ADVANCING YOUR CAREER ONLINE

25-Jun-2010 by Damian Watson


My first career job after university was working for a design agency. That was in 1999. I worked on a website for the BBC, which focused on helping young people and graduates decide on their career path. The job involved writing advice for interviewees, templates for CVs and how to decide what to do with your career.

A decade later and the picture is very different. The internet is changing a company’s methods of recruiting and an employee’s ways of finding jobs. It is changing how a company understands itself as new generations of employees make their voice heard in the marketplace.

If you’re thinking about starting your career the choices you make now will affect your expectations of work and shape the decisions you make in the future. The internet can be a very useful tool to help you get the right job and to generate opportunities. It is also vicarious – a Labour candidate was recently sacked for opinions that he expressed online. Choosing what not to say is as important as choosing what to say.

Tip #1 – your CV is bigger than it used to be!

Whilst a CV still plays a central role in recruitment, a decade of online communication and social media has changed the playing field. In essence your CV no longer sits politely in a Word document. It’s out and about on the internet, in the things you say and the things you do, and even in what your friends say about you.

As an employer, if I were to receive your CV the first thing I would do is type your name into Google. I would then look to see if what I found matched what I read on your CV. I may come across your Facebook or LinkedIn profile, maybe the blog you write or your Twitter account.

What you do or say on the internet tells me more about you than your CV ever will. In effect it has become your CV. Make a list of where you communicate online and what you communicate and ask yourself: “If an employer looked at this would it help or hinder my chances of being employed?”

Tip #2 – choose your employer

As the world of employment matured into the 20th century, prospective employees began to more frequently question if a prospective company is good to work for. This meant that reputation management became important for companies wishing to attract high quality applicants. Candidates would get an idea of whether they wanted to work for a company largely based on what it said about itself in brochures, adverts, events and how it conducted itself throughout the interview process.

In the 21st century candidates learn about companies as a result of what other people say about it on the internet. Company reputations are increasingly in the hands of their customers, staff and interest groups.

Ask yourself: “How do I want an employer to behave towards me? What opportunities will that employer provide? How will my employer support me in my career? Is this a company I will be proud to work for?” Research what people say online about a company to answer these questions, they will tell you more than just a recruitment brochure!

Tip #3 – love what you do and share your passion for it

I’m always impressed in interviews by someone with genuine passion for what they do, especially if they share that passion with others. The internet is a great way to share and hone that passion!

Share the things you love doing online, whether through words, pictures or videos. Over time you will join and develop communities. These will help you articulate what it is about these activities that you enjoy, helping you to make better career decisions and attract opportunities that you perhaps hadn’t envisaged.

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Choosing a career path has never been easy. Nowadays the definition of a career is changing. Many people think about what career to take next – they are much less fixed now than they used to be and you may find yourself working in a variety of different roles during your life.

Your first choice of career needn’t be your last, use the internet to help you make better choices and attract the right opportunities to you.