Effective Internet Presence, by Ted Demopoulos

Social networks are everywhere.  If you haven't dabbled in an any of them you might be wondering where to start or whether you should even bother.  I recently came across this excellent e-book from Ted Demopoulos that's filled with great insights about why you need your own personal, effective Internet presence and how to go about making it happen.

Here are some of the more interesting tidbits I picked up on in Ted's e-book:

According to a recent PewResearch study, "18% of working college graduates report that their employer expects some form of self-marketing online as part of their job."

I had to read that one twice to believe it.  That's almost one in five and sounds so surprisingly high to me.

83% of recruiters used search engines to learn more about candidates in 2007, up from 75% in 2005 according to ExecuNet.com.

I had the opposite reaction to this statistic.  Why aren't 100% of all recruiters using search engines to learn more about candidates?!

I haven’t used the phonebook in years, how about you?

That reminds me of this highly commented post from last summer...Ted is definitely my kind of guy!

The personal branding section of Ted's e-book (pages 7-11) includes a lot of great do's and don'ts.  I can't say I agree with every single point he makes (for example, I tend to let my religion creep into this blog from time to time, particularly with the types of books I read/review), but they're interesting guidelines to consider.

The rest of the e-book (pages 15-29) make up the heart of the material.  In this section Ted talks about getting established on Facebook or LinkedIn and then venturing out to comment on blogs, Amazon book pages, etc.  Great advice.

If you don't have much of an online presence yet, download Ted's book and follow his guidance.  If you feel you've already got a decent Internet presence, use Ted's e-book as a checklist to confirm your assumption.  Either way, you probably know a few people who have no online presence whatsoever -- be sure to point them to Ted's e-book as well for a quick and easy way to get started.

Comments

[Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business]

Joe,
Thanks for the kind words.
The "18% of working college graduates report that their employer expects some form of self-marketing online as part of their job" stat is surprising!

I would expect it's true in high tech. One of my high tech clients even has me training the other consultants they use on how to self-market themselves on line.

In businesses in general however, it's very surprising. I don't doubt it based on it's source, but still a big surprise.

[Jim Minatel]

You asked: "Why aren't 100% of all recruiters using search engines to learn more about candidates?!"
1. Because any data that you gather dury the course of recruiting candidates should be archived as a part of the recruiting file.
2. Whether it's googling for prospective candidates or googling for information on a candidate you have interviewed, you could find information about that person that might later be perceived to show bias in your hiring decision.

So, the less you know about your candidates, the less legal risk you expose. ;)

[Joe Wikert]

Hi Jim. It seems odd to think that only the tiny minority of 17% would be scared away because of the potential legal issues. The other 83% either have an archiving system they can trust or they're throwing caution to the wind! It just doesn't make sense that this would be the key reason why 17% are stuck in the past. Why do I get the impression that every one of the 17% probably won't accept resumes electronically and insist on doing everything via hard copy as well?...

I wouldn't be surprised to find it's not so much the legal aspect as it is a bias against technology.

[Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business]

That does seem odd.
Although I'll admit I know a couple of recruiters that are pretty backwards when it comes to technology . . . they do use email, and probably need to accept electronic resumes by now.