Digital-Proof Your Career

Social networking and online application forms have certainly made things easier career-wise. But, if not managed and dealt with in the right way, technology has the potential to pose a threat to your career. Anna Martyn, career coach and managing director of Careers By Design, gives tips on how to make aspects of the fast-paced digital age work for you in the office.

#1 PROTOCOL, PROTOCOL, PROTOCOL	Because everyone has access to this information, Martyn explains, the number of CVs received for any one vacancy is incredibly high and you’re no longer competing merely on a local scale, but on a national and global one as well. We are now all working in a very small global village because we’re all online, says Martyn, and information is readily available for everyone to use, research and manipulate. When it comes to our careers, online access gives us an even playing field when sourcing information on potential target companies and assessing the reputations of certain organisations, she adds. Privacy is limited when it comes to the Internet. Whether we want to research the leaders and directors of companies to assess what their likes and dislikes are, what they have achieved or who they are as individuals, she says, the Web gives us the tools to uncover this information. ‘All of this gives us greater knowledge on how best to proceed in any given instance, whether it be applying for a position, trying to make a sales pitch, marketing a product or simply to network.’
#2 TOUGH COMPETITORS
#3 STAY TRENDY
#4 SCAM ALERT

Author: Lindi Brownell