The Career Suite

Podcast: “The Career Suite”
S1 E5
Episode 5, Title: How to use your footprints to boost your career prospects!
Host: Helen G. Sneed

Welcome to “The Career Suite”! Where we focus on driving your future forward! I’m Helen G. Sneed; CEO, wife, mother and philanthropist. So, join me for career conversations inside “The Suite”, you’ll be glad you did.

Ready to drive your future forward?
Then you’re in the right place!
Let's step inside “The Career Suite”, where Career conversations begin with you!

Today, inside “The Suite”, I’m going to ask you to use your footprints to boost your career prospects.
Decision makers are checking out our soles, heels, and even our flip flops! If you’re wondering, is it legal for a recruiter or an employer to review your social media? The short answer, in 2023, is still “yes”. If it’s visible to the general public then it's more than likely fair game for any decision maker.

C’mon join me on the beach, we’re going to walk through this together.

Let’s start with Kate. You met Kate at a networking event. Kate works at Statewide Insurance Company. You connect on social media. Three months later, Kate becomes the hiring manager at a new insurance company, Citywide. You submit your resume and cover letter, having no idea Kate that can now make decisions, hiring decisions for Citywide Insurance. Kate already knows your online persona. You’ve been friends on social media for the past three months. She may not formally scroll through your account but she remembers your persona.

Let’s put on a pair of sunglasses and look at this from a different angle. Currently you’re the sales manager at Anchors Away. You want to work for Statewide Insurance and you’ve noticed how quickly Kate can become defensive, aggressive and maybe even attack certain groups of people on social media. You procrastinate and don’t apply for the open position Statewide.

If we go back to that one networking event, you met Kate, she was outgoing and friendly but you’ve seen ten different posts that paint a completely different persona.

Your social media profiles and postings make an impression, just like footprints on a beach, whether your sunglasses are on or off, they’re still there.

People typically use social media to post about what’s important or interesting to them. It could be about family, friends, food, education, nightlife, partners, pets, sports; you know the list can go on and on.

Anyone browsing through your photos and reading your posts they have insight into your online persona. Just as your choice of footwear can say a lot about you, your social media footprints can reveal a great deal about your personality, professionalism and values.

As important as it is to express ourselves and showcase our personality, it’s equally as important to be aware that decision makers are everywhere. They’re looking for candidates or people to do business with who exhibit qualities such as thoughtfulness, professionalism, social awareness, and good judgment.

If we know that adaptability, problem solving and successful communication skills are beneficial in any business or transaction then uncovering candidates or business owners whose online persona can be described as argumentative, degrading, reckless or even rigid isn’t sending a message to a decision maker that they want to hear.

Ok, time to get off the beach so let’s answer today’s question inside “The Suite” How can you use your footprints to boost your career prospects?

I’ll start by sharing three opportunities; the what and where and provide three examples on how, now that we’ve shed a little sunlight on why.

#1. Participate in professional discussions with people from various industries and business sectors.
#2 Craft and share. Craft and share thought-provoking posts that showcase your expertise in a constructive manner.
#3. Demonstrate a presence and involvement your community, business sector organization or industry.
These aren’t the only three opportunities available to you, they’re just a great place to start.

Let’s review number 1. Where do you find professional discussions? You find them on LinkedIn. A few months ago, I was on LinkedIn researching irrigation for a potential customer. I found the Irrigation Association. Sounded like that might be a good place to start. I began to follow their discussions. They were discussing post biotics, selection and maintenance of water pumps, thermal properties of rocky soil, plant and soil sensors, they went into manufacturing. I realized very quickly that anyone wanting to start, own or work in the field of irrigation, manufacturing or had a love for chemistry this group was a great place to be.

So how do you start? You polish your LinkedIn profile; you schedule weekly appointments in your google calendar or set an alarm on your phone. This also helps with time management. This creates an environment of focus to read, review and post in these discussions. This goes beyond liking or congratulating. Get engaged. Then follow two or three companies that consistently share content in the group.

Let’s review number 2. Craft and share thought provoking posts. I’m not talking about taking a famous quote and posting it on your Facebook page. Let’s look at someone who wants to become a 6-figure professional nanny? You realize you have more skills to offer than a traditional babysitter. You know that with more skills comes a higher rate. You’re multilingual, understand preschool curriculum and adventures to children on combined with nutrition, socialization, education and their overall well-being. Ask questions. Offer ways to help parents problem solve. Tell a story that compares the changes in well-being of children from a decade ago to now and respond with your expertise to the people that engage. AI can help you with the order of things but you create the content for the post. That’s using technology to your benefit. Provide the decision makers with a tangible take-away from your post.

Okay, time to review number 3. A presence and involvement in your industries, business sector or your community. If you’ve listened to any of my other podcasts, you know I’m going to say, join your local Chamber of Commerce or venture out and visit the Chamber next door. Life is fluid, nothing is more constant than change, the average adult moves more than 11 times. If you have the bandwidth, join two Chambers. Become a consistent volunteer at your local Boys & Girls Club, become a Big Brother Big Sister, work with Junior Achievement. You can still donate clothing and money. These are physically opportunities to engage emotionally at events to connect with the people being served by the organization is huge. You can be a role model for someone. You might change life! That’s being present, that’s legacy stuff right there! Go ahead, wear your company’s logo when you do it and take a photo, that’s okay as long as you don’t do it all the time.

Today in The Suite, I want to help you be proactive in managing your online persona. If you have young adults at home, this information could be the difference between landing an internship or making the cut.

Read your content, run it through Grammarly before you make a post. Look at your photos, with a critical eye. What’s in the background, are we looking at toilet paper and dirty laundry?

You never know which decision maker is looking. Send the message that gets you the interview, the contract, the internship; instead of the message that says, “go look for someone else”.

Now that's Growth!

I'm Helen G. Sneed; join me again in the Career Suite, where I promise to save you a seat!
My podcasts are free on several platforms, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Join me in Episode #6, You’ll be glad you did!