You know you should be taking care of your professional identity online, looking after your digital ‘footprint’ and maintaining a record of all your experience and skills. Perhaps you’ve Googled your name to see what comes up, and set up the beginnings of a profile on LinkedIN etc…but you would like help in getting it all together?
This presentation provides hints and tips that will set you on the right path of how to ‘professionalize’ your online identity and how to promote your own accomplishments in the best possible way.
2. You can get these slides from:
slideshare.net/vanguardvisions
3. Session Overview
• What is a professional online identity?
• Why is it important?
• Google yourself
• What are others using?
• Public vs Private
• Creating / Managing your own
• What will you investigate further?
• Workshop evaluation
5. Image: By Bodell & Hook, Creating & Managing an Online Identity – Can I Afford to Ignore it? http://www.slideshare.net/angeladh/managing-a-professional-identity-online
6. Image: By Bodell & Hook, Creating & Managing an Online Identity – Can I Afford to Ignore it? http://www.slideshare.net/angeladh/managing-a-professional-identity-online
7. Why is it important to
have a professional online
identity?
27. What do you want your professional
identity to say about you?
What information is already available
online about you?
How will you keep your different identities
separate?
What method will work best for you?
What space will work best for you?
Getting started
A modern day professional necessity?Physical Identity vs Online IdentityReputation enhancing Profile development Professional networking Engaging with a global community CPD
Identity and contextF2f identlty is context dependent F2f contexts may be separate and discrete The online community is vast and interwoven
It is becoming more important to managing your professional digital identity. The world of work is constantly changing which means people need to be continually learning and re-inventing themselves to remain current and employable. By creating a professional online identity you:As a business owner it is important that you are considered an ‘expert’ in what you do. Having an online professional profile means that you can be found and are discoverable. Are able to network with other professionals online. This allows you to stay abreast of what’s new, what changing, and/or learning how to remain current. You can also use your networks to promote yourself if your work situation changes, and you need to start looking for new work or if you start your own businessHave opportunities to connect and collaborate with others, just like you are today in this webinar. These connective opportunities may lead to collaborating on new projects or tenders, or attracting grant funding.Also will be improving your digital capability, which helps build your confidence to use the internet and technology more readily with your learners
So how many of you currently have a professional online identity? What are you using?
Managing your professional online identity will involve knowing when to have your information public, and when to keep it private.This will vary depending on the person, and how ‘out there’ they want to be. Here are some suggested things which could be made public and what could be made private.Using the “Tick” vs “X” tool indicate whether you agree these suggestions? Using the Text book – comment on whether Are there any other suggestions about what could be public, and what should remain in a private online space?
There is no single way of getting started in creating your professional online identity, as you will need to ask yourself:What do you want your professional identity to say about you?What is the key purpose of creating your professional online identity, ie to promote yourself, to gather all of your important information into one place, to help you with your CPD?What information is already available online about you?Do you already write a blog or tweet? Have you had any articles or papers published online? Been mentioned in a media release?Can this information be included in your online profile through ‘embed code’ or ‘RSS’ or ‘hyperlinked’?How will you keep your different identities separate?We all have more than one identity eg professional, personal, community – so consider using either a different online name or different online spaces or different components of an online space eg (Facebook/LinkedIn Groups/Pages) to keep these separate. You can use tools such as “Hootsuite” or “Tweetdeck” to manage these different identitiesWhat method will work best for you?How regular will you be updating your online profile?How confident are you using different online spaces?Do you want to be able to update your profile using a mobile device?What space will work best for you?Do you want to ‘network’ with others or simply have an online presence with no interaction?Will you want others to see what you’re doing or would you like to pick’n’choose who can access your online profile?
When creating your professional online identity it is important that you have a clear purpose in mind eg will you use it to promote yourself, manage your professional learning plan, record the outcomes from a project?Some other key considerations when creating your online identity include:Portability – will the space you use allow you to easily exportable your information and artefacts to another site or format if the space is no longer available to you, or you would like to use another spaceInteroperability – will the space you use allow you to easily integrate with sites or software systems (eg uploading PDFs or PPTs), and can it be easily used with mobile devices such as smart phones and tabletsStorage – will there be enough storage space provided to cater for the different file types needed to be stored Ownership – how will you be able to protect the ownership of their own information online (Creative Commons Licenses can be useful for this), as well as how to appropriately use other people’s information online
What will you investigate further and why?
Ask participants to complete the online workshop evaluation