Over on Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog, Dan posted a top 10 list of reasons why people should care about their Google results. One of the top reasons is “Managers are Google’ing your name to ensure you are legitimate and as an evaluation of your skills.” While it’s not totally clear if hiring managers are making hiring decisions based on search results, it is certainly clear that hiring authorities are leveraging search engines as part of the vetting process. So it makes sense for job seekers to do some proactive career branding and manage their online identity. One of the fastest and easiest ways to create an online presence is to develop a forward-thinking, branded LinkedIn profile. Check out my 10 LinkedIn tips to get started and follow that up with a look at Chris Brogan’s excellent post on how to create a LinkedIn profile that focuses on where you are going rather than where you have been.
