You’ve done your twenty in the military, did well, and now it’s time to let the “young ‘uns” take a turn. You’re getting out, but not retiring. You still have the energy to accomplish more. You don’t feel ready to be “set on the shelf” of life. Golf? Bah–a game for “Bob Hope-wannabees.” You always felt at home with the squadron and you liked being part of the team. Your teammates depended on you doing your job, and you did it without fail—even when you were sick. Sometimes you even enjoyed the work. You didn’t have to worry about being online, and having a profile there for people to know who you were and, more importantly, what you did. In fact, that kind of online promotion was often discouraged.
WHEN NETWORKING GOES ‘SOCIAL’
By this time you’ve probably heard of the term “social networking.” If you haven’t, then you’re in for a bit of a learning curve. Which, if you’re willing to learn, won’t be too bad. Part of social networking is just being there, with your information readily available on the internet, which also means establishing a presence “online.” One of the first steps is to determine not where, but whether, you wish to establish an online presence and start building a profile.
“What’s a profile,” you ask? It’s kind of like your resume, only it’s more than that. It’s the part that tells your story, attempting to fill the gaps of your (hopefully) shortened resume. You can write it as long or as short as you wish (depending on the site).
Your profile is a living, breathing, story of you, the things you’ve done, and the things you’re interested in doing. More importantly, it’s a story that is available to other people online who you may never have considered networking with before. There are many different services out there offering you an opportunity to create a profile, including the Cleared Network on Clearancejobs.com. Each one has a different twist, but all provide the opportunity to network with other people. They theoretically make it easier for employers to look for people with specific backgrounds and reach out. And nothing boosts the ego like a company approaching you from out of the blue to offer you a chance to work with them.
Do you really need an online profile?
To answer the question of whether you should develop an online profile, the answer is: yes—especially if working for a company is important to you. The case can even be made that it’s a good idea to have an online professional networking profile even if you’re not actively looking for a job. If those military retirement golf plans grow mundane, having connections at the ready is certainly to your advantage.
Let’s forget that having a social profile shows that someone (or someone’s child) is savvy with the internet, and doesn’t need to be trained to use existing technology. Let’s even say you are worried about privacy, which is a legitimate concern, and you don’t want your information online. Fair enough. But think about the hidden message, the one you don’t realize you’re sending: I am not teachable; I don’t like communicating; and I am so inflexible that I am unwilling to learn about simple technologies just to help me get hired.
Is this an unfair assessment of you and your decision not to create an online profile? Of course, but you should know there are people out there who may view the non-existence of your profile as evidence of undesirable traits in a hire. After all, who wants to hire someone who appears to be stubborn to their own detriment, and a seeming Luddite to boot? Who wants to hire someone who doesn’t seem to have a story, who’s not willing to communicate? Particularly when there are other candidates to choose from who do.
Don’t forget – an online profile is your opportunity to share more of your story, and add some personality into what can be a very impersonal job search process.
