These posts are both well worth reading, as are the comments (and the follow up post from Adam) because they spell out a number of the issues that are relevant to communicators in this social media age – and because it might just help you land a better job.

I agree with pretty much everything Adam and Joshua have to say on the matter. I think that your online presence is an integral part of your professional reputation, and you had better treat it as such, ie., with discretion. But I am not necessarily convinced that your blog, or your social media profile in general, is ever going to replace your CV. Not in the public sector, and not in the next short while anyway.

Why not? I can think of a couple of reasons. One, unless you follow Rohit Bhargava’s lead and include a social media bio on your blog, there simply won’t be enough supporting information there. Your blog will enhance your CV, but it won’t replace it (unless your CV is online, but I tried that with a couple of senior managers across the public service, and they were either perplexed or dismissive of the concept — all of them wanted a hard copy).

Senior managers could also regard a potential employee’s blog as a risk to manage, rather than an example of their initiative. They may be worried that the blogger will (inadvertently) drop their organization in it, or that the blog is a time sink that will divert their attention from what they are hired to do.

These, particularly the latter, are valid concerns.

So how do you balance your increasing presence on the ‘net with the traditional demands of recruitment, all in the age of Google? First up, if you have a blog that intersects with your professional life (even tangentially), tell your prospective employer. If it is about your cat, don’t bother them, but if there is a remote possibility that you may post about something that could be perceived as being related to your job, then you should disclose this.

If you have a Myspace page, make sure it is not the first thing that comes up when you google your name: that would just be embarrassing. You are much better off setting up a LinkedIn profile or a Facebook page if you want to appear professional.

Having said that, I provide links to this blog and the other I have contributed to, as well as to my del.icio.us page because I think that this stuff is integral to what I want to do.

Photo: N!(K