Socializing Online Could Get You A Job

Enlarge Courtesy of Kim Saltmarsh

Kim Saltmarsh's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles aren't just for fun. "You're pitching who you are," she says.

Courtesy of Kim Saltmarsh

Kim Saltmarsh's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles aren't just for fun. "You're pitching who you are," she says.

In our celebrity culture, an unknown can become an overnight hit on American Idol. It's the same for the Internet. Online, you can create buzz about yourself — and it might just help you get a job.

Kim Saltmarsh, 22, cultivates her personal brand every day. She's got pages on Facebook and LinkedIn, and she updates them daily in hopes that employers are looking.

"The beauty of online is that not only can you make a profile of yourself, but this is really a way to sell yourself. You're pitching who you are," she says. Saltmarsh attaches her resume and other links to her profile — even adds video and audio. "All of this instead of just making a cold call."

It might just pay off. A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found that 1 in 5 employers is using social networks to research job candidates.

"It's the best career security and insurance policy you can have," says Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. "Because along with personal branding is developing a network that can support you as you grow; and it's protection, because the more people know what you do, the more they'll know to go to you for the next big position."

And amid the noise of a difficult job market, it'll be easier for prospective employers to search — and find — your brand.

Steve Rubel of PR giant Edelman Digital predicts the emergence of corporate all-stars: Workers who have created personal brands and can act as ambassadors for their companies — to clients and the public.

"If the companies view social network and social media as being strategically important to them, they will target people who they feel can help them build relationships — who also understand their business," Rubel says. "They are looking for those digital natives."

But no matter how strong the personal brand, Rubel says excellence in performance will trump anything.

As for Saltmarsh, she says the next avenue for branding herself will be Twitter.