series of tips to successfully create our own professional brand in social networks during EAE’s Webinar “The Keys to Improving Your Professional Brand in Social Networks”.
We’ve all wondered what it is that companies look for in a candidate. That’s a question with no definite answer — even less so in such an ever changing environment as the one in which we currently live. However, there are a series of traits that are in increasing demand in the post-Covid labour market: being capable not only of adapting to change, but also of bringing it about; being multidisciplinary but not generalist; being specialised in several areas and, above all, being strategic and capable of taking part in the business.
But, how can we make companies see that we are what they need? The key is to project ourselves as a “product” with a Unique Selling Proposition that makes us different from the rest, that makes us unique. In other words, to create a professional brand that will make us reach our goals by transferring our brand values and expertise —as if we were talking about a product or a service— to our target audience.
There’s no doubt that social networks have become the best showcase for developing your personal brand and making yourself visible to your target audience. But, in the same way a showcase design follows well defined strategies and aesthetics, the way in which we present ourselves in social networks must also follow a very carefully developed action plan.
The strategy must take into account every social network that we are in because, as Giovanna de Prat pointed out, recruiters often check candidates’ profiles on every social network — even those that are considered to be for fun or more personal like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
The reason for this is that these channels offer headhunters and recruiters very valuable information, such as the candidates’ likings and opinions and the different areas that spark their curiosity and interest. That’s why it is crucial to be coherent and goal oriented with what we chose to show in our profiles and to stay away from hate speech or controversy that could negatively affect us.
If there’s one professional social network that we must be part of, that’s LinkedIn. Not just because of the great volume of users (in Spain there are 14 millions), but because it’s the ideal place to showcase and develop our professional brand, share our experiences and create a contacts network that fits our goals. But not everything goes. It won’t be useful just signing up or adding contacts just for the sake of having many. Our presence in LinkedIn must follow a carefully designed strategy that takes into account everything from our profile design to the creation of content and the development of a contacts network aimed at creating opportunities.Such strategy is based in three fundamental aspects: