Social Snapshots: A Candidate’s Personal Brand

Personal branding is how we market ourselves to others. It’s a timeless concept. The two reasons why branding has always existed on a personal level is that we always have to sell ourselves in various situations, whether trying to convince our friend to see a movie or trying to impress a hiring manager at an interview – your personal brand is constantly being taken into consideration.

People judge us, especially on first impressions, and when we’re looking for work these days our first impressions can occur online with a simple Google search – before you even meet someone. In this day and age it has become common practice to Google something or in regards to candidates – someone. For some ‘googling’ people has now become second nature and just something frequently performed. But why is this?

Because as individuals we are active online and we produce content. Times have changed and with the explosion of social media networks, individuals have become content creators, networkers and spectators – a lot of people are guilty of this – and we end up spending hours online in networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, creating and digesting content.

Did you know? If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Social media has overtaken pornography as the #1 activity on the web. One out of eight couples married in the U.S. met via social media. Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of countries like Sweden, Israel and Switzerland. See more facts about the social media revolution in this video:

But what does this mean in to pre-employment community? Companies and recruiters have caught on and started using social media in order to learn more about prospective candidates – some will ‘google’ you or browse Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn attempting to dig up more information about who you are. This information was once difficult to obtain pre social media. So what are they looking for?

Fit and suitability. This really resonated with me recently when a friend shared that they were laid off because they were not a “cultural fit.” This person had all of the skills to get the job done and then some, but at the end of the day they did not fit within that company’s ecosystem or work culture. Knowing this person had invested the last six months with this company, and vice versa, I wondered why neither party went to greater lengths to better evaluate this relationship from the very beginning.

Proper hiring or placement is a challenge. Let’s face it, no one enjoys having to look for work and the employment process can be draining and cost all parties time and money. Better assessment upfront can help both job seekers and employers ensure a proper FIT and reduce time spent “in limbo.”

The future of the resume is a social snapshots to showcase a candidate’s personal brand – an expression of who the is their world of social networks. This leads to the question, what do your social networks say about you?

At CrewRevu, we feel there are five C’s to look for when viewing social network information: Community, Content, Context, Communication, and Consistency.

Community. Your community reflects where you spend your time and can show your interests, hobbies and who you surround yourself with.
Content. Content is king; it is the king of your character and shows potential employers what you’re about, what you are talking about, what you are saying and what you are doing within these networks.
Context. Context tells a story about how you are living your life and can give an indication on how professional you are.
Communication. This shows how you engage with audiences within your communities – how you talk with your friends, family and your peers online.
Consistency. In direct relation to content, context and communication – what consistency do you exhibit across your social networks? This can reflect behavior, validate how you represent yourself or indicate your authenticity, and that you are who you say you are. In this day and age you cannot make stuff up!

Employers are looking for people to fit in with ‘their crowd’ or ‘their team’ – they’re assessing your cultural FIT. Social snapshots transform and streamline the hiring process, allowing for a better connection with employers and add value to all parties involved in the hiring process by increasing the ability to better assess an individual’s cultural and professional fit.

What does your social snapshot say about you?

Don Fried is part of the development team who created and launched CrewRevu social snapshots for the hiring community. The essence of CrewRevu is to be socially seen, to stand out and to be recognized in the hiring process. Photo Credit fansided.