Which is Worse, Bad Brand or No Brand?

Image by Zach Inglis via Flickr

Employer friendly online profiles should be in your bag of tricks.

Is your online persona a feature rich sales tool or a barren dessert where only cactus might live?  And who wants to hire a cactus?

A recent CareerBuilder.com survey shows us that 22% of hiring managers are checking out job candidates via social networks.  Of those, one-third (34 percent) reported they found content that caused them to dismiss the candidate from consideration.

But 24% said they found content that helped to solidify their decision to hire the candidate.  This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.  The link above has all the details.

But my question is one that is not addressed in this survey.  What do hiring managers and recruiters think about candidates who have no online profile at all?  In my experience,  when an employer is seeking additional info to help make up their mind, no profile is far worse than a good profile.  Obviously a bad online personal brand is worse still.  But no brand at all is a close second.

Think about it.  If someone who has influence on whether you get hired or even considered for a good job has decided to take the extra step of doing some online research, they are far more likely to have a positive reaction to a strong social networking presence that paints you in a good light than to finding that there is no info at all online to help them in their decision.

Those candidates who choose to believe that staying under the radar and not participating in the modern methods of networking and communication are selling themselves short and are risking a negative reaction from nearly a quarter of the hiring managers out there.  If there is even a chance that someone who may hire you someday is on the fence about that decision, then you should take steps now to create a solid online persona for yourself.  It will help in other aspects of your business networking.  And it’s fun.  So rev up your profiles, start a blog, get with the program! -CF

Personal Branding Roundup
Alison Doyle – Hiring Managers Are Checking You Out
Ryan Moede – Resources on Personal Branding
Bill Vick – Is Your Career LinkedIn?  and
Ethan Horowitz -  Social Networking Sites Become Vital Tools in Job Searches