Creating an Online Persona

As part of a Career Exploration unit, we're going to explore the idea of "persona construction." At the end of the unit, every student will have created a professional persona that potential employers will want to hire. Please follow the steps below to complete the Unit. At the end of the Unit, please post a comment on this post and paste in your About.me link. Of the many apps that you can attach to your About.me page, you should have at least three apps linked to your page.

Part 1:

First, let's see what kind of a person you are. Self-awareness is one of the keys to leading a good life, or at least that's what Socrates said...  Anyway, you can find out your personality type here. The results of this test are pretty reliable. After you've taken the test, record your four-letter personality type and do a Google Search for "Careers for (your four-letter type)". E.g.,  Google: "Careers for INTP". and you should be able to find some possible career paths for you. This is an example Personality Page for an INTP. Notice the possible careers listed at the bottom.

Part 2: 

Now you should research one of the career paths. Look into what extra school you'll need, what sort of credentials you will need, and what will make your resume competitive. Write a short paragraph about how you plan to make yourself a good candidate for the job.

Part 3:

Now for the construction. You are going to need a Gmail account just to make things easier. Eventually,  you are going to have to create a professional network; having a Gmail account to centralize everything makes things efficient. You can use Google Drive to create different documents that you can then share with people.

You need to create a resume. Your resume can take various forms. An easy way to create your first resume is to use a template from Google Docs. Remember that you won't have much to put on this resume, but you still need one.

A step above a written resume is to create one on VisualCV. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say; the images that you put on this service can have a powerful way of getting across what you could potentially contribute to a company.

Another way to publish your personal awesomeness is with a VERY short YouTube video. This can be as short as a Vine (6 seconds) and up to 1 minute, but any longer would be less effective. Here is an explanation of why video is an important, powerful tool in building your online persona. And, of course, there are numerous examples of video resumes that you can look at yourself to get some ideas.

These are the most important things that you can do, but remember that even on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, or any social media website, you are accountable for your image. If you want to have a good public face, it needs to be cultivated. All of the social media websites can be useful for employers to get to know you, but they have to contain only things that you would want employers to know about you.

You also need to write a cover letter. Here are some examples of three different styles of cover letters. You should address your letter To Whom It May Concern, and then write your letter to a potential employer. Your first paragraph should be about your personality and what makes you a good employee. Your second paragraph should be about what makes you suitable for the job you're applying for.

You should write this in a Google Doc. Then share the link to that document, and copy and paste that link to your About.me page.

Part 4:

Let's make an About Me page, and construct the image that you want potential employers see. This will be your electronic business card. From here, you'll want to link to external apps that are following people in your chosen career path.

You'll probably want to connect with people on Linkdin, make a resume and start to create a network of professional contacts. These should be people who know you and could even be a reference for you. Link this account to you About.me page.