Get visible, now. Quit hiding––even if it’s unintentional. You may not be trying to hide but your lack of visibility is making you virtually transparent with potential opportunity givers. With the economy on the mend and passive recruiting running rampant, ask yourself this simple question: Are you positioned squarely in the path of discovery? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a new career opportunity that finds you––maybe you have zero interest in making a job or career change. However, it could be a long-awaited social opportunity, a chance to share your expertise, a committee role or a board position. Maybe it’s even a new client looking for a specific product provider or skill set, so stand out and be found! One things for certain in today’s attention-deficit world… out of sight, out of mind! In this rapidly evolving environment of connectivity platforms and related start-ups, you likely have an expanding network of contacts including friends, colleagues and customers. Like it or not, intimacy is giving way to efficiency, so nurturing this expanding group is both key and central to your discoverability!
There are a myriad of utilities to help your visibility but the first order of business is constructing your social resume and LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. The format is conducive to telling a complete and compelling story about you (read: resume). LinkedIn is a virtual-professional-gathering and it’s important to understand that the de facto rules of engagement are different than other social networking sites like Facebook. Look at it this way, Facebook is akin to a neighborhood cocktail party (with family members in attendance) and meant for more intimate conversations and the sharing of birthday wishes and photographs and such. While plenty of businesses are using Facebook to communicate their products and services, it’s just not the place for a professional resume nor should it be the anchor of your more serious visibility efforts. LinkedIn is all about business and networking and with a little effort, you can not only make yourself very visible but importantly, you can differentiate YOU in this vast sea-of-sameness. You have a great product––just make sure others know about it! And, there’s no one more qualified to tell your story, promote your skills, talents and accomplishments than you, right?
Many people are already on LinkedIn but haven’t made much of an effort in telling their story––just look through a few of your colleague’s profiles. Many have background information that is half-assed, incomplete (complete with typos) and their profile does an outstanding job of making an extremely poor impression––first or otherwise. Many have a poor or inappropriate photograph or no photograph at all and each tells it’s own story from lazy to lack of decorum to something-to-hide. Not good. Not good. Not good. Believe it or not, people are looking at your profile and googling your name––more than you might think. Just know this: Whether its a coworker, neighbor, recruiter, boss, or friend, you never know who’s looking so be prepared and take advantage of the tools available to you. They can and will work on your behalf around the clock––just like having your own agent and publicist. Who couldn’t use some of that?
Visibility promotes opportunity––don’t miss out on yours.
