I encourage all executives, whether in a job search or for ongoing healthy career management, to leverage Google Alerts to build a strong brand-reinforcing online identity and connect with the very decision makers you’re probably trying to get in front of.
You want recruiters and hiring decision makers to be able to find you online, right? Google Alerts will lead you to places where you can position your brand value, and hopefully generate interest in you and evangelism for your brand.
Along with my name, website, and blog name, some of the key word phrases in my Google Alerts account include:
c-level career
c-level job
c-level search
executive branding
executive job search
online identity management
personal branding
When these words or names are published online, Google sends me an email with a link to the web page where they appear.
My Google Alerts benefit me in so many ways, including:
♦ Keeping track of what people are saying about me online and who is linking to my blog.
♦ Finding out what others in my industry are thinking and talking about.
♦ Keeping me informed of the latest trends within my areas of interest.
♦ Leading me to relevant blogs where I may leave a comment, if I feel I’m adding value to the conversation. My comments add to the search results when people Google “my name” or blog name.
♦ Providing me with ideas for blog posts, tweets, and articles.
♦ Connecting me to new information, thereby expanding my knowledge base to be a better resource and of more value to my clients.
♦ Opening me to a community of forward-thinking subject matter experts and extending my network.
♦ Leading me to relevant sites where I may be able to publish an article or guest blog, again adding to search results for my name and blog
♦ Keeping me informed of what my peers are up to.
What are your favorite personal branding tools?
Related posts:
3 Tactics to Put Your C-Level Executive Resume to Work Building Your Online Brand Identity
A CFO in Medical Device Manufacturing Blogs His Personal Brand and Niche Expertise
A CEO Entrepreneur Turns to Guest Blogging to Build Google Results and Her Personal Brand Online
Thank you Meg … very enlightening article re Google Alerts and another valuable instrument to place in my personal brand toolbox!
Thanks for commenting, Penny. I hope you find Google Alerts as helpful as I have for blogging and online identity monitoring.
-Meg
You are right that Google Alerts are a great way of keeping up-to-date on your industry, but you also need to create Google Alerts from the perspective of a potential employer. In the old days, it used to be good advice to always keep your resume current. Now we have Facebook for that. The new goal is to stay current with the Google results for every name and fact on your resume. You should review your resume, and set up alerts on any reference, company name, and all the other easily searched facts, such as your phone number and address. Doing thorough Google research is now a standard part of a pre-hiring background check. You want to know what will be found, and possibly remove names that may have misleading or negative search results. I’ve written a lot about this subject for my blog, and your readers might find some of my posts useful:
http://www.alertrank.com/mrgooglealerts/category/job-search/
Adam,
Thanks so much for commenting and for your excellent advice. Any hint of digital dirt can sabotage a job search.
I hope my readers will follow your link to your site. You offer so much valuable information for job seekers.
-Meg