Today in the era of collaboration and Web 2.0, digital identity has become part of our image. According to Brenda Franks, specialized image and communication consultant and based on the studies of the Colorado Wagner Institute, the impact that we create on others with our first impression, depends 55% on our appearance (wardrobe, personal appearance), by 38 % of our behavior (gestures, posture, eye contact, attitude, expression) and in 7% of what we say, it is still unknown what% our digital image will influence, but what is clear is that it is already influencing and our credibility as professionals depends on it, in fact according to the article in Expansión &Employment "49% of companies use social networks to select personnel" the most interesting thing is that the candidate can be passive, that is, you can receive a job offer through a social network, in fact I myself had that pleasant experience last week. This fact has led me to write this article with practical information and advice, collected from my own experience and from a seminar given by Rosaura Alastruey Director of ProyectosTIC, with the aim of being a guide on how to start creating your own digital identity.collected from my own experience and from a seminar given by Rosaura Alastruey Director of ProyectosTIC, with the aim of being a guide on how to start creating your own digital identity.collected from my own experience and from a seminar given by Rosaura Alastruey Director of ProyectosTIC, with the aim of being a guide on how to start creating your own digital identity.
A first step is to review what the network says about us, but not only what it says but also what others say or what is seen of us on the network, for this we can do a search on the following websites:
Google: indexes 85% of the information and is the most used search engine, but not the only one. To see what our images are on the network, click on "Images" in the upper left band of the screen. To find out what other of us in that same band are saying, click on the "More" option in the " Blogs " tab, perhaps some of our opinions from a blog will appear.
Yahoo: indexes 15% of information, the most interesting thing is that the information it indexes is different from that of Google.
123people.es: is a people search engine.
Kgbpeople.com: It is also a people search engine although the name says it all.
The web is one more channel to sell to us and although in Spain the word sell is "cursed", in other countries such as the US the concept of selling is the most common without falling for topics of pedantry or self-centeredness. So taking care of what the network says about us is the starting point to change what we want the network to say about us and what we do not want it to say, taking care of digital reputation is a slow and necessary process to build our professional future.
With all this scenario a new profession is planning and it is that of "Digital Identity Advisor".
A second step is to access a free professional virtual platform choosing the one that best suits our profile:
Xing: represents 39% of the total (European leader). In Spain it has 1,500,000 users, mostly middle managers.
Viadeo: represents 8% of the total. In Spain it has 350,000 users, it is highly recommended if the company you want to access is French.
LinkedIn: represents 69% of the total (leader in the US). In Spain it has 1,000,000 users, mostly managers. When registering on this platform there are several important points to keep in mind.
Practical tips about LinkedIn:
• In the "Profile" tab, include a personalized link in the " Public profile " section, which can be created with the "Edit" button by changing the end of the link. with your first name and your first last name or with your first and last name (without accents, spaces or other symbols), this way you will give a more professional image, you can also include it on your business card.
• Fill in the section "Extract" with "Specialties" with the key words, separated by commas, the purpose is to find your profile when they search for those words from the search engine.
• Ask other professionals with whom you have worked to recommend you, it is a simple option in the “Recommendations” section.
• Name or include the link of articles you have published or of presentations.
• In the "Applications" section you can add a link to WordPress, Slideshare Presentations and other applications.
Other platforms:
JobandTalent.com: is a recently created Spanish platform for recent graduates.
And of course the Twitter that is growing exponentially and plays the role of microblogging.
Making a blog with Blogger or WordPress today is still a differentiating element compared to other professionals in the same sector, what must be borne in mind is the time we can dedicate to it and that if we do not update it, we will not obtain a good image either.
Regarding Facebook, we simply have to take into account the confidentiality options when we are interested and apply common sense to what our friends publish or publish, at a professional level, the most interesting thing about Facebook is the possibility it offers when it comes to market products if we do not have a website, like Flickr with which you can make a product catalog including all photos.
Finally, to eliminate our trail and delete ourselves from the most popular platforms, we can use the website suicidemachine.org.
Other related articles: "Digital identity can ruin your career", "Professional networks are already used by 51% of Internet users".
Our digital identity is global, there is no virtual separation between the professional and the personal, so all the information contained in the network will influence the digital image of ourselves that others perceive.
References
• Web Brenda Franks: accessed on November 8, 2010 at 7:00 pm
• Article “49% of companies use social networks to select personnel” from Expansión & Empleo.com: http://archivo.expansionyempleo.com/ 2010/09/06 / desarrollo_de_carrera / 1283771439.html accessed on November 8, 2010 at 7:10 pm
• Web Rosaura Alastruey: accessed on November 8, 2010 at 18:00 pm
• Article “Digital identity can ruin his career ”from Expansión.com: http://www.expansion.com/2010/12/03/empleo/desarrollo-de-carrera/1291392118.html?a=5a419851e463bdf1b376098f7baa5236&t=1291850966 accessed on November 8, 2010 at 18:30 pm
• Article “» Professional networks are already used by 51% of Internet users »from Adecco.es: http://www.adecco.es/_data/NotasPrensa/pdf/211.pdf accessed on November 8, 2010 at 6:40 pm.
