What Is Personal SEO & How Can You Use It For Your Career?

What Is Personal SEO & How Can You Use It For Your Career?

by Rose Johanes

Job seekers today rely on digital tools and methods to stand out to recruiters in a crowded market. One such digital method people have increasingly used is generative AI. According to a recent survey from Resume Builder, 46% of job seekers are using OpenAI’s ChatGPT to write their resumes and cover letters. One benefit of automating the resume and cover letter process is that this eases your workload when applying to multiple companies or different recruiters.

However, experts warn that while generative AI can aid in your job search, it isn’t the only tool you should use. Experts still recommend working on your network and reaching out to people for real conversations to land your next career. You can also build your brand and network by developing a personal SEO strategy. Below, we’ll discuss what personal SEO is and how you can use it to develop your career:

What is Personal SEO?

In a previous No BS Job Search Advice Radio episode, we discussed the importance of what your recruiters see when they Google your name. Today, recruiters use the web to locate people and find potential employees based on their skills. For job seekers, this means that you need to be aware of what recruiters will discover about you online and how that information can be helpful to the organization. This is what makes your personal SEO.

According to a Forbes article on using keywords to strengthen your personal brand, keywords have become a vital part of today’s job search. This includes keywords in your resume, cover letter, social platforms, and accounts on networking sites. Using keywords is reported to reduce time-to-hire for 86% of recruiters, which has streamlined the hiring process. Your personal SEO strategy as a job seeker also relies on effectively using keywords to present your personal information, professional goals, and work history to recruiters.

How to utilize personal SEO for your career

In this age of the Internet, information moves fast and changes dynamically. This includes information about you that potential recruiters can and will see online. Here are some tips for better personal SEO to help land you better career opportunities:

Interview Mistakes: Vomiting on People

Optimize your personal SEO for better visibility

Optimizing your personal SEO will help the right recruiters find and approach you more easily. Understanding what recruiters are looking for can help you avoid misrepresenting yourself. As outlined in an article from SEO agency Ayima on competitor keywords, it helps to find specific keyword opportunities that can give you an edge over the competition. You can consider keywords related to the unique services or skills you offer. From there, you can adjust your messaging. While it’s tempting to sound bold, flippant, or aggressive to get attention, remember that what you say will reflect on your brand.

You can also look at other successful people within your niche or with relevant skill sets and job roles to see what keywords they use to present themselves in searches. This doesn’t mean you should copy what others are doing — instead, add to possible gaps in the keywords so that you can offer relevant information to recruiters that other job seekers or employees may be overlooking.

Monitor your online presence

Finally, aside from looking at what others are doing right, you should also take the time to look at how you may be perceived in recruiters’ searches. JobLIST’s feature on why you should Google yourself shares helpful questions to ask yourself when monitoring your online presence for job search purposes. This includes which social media profiles are part of your professional brand and whether or not your personal social media accounts negatively impact your online brand.

Building a professional online presence through personal SEO doesn’t mean you cannot have personal or intimate accounts for friends and family. You can adjust security settings in accounts you’d like to keep for personal use so that only close friends and family can access them, instead of recruiters from important organizations. You can also change your name on personal accounts to a nickname so recruiters don’t associate them with your professional brand.

 

Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2023 

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ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

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