What is on your mind? Is the AI engineered question prompter on everyone’s SM profile nowadays...
While most professional people take a moment to pause and think about this question; on the other hand what some people don’t get is that this question does not need to be answered literally! A lot of people get sucked up to answer this question on impulse for FOMO. Fear of Missing Out is a real issue facing mostly the lower age of the Millennia population (22-25) and upper echelons of Gen Z (18 -22). Our Trustee Jennifer Nash adds her point of view; "As I use my PR professional lens to observe; I often come across some cringe-worthy content produced by this demographic. I take notice with awe how these young people who are actually job hunting can afford to display such ignorance or naivety (depends on which side of the binoculars you are observing from)."
We echo Jennifer's observation with our own insights: Did you know that recruiters factor in your digital footprint as a comparable personal trait when looking to hire talent?
Did you know that as an example; that it sends a red flag to potential employers when people post narcissistic content that focus on their ‘visual selfies’ (shallow minded) as opposed to their ‘intellectual selfies’(open minded)?
To answer our HML Foundation What is on your mind AI prompt today literally we thought a follow-on to our previous blog on the stark 60 % of unemployment in Lusaka would be most ideal. We decided to flip the coin and share some tips to this job-hunting generation in order to help them observe these simple 4Ps of digital footprint etiquette.
If you are to improve your chances at finding jobs; we believe these tips will help potential employers take you more seriously, value your talents, and indeed give you an edge against your competition in this over saturated job market.
1. Profile: Ask yourself these basic questions: Who. Why. What. Where. When. How. Once you have established Who you want to attract as your target audience it is easy to follow through with the Why. What. Where. When. How. you want to achieve this. Your digital profile is the window to your soul. Whether you like it or not - it is like that. Yes we know GenZ and Millennial prefer cool products versus cool experiences; and we also know that they need to find jobs in the uncool adult world! The question is to be cool while broke Or be cool rocking your newly found job? We suggest an alias on all other SM platforms and a 'real you' on LinkedIn.
2. Principles: What makes you tick? Google dictionary defines the meaning of Principles as "a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behaviour or for a chain of reasoning." So what is your truth? What are you 'propositioning' your 'Friends'? Who by the way are NOT really your 'friends'! While Social Media was initially created as a social network forum that helps us connect with our 'friends', it is imperative that young people realise that there is nothing 'social' about social media. The sooner you learn that you are a commodity; that your profile is being used as a pair of eye-balls to sell to advertisers, the sooner you can appreciate that your so-called friends are in fact your No.1. fans (i.e. target audience in business speak). So if they are your fans, would they appreciate your belief or behaviour or your chain of reasoning when you are constantly posting narcissistic content? You challenge is to own your fundamental truth that portrays the correct narrative for your proposition with clarity.
3. Professionalism: No doubt this is an essential skill-set to hone as this article is about getting you in good light to hopefully help you in your quest to becoming employable. Sexy-selfie content wearing skimpy, low-cut cleavage showing clothes for ladies or aggressive posts or crude jokes for men are a No-No as they are off-putting and unprofessional.
"For me personally, I look at the writer's ability to express themselves in an engaging manner. A good use of correct grammar in the copy is always a plus!" adds Jennifer, whose passion is editing and writing copy for clients.
The temptation in today's fast paced attention deficit plagued-society is to abbreviate everything. While this might work with your peers; you cannot be applying for an internship role and sending a 'lmk if u're stl rcrtin' message to your would be employer. Assuming the average HR manager is aged over 35; who luckily for them were old-schooled in the proper English-is-the-Queens-language vocabulary - they are sure likely to be put off by your message and just delete it!
4. Personality: Just because you have to be professional does not mean you lose your soul to the demands of crossing your t's and dotting your i's etiquette. Absolutely NOT! You have to maintain your authentic-self. Whatever that means to you. If you are passionate about dogs take a pose with your 4-legged man's best friend! (yes, apparently it is on-trend). To the extent of even pretending you like cats and dogs... because rumour has it, the Personality Traits researchers claim that people who like pets are more likely to be nice people to work with or be around. Well, the jury is still out in Africa, as that is a Western influenced myth that we shall leave open for discourse at another time. For now, let's focus on the YOU and yes your new Digital Persona.
There is no one-size-fits-all remedy to having a head start with a healthy looking digital footprint. Just ensure you choose wisely as the main co-creator of your own future professional self. Remember your Who. Why. What. Where. When. How. so that when you one day look back at your posts as a responsible adult - you don't cringe. Plus Forbes has lots of tips on how you can make the most out of your social media content to help you potentially land a good job!
The HML Foundation's trustees in conjunction with its parent company Keystone Group are hosting a series of workshops to connect Thought Leaders who are Socially Responsible Individuals to share and mentor young Zambians with a view to creating synergy between potential employers and job seekers while ensuring a sustainable eco-system of future thought leaders. To learn more sign up for the TLC event here