Social Networking for Professionals

Every Wednesday, the American Library Association sends out an email titled American Libraries Direct. It’s a great summary of trends and topics in the profession, and usually has a few links in it I want to read more about it. The article Your Virtual Brand by Meredith Farkas was just one of those articles.

Ms. Farkas points out that for librarians (and I think more broadly, job seekers in general) having a professional online presence is important. She highlights several options - a blog, and an online portfolio. I would add to that (as she mentions in the article) Facebook, as well as the social networking site for ALA members, ALA Connect (which more librarians need to use - but that’s another post). This blog, for me, is part of my online presence, as well as my Visual CV, my Facebook, and my other accounts (Aardvark, flickr, YouTube, and Vimeo). That being said, social networking is not all fun and games, as Ms. Farkas points out - and this is something that is lost on many users of social networking sites (check out Lamebook (NSFW), for example).

As a user and consumer of social media, you need to be always cognizant of the people who can see the “stuff” you post online. Maybe this means setting up different groups on Facebook so you can better control who sees what information in your profile - a group for coworkers, a group for professional contacts, and a group for friends and family. Then, you can easily control the information you are sharing with certain groups of people. Or, you might not even want to post that questionable content online.

If done properly though, online sites like the ones I mention above are incredibly helpful in showing off your talents to prospective employers, but once again, you need to be cognizant of the content you are sharing. Not every single thing should be shared - only things that highlight particular skills you have. For example, on my Visual CV, I have two “portfolio” items - a video introducing my work in an online reference tool, as well as a presentation I created about bibliographic records. This will expand with the work I am doing for class this semester, as well as in my work at the Amon Carter and my internship. Like I mentioned before though, be selective - choose your best work from a skill set to share, and even then you might need to edit your work some. Have someone else look over it to make sure it looks its best.

Of course, you don’t have to do anything at all online. However, as Ms. Farkas points out, it really helps you to stand out in this competitive job market. I will tell you from personal experience that social networking and having an overall internet presence has allowed me to connect to and make acquaintances with people I am very happy to know but I would not have otherwise ever met.

What about you - any good tips for social networking online?