Page 14 - CareerBootCamp-Brochure2016

When worlds Have you got a split personality online? One for
collide: Becoming personal life, and one for professional life?
more valuable Then you’re doing it wrong!
online
You arrive at a huge event – throngs of people approach you,
Jay Scheer ready to strike up a conversation. Instead of saying “hi”, you
direct them to a specific room depending upon who they are –
THOMASNET.com − the leading product friends go one place, colleagues another, and so on.
sourcing and supplier discovery platform
Seems absurd, right? And yet, this is exactly what takes place
“Social media is the greatest millions of times a day on social media, which is, essentially, the
networking opportunity of all time. biggest networking opportunity of all time.
While you don’t need an invitation,
you do need to give people a reason to If you are segmenting yourself on social media, you could be
connect with you.” wasting a valuable chance to advance your career.
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Conventional wisdom, thanks to nervous HR departments,
opportunistic career coaches, and pundits alike, is to keep your
personal and professional lives separated online. However, this
convention is outdated.
Back in the infancy of social media, this advice made some sense.
The medium was new and scary, and people had few accounts to
manage.
However, today it’s a different story. Social media is a ubiquitous
part of our lives, with established norms, rules and etiquette.
There are 2.3 billion active social media users around the world,
and the average person has 5.5 accounts.
Building barriers between your personal self and your
professional self is simply not realistic. So, instead, leverage social accounts for your actual brand.
media to strengthen your existing connections and bring more
people into your digital world.
What can you do online?
Start thinking of yourself as a brand
Like with any good brand, you need to have something to offer. It
can be your knowledge, insight or even your humour. Whatever it
is, give people a reason to engage with you.
Be authentic and conversational
If you’re constantly copying and pasting your company’s posts,
you’ll sound like an automated dial call. Take a different approach
by injecting your personality – your brand voice – whenever
possible. Also, try to engage people in conversation by responding
to their posts or asking questions.
Be targeted
While you should not be afraid to show people who you are,
you also have to consider who will be on the other end of your
messages. Always consider the medium and the audience, and
then tailor your activity accordingly. For example, Facebook is more
personal and LinkedIn is great for showcasing your professional
knowledge. Visual mediums like Pinterest and Instagram are great
for conveying your interests in a way that isn’t verbose, preachy or
repetitive.
Don’t be banal
If nobody will care, don’t post it! Where you went for lunch is
not interesting to anyone, regardless of medium or audience.
However, sprinkling some personal insight – like why you support
local businesses such as the great restaurant you ate at – can be
engaging.
Draw a line
Never post extremist views or any content that may be
inappropriate for a boss, co-worker or client to see online. When
in doubt, give yourself the grandma test. Would you want your
grandma to see the post?
Exception to the rule
If you are the head of a company, it’s almost always advisable to
create a set of accounts for your personal brand, and another set of
Give people a reason to connect
If you’ve spent years building up walls, knocking them down can
be incredibly scary. Fortunately, there are many supply chain
professionals who you can turn to for a successful blueprint.
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