Online Professional Identity : Things to Remember

Do you remember the word Curriculum Vitae? In case you haven't its commonly known as Resume!! You think there would be time when people will walk in with their online professional profiles on their smart-phones or tablets?I am sure some would be thinking about it as we discuss here today.
Recruiters are more turning to the candidate' online professional profiles then they ever were in the past. Credit goes to the professional social media platforms like LinkedIn or ApnaCircle.com. These professional platforms bought digital identity to limelight for the users out there, making the search and discussion much more transparent for both recruiter and candidates.
In lieu of the above facts it becomes much more important that as candidates we take the professional portals much more seriously than say some 2-3 years back. Recruiters don't like stale profiles. They are not good, even for you. Normally the only time we updated are paper resumes was the time we were job hunting. The other times our resumes were sitting in some corner of a drawer we opened once in a few months. Being Stale is not good; neither your stomach like stale food nor does the recruiters any stale profile. They are more likely to provide a false impression of the candidate to the job hunters. Job seekers and hunters are both at loss.
So how to make sure your professional profile is what the xyz recruiter may be looking out for? If you need  to know, read on...
It is necessary that your online presence is optimized enough so that it maximizes the unique quality that stands out in you. Lets accept that there are numerous job seekers out there. You would want to be searched for a unique thing rather than be something that a number of people out there have. So we summarize a few points that we thought stand out from a perspective of making your online professional identity as best as it could.


Throw away the Stale-ness in your profile
As if we already haven't emphasized enough. Don't let your online profile be stale. It should be always kept up-to-date. Head hunters always like profile that are kept updated. Don't make a habit of updating your profile only when you act as a job seeker. Every 2 months should be a good enough limit to update the profile once.


Provide all the bits n pieces: don't bore
Make sure you provide details on what makes you unique. The way you handle the team, or the pressure. Just provide these details so recruiters are able to match the requirements with your details to the lowest level. Remember, it helps if they and you both know why have you been considered in the first place. But don't go on writing the long stories. Keep it simple and up to the point.

ApnaCircle Company Details Section

People relate with your profile pic
Think how it would be if McDonald didn't had a logo to go with them. Or how about Steve Jobs deciding he will market the company (or rather the product first) without the brand logo? Without images, there would be no Google images !!
The profile picture (be it a brand or an individual) is something that your contacts relate to. Recruiters may not give that much of weight to a profile that has a default avatar (the one provided by the platform you created your profile on) attached to it for a profile pic. Trust us, the first thing we did for our brand was to create the icon that you see on all our social profile and also the one that you see as the pic on the title of the browser on this blog.
Yes, it is important..so go ahead and have a personal photo session, then hand pick the best one you think goes with your digital identity.

Social Crunching Profile Pic

Have a punchline/tagline/slogan
Whatever you call it...
We also have our own as well and you see it at the end of each post that we publish. 'Happy Crunching' or 'Start Crunching' is what we relate to with. Put your thinking caps on and put down your punchline. Who knows it will be something that might get you top of the list. We don't see any brand now a days that don't have one, and after all its all about branding yourself!

ApnaCircle Business Card has our punchline

If provided with the option: add keywords 
Surely not a thing to miss!!
Almost every profile details that you provide online (especially the professional ones), will ask you to provide you the keywords that your online identity relates to. Make sure you choose them seriously. These platforms have a feature for the head hunters to search profiles based on these keywords that you provide. Miss out on correct keywords and you drop out of the search results.

Keywords on ApnaCircle Portal

Promote your brand: Include links
Provide nice info/intro about yourself in the introduction section. Take it like this is what you are online. Let everybody know what they should expect from you in here. Make it simple and small but crisp.
Also a place where you could provide links to any other platforms profile that you have. And if you think relevant, go ahead provide Facebook and Twitter ones as well. And if you have a blog, that would be wonderful.

ApnaCircle Introduction Section

Keep the interaction: be active
Whenever you get a chance, make sure to hop on the professional platform and interact, interact and interact. It help the digital identity when you are active on the platform. Leaving the profile without any interaction for months...not a good idea we say!


Spread your profile link
Once you are done and satisfied the last thing you would want to do is make sure your professional identity link is visible at as much places as possible. Make sure to spread the profile link to where ever you can. Link it in the relevant section on other social platforms. And, add it to your email signatures as well. It always helps.

SocialCrunching Links on ApnaCircle

Let us know what more are there that makes your professional identity stand out. And as always, Happy Crunching!