![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/identifi-global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/DigitalPersona.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat do Phil Neville, Sally Bercow and Piers Morgan have in common?<\/span><\/p>\n What do Phil Neville, Sally Bercow and Piers Morgan have in common? They\u2019ve all come under fire as a result of their social media usage. Morgan famously outed Ryan Giggs\u2019 affair despite his super-injunction, Bercow libelled Lord McAlpine, and Neville came under attack as his past sexist posts were unearthed just hours after he… Read More »Is your digital persona employable?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\tThey\u2019ve all come under fire as a result of their social media usage.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tMorgan famously outed Ryan Giggs\u2019 affair <\/a>despite his super-injunction, Bercow libelled Lord McAlpine<\/a>, and Neville came under attack as his past sexist posts<\/a> were unearthed just hours after he was appointed as manager of the England women\u2019s football team.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tThese are just a few high profile social media gaffes in recent years \u2013 gaffes that highlight the dangers of carelessness on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tIt\u2019s not just the rich and famous who need to be careful, though: while cybersecurity and business IT workers are more security-conscious than most, their social channels may still leave them open to criticism from current and future employers.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n
\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tYour CV is the tailored, polished version of you that you want employers to see \u2013 your social media, on the other hand, is unfiltered.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tThis could be a good or a bad thing. To decide, you need to ask yourself: is my digital persona employable? Here are some tips to make sure the answer\u2019s a resounding \u2018yes\u2019.<\/div>\n\n\tSocial media: the positives<\/h2>\n
\n\tWe\u2019re by no means saying that social media use is a bad thing for job hunters. Far from it, in fact: when done right, it can build your reach and turn you into an integral part of a community.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tWhat does doing it right look like? Joining and contributing to relevant industry LinkedIn groups, starting or joining constructive discussion on Twitter and sharing relevant articles \u2013 whether self-written or from the media \u2013 can get you noticed, help you forge new connections and even get you closer to your dream role.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tAfter all, it\u2019s not only candidates who use social media: it\u2019s employers and recruiters too. 84% of companies use networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to find candidates. If you\u2019re active and respected in professional communities on these platforms and get yourself noticed, it stands to reason that you\u2019re more likely to see success.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tIf you\u2019re job-hunting with a specific employer in mind, seek out their social profiles. It\u2019s an easier way to get a foot in the door than speculative phone calls or emails \u2013 just be sure to find the right balance between confident and pushy.<\/div>\n\n\tPersonal branding is key<\/h2>\n
\n\tWhat does your digital persona say about you? It\u2019s vital to present yourself in the right way, creating a personal brand that signals what you\u2019ll be like as an employee. Blogging about your industry, liking, sharing and commenting on articles and getting involved in discussions pertinent to your role will mark you out not only as an expert, but as someone who\u2019s genuinely interested and invested in their career.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tSo, who\u2019s doing it well? In the IT industry, there are plenty of individuals leading by example.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tBrian Krebs has a Twitter following <\/a>of well over 200,000, thanks to a very balanced feed, sharing his own content along with breaking industry news from other sources, and both starting and responding to debates and conversations from other Twitter users.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tIn the cloud computing arena, David Linthicum<\/a> \u2013 Chief Cloud Strategy Officer at Deloitte \u2013 has a following of 36.5k who follow his original content on cloud security, trends, vendor news and more. Head over to his LinkedIn profile and you\u2019ll see that he not only posts regular articles, but that they garner a great deal of engagement too.<\/a><\/div>\n\n\tMaximum impact, minimal effort<\/h2>\n
\n\tThe likes of David Linthicum didn\u2019t become this high profile overnight: for an individual to become a major influencer in any sector, it often takes years of hard work.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tHowever, there are quick wins that can ensure that you\u2019re noticed by the right people, in the right place, with relatively little effort.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n
\n\tSocial media – the negatives<\/h2>\n
\n\tSharing inappropriate content is one way to be noticed in the wrong way, but there are plenty more ways in which your social activity can turn potential employers off, rather than on.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tThere\u2019s a whole Tumblr blog dedicated to inappropriate LinkedIn profile pictures<\/a>: does a picture of you cuddling your pet or in fancy dress send out the impression you\u2019re looking to cultivate?<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\t“19% of employers have turned down a candidate because of their online activity.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tResults of a YouGov survey from 2017 show that 19% of employers out of 2,058 surveyed have turned down a candidate because of their online activity, with offensive language (75%), references to drug use (71%), bad spelling or grammar (56%) and drunken photos (47%) being the four types of behaviour that would most put employers off.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n\tHowever, it\u2019s not just content that can prevent a candidate from landing their dream job \u2013 it\u2019s the choice of channel too.<\/div>\n\n\tWhich social networks should I use?<\/h2>\n
\n\tWhile many individuals will have a preference for certain social networks over others in everyday life, it\u2019s important to assess whether they\u2019re the right channels when it comes to job hunting. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are the top four \u2013 and each has a different remit in the recruitment industry.<\/div>\n\n\tLinkedIn<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\tLinkedIn is, undeniably, a great source of job postings \u2013 and you\u2019ll find that the majority of connections you\u2019re looking to make will use the network.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n
\n\tTwitter<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\tTwitter is far more open than LinkedIn, allowing you to make connections and start conversations with the majority of users, without needing to be accepted first. It\u2019s also a less formal medium \u2013 but be careful not to make too informal an approach.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n
\n\tFacebook<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\tFacebook\u2019s Jobs functionality allows users to search for listings posted by company pages – but there\u2019s plenty more that can be done.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n
\n\tInstagram<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\tFollowing a company\u2019s Instagram account is a great way to learn about company culture \u2013 and commenting on its posts can get you noticed.<\/div>\n\n\t <\/div>\n\n
\n\tThe bottom line<\/h2>\n
\n\tWhile your CV is the polished version of your professional self, your social media accounts will often demonstrate more breadth. What you choose to share via social media is up to you \u2013 but remember that it could be used to assess your employability. The good news? Relevant, regular activity in the right place and at the right time could just mark you out as the perfect hire.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"