Does Your Online Identity Scream “Hire Me”?

Think your online presence, or lack of it, doesn’t factor much into executive hiring decision-making? Think again.

Given two equal candidates, in terms of skill sets, education, work history, and all around good fit for the job, recruiters and hiring professionals are likely to choose the one with the stronger, more vibrant online footprint.

According to Boris Epstein, CEO and Founder of BINC, a Professional Search Firm that specializes in the Software Marketplace, in his Mashable post, Do You Pass the Social Media Recruitment Test?:

“The problem of today completely flipped from the one of yesterday where we went from candidate scarcity and limited information to an overabundance of candidates and even more information available on each one.

In today’s world of information overload, talent is literally available by the truckloads.”

What exactly about your online footprint will tip the scales in your favor? Boris says he would contact the one who (my current status):

On LinkedIn

Has a 100% complete profile. — yes
Has genuine recommendations from peers, managers and colleagues. — not yet
Belongs to more Groups related to their field. – not yet
Has a photo on their profile. — yes
Lists volunteering and other non-paid projects on their profile. — yes
Frequently posts status updates. — yes
Asks and answers more questions. – I wonder what is the average on this stat.
Links to their employer, blog and other relevant sites. — yes
Has more connections. – I have 30+, I wonder what the average is.

On Twitter

Tweets 2-10 times per day. – yes
Boasts an appropriate followers/following ratio. — what is that?
Has the biggest network. – what is the average.
Balances personal and professional tweets well. — what is a good balance?
Does more than just update. Responds to others and generally “gets” Twitter. — on my way.

On their blog

Writes interesting content about their respective profession and industry — yes and no, I speak respectively about outside professional interests.
Writes some about their personal life and passions – family, friends, hobbies, etc. – yes.
Does not bad-mouth their current or previous employer. — don’t mention them.
Links to their social networking profiles. — yes.
Links to their current resume. — no
Publishes new posts on a regular basis. — yes (17 days in)
Keeps the content non-controversial. — yes
Has a blogroll with link to other interesting blogs. — not yet

When Googled

Does not have digital dirt. — none – except branding picture.
Leads discussions and commentary on other social media sites. — yes
Leads to their own blog, web profile, or social media profiles. — yes
Has a healthy number of search results for “their name”. — building, currently 3 in top 10 for “Paul MacPherson”

Why are these criteria so important?

Boris says:

“Nowadays employers rarely hire just skills and are looking for much more of a complete package – skills plus a well-rounded individual that fits well with their team and company.

And a person’s social media footprint gives employers (and others) the best insight into your passions, interests, communication styles, work habits, work/life balance and all sorts of other valuable information.”

The bottom line for me is obvious. I have a decent online presence, but have according to Boris, a few things to work on. But if you’re not using social media, you better get busy or when push comes to shove you may lose out on your next perfect opportunity. So create yourself fully fleshed out and deliberate and continually updated online persona. A current online identity is now as important as a updated resume.