This was a guest lecture in January 2016 at Institute of Technology Tralee, Ireland to final year students. The topic is how to manage their digital footprint and how to build a personal brand that will appeal to employers. Delivered by @evanmangan from @marketingcrowd www.themarketingcrowd.ie

1. How to use Social Media to
market yourself and land
your dream job
Guest Lecture at IT Tralee
Delivered by Evan Mangan
Jan 20th 2016

2. Lots of people post updates on Facebook that
they shouldn’t
There used to be a site (weknowwhatyouredoing.com ) that showed all
the latest posts that people shouldn’t be posting but it was taken down

3. People tweet stuff they shouldn’t

4. It’s easy to quickly check someone’s account to
see what they’re tweeting

5. It’s easy to quickly check someone’s account to see who they are
following ie what they are interested in

6. What do employers do when recruiting staff?
They look at your
•Education
•Qualifications
•Word Experience
•References
But their big questions is …

7. Would you be a good fit?
Are you really who you say you
are in your CV and in the
interview?
Recruiting the wrong person is
costly for a company,
In the old days (pre 2005)
employers were largely
dependant on references..
Now …

8. Now they simply check your digital footprint
Now with a few quick searches
they can get a much more
rounded understanding of “the
real you”
Your digital footprint i.e. your
online presence tells the real story
about you.
Not just the you you are trying to
project in your CV and interview.

9. There are two parts to your digital footprint
Shadows:
Are what other people share
about you
•FB posts that mention you
•Social media images that you are
tagged in
•Articles that mention you

10. There are two parts to your digital footprint
Footprints
Are what you share about yourself
•Your social media profiles
•Your social media updates
•Your blog posts
•Your images
•Your comments on sites eg.
thejournal.ie

11. Shadows and footprints show the real you
By having a quick look at
shadows and footprints,
employers are now able to build a
picture of the real you.
Depending on what you have
shared or what people have
shared about you, it might be a
picture that you don’t want them
to see.

12. Do employers use Social media for vetting?
It might be tempting to think
that employers don’t really go
to the trouble of searching
about you ….
There are lots of studies which
show that employers are using
social media to screen / vet
potential recruits
Source: Reppler

13. At which phase of the recruitment process?
Source: Reppler

14. Do they reject candidates based on what they see
Source: Reppler

15. What turned them off the candidate
Source: Reppler

16. What prompted them to hire the candidate
Source: Reppler

17. So - What should you do?

18. Realise that …
You Are A Brand

19. And What Kind Of Brand Do You Want Employers To See?
or

20. Your Action Plan
2. Audit and
clean up your
online brand
3. Create a brand
that will attract
employers
1. Understand
how employers
check your
footprint

21. Step 1: Understand how employers
check your footprint

22. Step 1: Understand how employers check your footprint
Employers will
•Use a “people” search engine to find
your accounts, blog, comments
•Google your name, email address,
mobile number
•Google your name, town / school
•Google your name + Facebook, or
Twitter or Instagram
•Search for you on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Linkedin to see your
updates
•Search for you on Twitter using your
email address
•Check what kind of accounts you are
following on Twitter and Instagram

23. Step 2: Audit your own footprint

24. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Search for your name on Yasni.com
It will throw up accounts on FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogs, newspaper
mentions, website comments plus lots more.

25. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Search for your name on Yasni.com
It will throw up accounts on FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogs, newspaper
mentions, website comments plus lots more.

26. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Search for your name on Google. Look at web, image and news results
Repeat the search using your name and your town
Repeat the search using your name and your school
Repeat the search using your name and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

27. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Are there Google results appearing on
page 1 that you wouldn’t want
employers to find?
1. Can you approach the website owner
and ask them to remove it?
2. Push the results down to page 2 by
creating your own pages / profiles in
your name eg.
• Buy your domain name and put a blog
on it.
• Write blog posts and put your name in
the page meta ttile
• Create a linkedin profile and customise
the url with your name
• Get a Twitter account with your name
• Create a Google +account

28. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Also be aware of the “Right to be
forgotten” directive.
If you can demonstrate to Google
that the search listing is “irrelevant,
outdated or inappropriate” you can
apply to have it removed in EU
search results.
How?
1. Use a service like forget.me to
manage the application process
2. Or apply directly using this link
https://support.google.com/legal/
contact/lr_eudpa?product=webs
earch

29. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Have you been using your Twitter
account for personal tweets and are
there tweets that you wouldn’t want
employers to see?
1. In settings change your @username
from your real name to a nickname
2. In settings, disable the ability for
people to find you using your email
3. Review your profile description.
4. Use advanced search and delete any
inappropriate tweets
5. Look at all the accounts you are
following and un-follow any accounts
you wouldn’t want employers to see
you following.
https://twitter.com/kaamilaa_14

30. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
5. How to remove yourself from a
photo tag
If someone tags you in a photo and you
want to remove yourself, tap into the
detail view of the tweet, and then tap the
ellipsis (…) and select "Remove tag from
photo."
You can also stop an account from
tagging you by blocking the user. If you
do so, your tagged name or username
will no longer be shown on the photo.

31. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Ensure your FB privacy is locked down
You want to ensure that if an employer
finds your FB profile they
•Cannot see your posts
•Cannot see your photos
•Cannot see posts that you are tagged in
•Cannot see your friends.
•Therefore, go to your settings on
Facebook and then edit your privacy
settings so that only your friends can see
these
•Also go to the about section of your
profile and manually change who can see
your info.

32. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Are there photos / videos on your
Instagram account that you wouldn’t
want employers to see?
1. In settings change your @username
from your real name to a nickname
2. In settings change the visibility of your
photos / videos to private – now they
won’t appear in search and won’t be
visible to people viewing your profile
3. Delete any inappropriate photos
4. Look at all the accounts you are
following and un-follow any accounts
you wouldn’t want employers to see
you following.

33. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
5. Have you been tagged in photos?
Photos other people tag you in appear
on your profile. You can
choose to manually or
automatically include thesephotos on
your profile.

34. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
6. How to remove yourself from a
photo tag
Tap on the photo
Tap your name
Tap More Options > Remove Me from
Photo

35. Step 2: Audit your own footprint
Ensure you are continuously
monitoring your online mentions
Setup alerts for your name using tools
like
•http://www.talkwalker.com/alerts
•https://www.google.ie/alerts
•http://topsy.com/
•https://en.mention.com/

36. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand

37. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
When you are seeking a job you are in
a competitive market.
You need to think of it in terms of
marketing a product. Employers get lots
of applicants and most of them are very
similar. What is going to
•Differentiate you from the other
candidates?
•Make employers realise that you are the
obvious choice for the job?

38. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Decide what category of job you want
eg.
•Digital marketing
•Web design
•TV
•Computing
•Programming
And then position yourself as passionate
and knowledgeable about the topic.
This will differentiate you from the vast
majority of candidates. You’ll be a purple
cow
How do you do this?
Read Purple Cow by Seth Godin

39. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Keep up to date
For example, if you want a job in digital
marketing /need to keep up to date with
what’s happening in this area – the latest
trends, tactics, changes to platforms etc.
How?
•Create lists in Twitter
•Subscribe to other people’s lists
•Follow industry leading blogs on
Facebook
•Join industry groups on Linkedin

40. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Create your own blog
•If you haven’t already, buy a domain
name – ideally yourname.com or .ie
•Get a very professional looking premium
theme from themeforest.net for around
$50 and setup a blog
What to blog about?
•You don’t have to write opinion pieces
•Write “how to” guides
•Create tutorial “how to” videos
(For inspiration search for blog posts on
buzzsumo.com)
This content will position you as
knowledgeable and employers will see
it when you apply for a job

41. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Put your CV on your website / blog
•Add your CV to your site eg.
Yourname.com/cv . You can keep this as
a direct link if you wish i.e only people
with the url can access it.
•Add multimedia elements to this CV eg
your portfolio, projects, videos
•When you apply for jobs tell employers
about your online CV – they will then
also see your blog posts.

42. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Use Twitter to build your reputation
•Tweet links to your blog posts
•Retweet quality content
•Then set yourself a goal of getting a
thousand followers – people who are
interested in the topic you are tweeting
about. How?
• By getting retweets
• Following the followers of related
accounts (but use
manageflitter.com to manage your
following / followers ratio)

43. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Then Use Twitter to build relationships
•When you have built up your followers and
a history of sharing great content, build
relationships with potential employers.
How?
•Find / Connect with people on Linkedin, and
search for them on Twitter. (tip - get their
email address from linkedin )
•Put them in a list and keep up with what
they are doing on Twitter.
•Get on their radar by following them,
retweeting, liking or replying to their tweets
(occasionally)
They will eventually follow you and will see
your tweets and your blog posts.

44. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Ensure your Twitter account appears
prominently on your CV and on your
Linkedin profile
When you apply for a job, reference that
you are so interested in this area that you
have a blog and that you have built a
following on Twitter. Suggest that they
check out your Twitter account.
When employers see an account with a
thousand followers and you actively
sharing the latest trends / news / tips in
this sector, you will immediately
differentiate yourself from most other
candidates.

45. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Get the basics right on your Linkedin
profile
When employers Google your name they
will definitely look at your Linkedin
profile.so you have to get the basics right
•Upload an appropriate cover photo
•Upload a business style profile photo
•Write a great Summary section – this is
your 30 second elevator pitch
•Don’t just list work experience – go into
detail about what your responsibilities
were and also objectives / results
•List all your qualifications
•Add the skills that you want to be
recruited for.

46. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Then take your profile to the next level
to differentiate you
•Embed a video on your profile – a 60
second overview of your skills,
qualifications, your blog, some sound
bites from lecturers
•Embed your portfolio (images / videos /
slideshare)
•Request recommendations from
lecturers and previous employers.
•Get endorsements for your skills –
endorse other people
•Prominently reference your blog and
your Twitter account. Also list them in
the contact section.

47. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Then build your linkedin Network
•Connect with peers, lecturers, past
employers, alumni, potential employers.
•Use advanced search and also look at
your connections connections.
DO NOT send the template text when
asking to connect – write something
different that shows you genuinely want
to connect.

48. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Then post updates which go into the
newsfeeds of your connections
•Post links to your blog articles
•Write posts on Linkedin’s blogging
platform to get a wider network
•Share interesting posts from Pulse
This means your connections, which
includes potential employers are now
exposed to your personal brand and
will see you as knowledgeable /
passionate about the sector

49. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Then become active in Linkedin
groups
•Join groups to keep up to speed on what
is happening in your area
•Post links to your blog articles
•Answer questions and get involved in
conversations
This activity will feed through to your
connections newsfeeds.
This means your connections, which
includes potential employers are now
exposed to your personal brand and
will see you as knowledgeable /
passionate about the sector.

50. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Understand how to use Linkedin Jobs
section
Understand how to search for jobs and
how to create a job alert.

51. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Be consistent across all networks
For all your social media accounts that you
want to be found when people search for you
•Use the same photo
•Use the same username
•Use the same profile description
•Cross link your social media accounts so
people can see what you’re sharing on other
platforms.

52. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Are there specific people you’d like to
get a job with?
Consider some clever ways to advertise
yourself in order to get noticed by these
people

53. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Alec Brownstein – The Google job experiment
He setup Google ads on 5 people's names... getting interviews with 4 of
them... job offers from 2... All for $6 in Google AdWords spending.

54. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
Ian Greenleigh – Used Facebook ads to get a job
Ian targeted marketing managers in his area. Quickly, his weekly job
rejections turned into interviews, including one with his dream employer–
Bazaarvoice. His dream job interview produced a job offer

55. Step 3: Proactively Build your brand
You could advertise to your Linkedin
connections in their Facebook
newsfeed.
How?
1. Connect with potential employers on
Linkedin
2. Download your Linkedin connections
to excel – including their email
address
3. Upload the email addresses to
Facebook as a custom audience and
Facebook will match against email
addresses used to setup profiles
4. Target that custom audience with a
promoted post

56. How to target your Linkedin Connections
1. Login to your Linkedin account
2. Under “connections” click on Keep
in touch
3. On the connections page click on
the wheel near the top right

57. How to target your Linkedin Connections
4. Click on the option for export Linkedin
connections
5. Select the option for download as
CSV file
6. Open the CSV file and you will see a
column which contains email
addresses for your connections

58. How to target your Linkedin Connections
7. In Facebook, go to Ads manager and
on the top right click on create
audience. Select Custom audience
8. Then select customer list

59. How to target your Linkedin Connections
9. Select the option for copy and paste
your email list
10. Highlight all the email addresses in
your csv file , right click and select
copy and then paste it into the box
and click create list

60. How to target your Linkedin Connections
11. Give your audience a name eg.
“Your Linkedin connections” and
click Next
Your list will be created within 30 – 60
minutes of processing and will be
available to use when targeting your
campaigns

61. In Summary
1. Get the basics right
Audit your footprint – is it messy?
Clean it up if it needs cleaning

62. In summary
If you still insist on “being yourself” then
ensure
• You change all your usernames to
nicknames
•Ensure your social media accounts are
impossible to find using your email, mobile
number etc.
•Constantly monitor if these are coming up
when people search for you
But really, it’s time to start building your
professional brand.
Ditch the Walter White brand

63. In Summary
2. Don’t think that building your
brand, blogging, tweeting is just
more work
The right career path will bring you
1. Years of job satisfaction
2. More financial security in life
If you get on the right career path, by
the age of 30 it could be worth an
extra €20K in your salary per annum.
Over 20 years that could be €400K

64. You might never get a better chance than now