Hello dear college student!
You must be planning to start your career in the next couple of months or years. And that would be in the post-covid world. Whether your beginning is going to be bad, good or great, will depend a lot on your ‘Internet Maturity’. There are two reasons.
1. Linkedin has become the first place where employers search for potential employees. If you are not visible online (especially on Linkedin), you will be totally dependent on your college placement for getting job opportunities.
2. All employers are taking hiring decisions only after checking the online reputation of candidates. Your online reputation is the combined effect of everything you do online which is visible to others.
Many students are aware of the above trends but they remain clueless on what to do about it. To ensure that you have a good Linkedin profile and a positive online reputation, you need to plan your online activities. Your plan should begin with a simple thought “What can I do on the Internet to impress my future employers?”.
We will take examples of two fictitious students Sahil & Tina. Sahil is from Mumbai and Tina is from Gwalior. Both of them want to start their career in the tourism industry. Through their story, lets give you some tips to impress your future employers on Internet.
Tip #1: Make the right use of Linkedin
Sahil thinks that Linkedin is a website like Facebook or Instagram where you create your profile and start making friends online. He wants his profile to look really cool! So he has uploaded his best selfie as his profile pic in which he is wearing his favourite hoodie and shades. In his profile headline he has written “Born to rule the world!”. Since he has got 5000 friends on Facebook, he wants to have a similar number of “friends” on Linkedin. So he sends tens of connection requests daily to people he can see on Linkedin. He shares motivational memes on his timeline everyday.
Tina has learnt that Linkedin is not a place to make “friends”. It’s a website where you make professional contacts with people who can give you career related knowledge and opportunities. She has uploaded a photo in which she is wearing smart formals and a confident smile on her face. In her profile headline she has written “Passionate about eco tourism. Travel blogger”. She looks for senior professionals working in travel and tourism companies and sends them connection requests. She shares articles related to tourism industry on her timeline regularly. She has also joined ‘Sustainable Tourism’ group on Linkedin.
Tip #2: Showcase your skills and domain knowledge online
Sahil is happy uploading his selfies on Instagram and his videos on TikTok. He has an impressive fan following on both platforms who love his uploads.
Tina has learnt that to attract good opportunities in her industry she must prove that she has good communication skills and knowledge about nature and history. She regularly visits nearby tourist places and creates Vlogs (video blogs) to record her experience. She regularly writes blog articles on natural & historical tourist places. She then shares those Vlogs & Blog articles on her Linkedin timeline.
Tip #3: Create a positive online reputation
Sahil is happy with impressing his fan following on Instagram and TikTok.
Tina has learnt that tourism companies want people who have well-groomed personality, good manners & etiquettes and respect for other cultures. So whenever she is on Instagram or Facebook, she makes sure those personality traits are visible in all of her photos, posts, comments and forwards. Its not difficult for her because whenever she is online, she reminds herself “My future employers are watching me!”.
Dear readers, its easy for you to guess who among Sahil and Tina has better chances of getting a great career opportunity. So, be like Tina. Be Internet mature. Before ending the article lets tell you Tina’s secret of how she became Internet mature. Actually its an open secret which all 21st century career experts recommend. She practiced the following skills:
- Creating and sharing digital content online (photos, videos, presentations, documents etc).
- Being mature in social networking (Facebook & Instagram).
- Understanding what is professional networking (Linkedin) and how it is different from social networking.
- Participating on online discussion forums relevant to your career.
- Writing good blog articles which showcase your domain knowledge.
- Learning smart searching techniques.
- Taking advantage of online courses to learn latest skills (on EdX, Coursera etc).
- Following rules of online safety and ethics.
- Building a positive online reputation.
Do you really want to be totally dependent on campus recruitment drives in your college for starting your career? If yes, then I wish you good luck. If no, then decide to become Internet Mature! The most effective way to learn Internet Maturity skills is enroll in our online course ‘Digital Citizenship & Internet Maturity Powers’
Digital Citizenship & Internet Maturity Powers
If you wish to attend a LIVE training session and learn those skills from an expert trainer, then join our training program "Become a Job Magnet on Linkedin". Check out the details in the flyer below.
Remember… Internet Maturity is a critical employability skill, without which you cannot have a successful career! Start learning now.