From Los Angeles
A few thoughts on managing your career in the digital age while wondering why so many otherwise well qualified and accomplished executives struggle with defining their value proposition in interviews.
- The growth in the number and importance of digital platforms will elevate the need for executives to develop public image management skills. How you are “perceived in public” will surpass “who you know” as a key route to your dream job.
- With each passing year, you will see exponential growth in the role and importance of digital platforms in developing value-based contacts.
- With mergers, consolidations and a shift away from traditional inpatient care, healthcare, which has the reputation for being “recession proof,” will record significant job losses. Having a strong career/digital brand will help get noticed by recruiters when downsizings occur.
- Our LinkedIn and Facebook pages help shape what others think of us. Posting articles and comments on these and other sites is part of building your brand. But, the quality of your posts and the appropriateness of your comments is critical. Stay away from your computer (and telephone) if you have had too much to drink. What seems hysterical after two martinis, probably isn’t.
- If you have a digital page, then incorporating a nice “head shot” photograph can be very helpful in the enhancing of your image. However, do not post a bad picture – either poor quality (focus, your attire, background, etc) or the infamous cell phone “self portrait”. Yes, I know there are security concerns, and you have to take those into consideration when you enter the digital branding world.
- If you create a LinkedIn site, and do not include content, what’s the point? That is right up there with having a resume without contact information, or not updating your ACHE in five years and then wondering why recruiters never call.
- You may think that having a digital career footprint is not important, that it is a silliness for which you have no time to invest. No harm, no foul. But, if you plan on working at least 10 more years, at a minimum, then mastering the required skills to manage your career brand in this new era of communication, is essential. While you are entitled to your opinion on this subject, you are not entitled to a job.
If you do not know what your value proposition is, or even understand how it is defined, then this, too, is a concept you must master. In a hyper competitive job market, the candidate who excels may get your dream job.