# Personal Branding



## nonnaci (Sep 25, 2011)

Your thoughts on creating a professional online persona for networking and job hopping. It seems like today's connected age requires one to sell themselves through social media such as linkedin in order to get a shot at job opportunities in certain sectors. How do you connect professionally with others in your field? Internet/conferences/network events? And how much are you willing to spin fluff while you're at it?


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## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

nonnaci said:


> Your thoughts on creating a professional online persona for networking and job hopping.


If one intends to work as a self-employed independent contractor, job hopping isn't really an accurate way to view things. Some people like the flexibility of working on projects and then having the freedom to go to a new place when done, possibly with different terms.



nonnaci said:


> It seems like today's connected age requires one to sell themselves through social media such as linkedin in order to get a shot at job opportunities in certain sectors.


I haven't seen this work that well for me. I've used a lot of recruiting firms and other non-social media for my work in web development. I'm not sure if that's an anomaly or common.



nonnaci said:


> How do you connect professionally with others in your field? Internet/conferences/network events?


Meetup groups, StackExchange sites, vendor events, and various on-line sites.



nonnaci said:


> And how much are you willing to spin fluff while you're at it?


Rarely these days as it is easier to be real and talk truth that play BS games.


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## paige1136 (Nov 11, 2013)

The term "personal branding" makes me cringe (so does "networking", but not as much). My career development advisors and a few classes have used this rhetorical and preach about using religiously.

Honestly, as a current young job seeker, if you have a presence with some relevant information about yourself on there you're fine. It's easy to send messages to who you want, but email is checked more often.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

It really depends how you job hop. I mean, when hired, most companies see you as a cost to be minimized and you don't get enough raises to stay ahead. Where I work, there's been no raises for now 2 years. They cut the 401k contribution and it's just turning into a hellhole to work for. I've been here almost 3.5 years. Time to move on. It used to be if you were only at a job 3-5 years that was job hopping. Due to companies breaking their end of the deal, I'd consider less than 1-2 years as job hopping.


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## PyrLove (Jun 6, 2010)

Personal branding and networking... ugh... the WORST part about job seeking. I suck at it. So much -- too much -- information is available just by googling a person's name. Everything you do, everything someone posts about you is part of your personal brand. This is why I stay off Facebook. I prefer to control the spin instead of letting my mother post naked baby pictures of me. I do maintain a LinkedIn account but the day anyone in my family links to me is the day it gets shut down, too.

(If you haven't played with Office 365 yet, beware. It likes to find your Facebook profile and will post your profile pic on your professional email account.)

Anyway. I don't do much networking these days aside from being friendly with my counterparts in the companies my company does business with. I find being competent and showing leadership when working with outsiders is the best referral for my work. I imagine the extent of networking required depends on the work you do and the type of job you're seeking.


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## nonnaci (Sep 25, 2011)

So far, I find that it's pretty difficult to get my resume looked at by HR if I just submit through online portals. Better to make connections directly with managers and have you referred from the inside. It at least improves the chances of getting the initial interview which I find is 1/2 the battle in the tech sector.


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## Razare (Apr 21, 2009)

nonnaci said:


> So far, I find that it's pretty difficult to get my resume looked at by HR if I just submit through online portals. Better to make connections directly with managers and have you referred from the inside. It at least improves the chances of getting the initial interview which I find is 1/2 the battle in the tech sector.


Be careful with the online portals, something I have learned is that like a job posted on Job Search, Employment and Careers at Careerbuilder.com if I apply... that resume probably wont be looked at most of the time. I usually have to go to the employers/recruiters website and apply how they tell me to.

I also always send a hard-copy of my resume if they provide an address.

I've only had 3 or 4 responses so far in the last 3 weeks of looking, and not one has been by solely submitting to the job-search websites. I still submit, just in case, though.


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## Razare (Apr 21, 2009)

Here's a question, though... should I get a linkedin profile?

Like are employers going to go looking for me on linkedin? I'd rather not have a profile if I can help it at all.


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## nonnaci (Sep 25, 2011)

Razare said:


> Here's a question, though... should I get a linkedin profile?
> 
> Like are employers going to go looking for me on linkedin? I'd rather not have a profile if I can help it at all.


Linkedin is one way to get in touch with managers if you're entering a new field and as a way to maintain a professional network if you plan on establishing yourself in the field. I also find that the higher quality jobs are often posted in their search engine which is useful for aggregating available positions at smaller to mid-sized companies. As a Phd student, it's a gateway into industrial positions due to its different agenda (for-profit) w.r.t. academia.


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## anarchitektur (Feb 11, 2011)

I have never gotten a single job or client through "social media." It is highly overrated, in my opinion... a lot of fluff without much substance.

My LinkedIn page gets quite a few hits every month, but it's mostly people I already know who are just seeing what I'm up to these days, or the occasional 2nd or 3rd degree connection sending me an invitation to connect... but none of that materializes into dollars in my pocket.

I maintain a profile on avvo.com, and that has brought me some clients in the sense that they found my contact information there, but I'm not very involved (read: not involved at all) in the social media aspects of the site, like answering legal questions with general answers and "go speak with an attorney."

The most effective form of "social media" for me has just been old fashioned word of mouth. Do a good job for someone, and they'll recommend you to someone else. As for meeting colleagues, being introduced to someone in person and getting their business card has been the most prevalent method by far.


On the flip side of that coin, I dated a woman several years ago who worked in product and event marketing, and she used social media a lot and with great success. So, it seems the effectiveness of social media depends largely on what industry you are in and the amount of effort you put into it.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

anarchitektur said:


> I have never gotten a single job or client through "social media." It is highly overrated, in my opinion... a lot of fluff without much substance.


Don't you love the super generic comments on the LinkedIn articles that are mainly, "Yes I agree, that is a good point you made?" I guess social media is take it as it is. It can be extremely powerful on some ends, but other ends it's very watered down and there are a good amount of people who use it in lieu of real social interaction.


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