Guide to creating a professional online profile.

1. CREATE A BRAND
Michael Weiss highlights the importance of not only creating, but also becoming a
brand, stating that ‘people and brands are blending.’ Therefore, this brand must be
promoted by telling a story about our experiences and skills across multiple online
platforms.
According to The Balance, platforms may consist of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter or
a professional website to name a few. Creating a consistent & synonymous brand is
also important, as shown on the next slide.

2. CREATE A
BRAND

3. CREATE A BRAND
Furthermore, as with any brand, you must be easily contactable. For this reason,
contact details should be readily available within these profiles. This ease of
accessibility means that firms can contact you so simply that it becomes more of a
difficult task for them not to, further increasing your chances.

4. FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE
Weiss also highlights the importance of
‘selling yourself online.’ He claims that clear
and concise information should be available
at a ‘quick glance.’ For example, one could
include a summary of previous projects
under an initial heading, with more details
available by clicking. This way, employers are
more willing to give your application more
time, delving deeper into your online
professional profiles in order to access more
information. Click to the right for a real
example.

5. FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE
However, having too much information may become overwhelming for potential
employers, putting them off from giving your profile a chance. Therefore, it is
important to find the right balance. This is a difficult task, but one that can be done by
highlighting the most important and impressive of your accomplishments, whilst
discarding those that may not carry so much weight.

6. USE MULTIMEDIA
Further to my previous point, a largely
text based profile, with very little to break
up these chunks of writing may be
unattractive to read. Also with the
increase in competiveness when applying
for work, it is vital to create a professional
online profile that stands out. This can be
done through a good balance of textual
and graphic data.

7. USE MULTIMEDIA
In contrast to a text based CV, a less traditional
means of portraying yourself online also means
that the visualisation of said data should also be
less conventional. Time highlights the importance
of ‘including multimedia examples of your work.’
Images are much more visually appealing than
text, therefore, Time claims that you should
include pictures, videos and links on your profile.
As shown, a profile with these key ingredients is
much more aesthetically appealing for employers.

8. USE MULTIMEDIA
By ‘thinking of your profile not just as an online
resume but as a portfolio that highlights the
scope of your career’ you are able to create a
more compelling professional persona, and one
that will draw more positive attention, leading to
a better chance of being recognised.