DEVELOPMENT
How to use social
media to further your
career progression
How much thought have you given to building
and developing your social media profile?
Social media expert Nicola Moras shares some
hot tips to shape the perfect online presence
THE EXPERT
Nicola Moras is a social
media specialist, sought-
after speaker and author
of Visible, a guide for
business owners on how
to generate financial
results from social media
and digital marketing.
Nicola helps clients
around the world achieve
visibility, impact and
profits, enabling them to
become ‘professionally
famous’ online
These days it’s critical for professionals to create
a powerful personal brand online. This enables
them to set themselves up for the future—for
internal or external career progression. According
to the 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 70 percent of
employers use social media to screen candidates
during the hiring process, and about 43 percent
of employers use social media to check on current
employees. This is why it’s critical for you to
embrace social media and grow your online brand.
There is a basic model to work through to make
this happen. Own your experience: establish and
own your work experience, knowledge and ‘good
will’ that you bring to the table. Know who you’re
talking to online: this is important so we can create
a conversation online and be efficient with our
content. Powerful positioning on strategic platforms:
as a successful EA you don’t have time to be present
on all the platforms all the time, so you need to be
selective. When you follow this model, it will help
build your personal brand as well as help you stand
out for potential employment opportunities. Let’s
break each of these down further.
Own your experience
One of the most overlooked things when
building a powerful online personal brand is
58 Chief of Staff | Issue 2 2019
the experience you have outside of the role that
you’re doing now. The EA industry is competitive
and it’s crucial to the future proofing of your
career that you are able to stand out for who you
are, not only what you do.
Step 1: What is your entire work history like?
Break it down into 5 year segments and document
all that you did.
Step 2: What life experience do you have?
For instance, have you travelled overseas or
completed different areas of study outside of the
profession you’re in? Break this down in 5 year
increments as well.
Step 3: What are your innate strengths, gifts
and talents? For example, you might be great at
developing great systems. Or people always come
to you with their problems because they feel
like you hear them. This is important to position
yourself as different. It helps people to get to
know who you are, not only what you do.
Know who you’re talking to online
When you know the target audience for your
online profile building, you are able to create
and craft conversations that build rapport. This
will influence the content you create in Step
3. As with the offline world, the fastest way to
build connections is to find common ground. It’s
necessary to do the same thing online.
Step 1: Who are the specific types of people you
want reading your content and engaging with
your profile?
Step 2: What are the challenges and problems
that these people face on a daily basis? What are
their goals, dreams and desires?
Step 3: Brainstorm what you can share with
them to make their lives easier, to motivate them
or inspire them. How can you add value to these
people?
Step 4: What platform is your chosen audience
spending most of their time on – is it Facebook,
LinkedIn, Instagram or elsewhere?
Powerful positioning on strategic platforms
Being selective about the platforms you build your
presence on is a crucial point. In the previous
step, you figured out what platforms your
audience spends the most time on. Choose the
main platform to start with and start sharing your
ideas, tips, advice, anecdotes and advice there.
Be strategic about what you’re posting, the links
that you’re sharing and even the post that you’re
clicking ‘like’ on. Create content about the things
you’re passionate about and that will reflect well
on you. By cultivating a powerful online presence,
you create a profile around you that supports your
future endeavours, fosters new and important
connections and can bolster your career. S
www.nicolamoras.com.au