As a recent graduate working with start ups (not infrequently run by people who would themselves be considered ‘young’ in the corporate world), I think credibility is one of the biggest issues a young professional comes up against. The trouble with credibility, and this is by no means a new problem, is that it has historically been associated with age and experience; a 22-year-old is thereby automatically less credible than an older counterpart.
However, social media has changed the nature of the credibility question. Anyone who takes 15 seconds to do a Google search for me can easily discover the year I finished university and when I started work; it’s not an enormous leap from there to deduce my age and experience. Maybe that’s my fault for having an uncommon name, but I think the point holds true on a broader scale given the extreme potential for tracking just about anyone through tools like stalkbook and StalkedIn. Trying to conceal your age or relatively little professional experience is simply not possible in overcoming the credibility gap. Coupled with the awkward selfies and angst-ridden blogs lurking out there for those of us who went through adolescence on Myspace and Bebo, social media can seem like a young professional’s worst enemy.
We all know the value of being seen as reliable and able to deliver: it is the key to being taken seriously as a professional and the ‘+1’ factor in networking. The trouble is actually getting to be credible. Although social media might sometimes be a hindrance, it can also be turned to the advantage of the young professional. Credibility hinges on trustworthiness and expertise, both of which can be developed by purposefully building an online presence.
We must firstly be constantly aware of the fact that anything we do on the internet could become public knowledge. I have a hard time viewing as credible anyone I don’t personally know whose social network settings allow me to see photos of them on the lash in Ibiza. That’s not to say I don’t believe in having a laugh, but slack privacy makes people appear somehow less professionally trustworthy. This seems like an obvious point, but as a recruitment manager who makes a habit of checking out all applicants on facebook, it apparently isn’t.
Blogs and Twitter can provide the means for establishing referable expertise, so long as you are addressing the people you want to hear you about relevant issues. This may simply consist of commenting on other people’s thoughts, but it’s still an important way of expressing engaging points of view.
Write about what interests your audience, be they recruiters, customers or peers. Do it with a bit of style and personality, and people may be interested enough to read more of what you have to say. Even if you’ve never worked in a given area before, being able to articulate thoughtful arguments on that topic boosts your reputation as someone who can be trusted to communicate well and has the potential to become an expert. If an applicant sends me to her blog, I wouldn’t expect to land on a post about the relative promiscuity of girls at her university. (Nor would I expect that post to be littered with errors … Spell check, guys. Editing errors do not look professional or expert.)
However, all of this is nothing without delivery. As a young professional (or company), coming through on your promise is vital. Without the gravitas of a long career or big brand behind you, there is little for you to fall back on if you come up short. You don’t just get to ‘be’ credible – you have to invest in and prove yourself to get there.
As the demographics of those using social media change (I recently learned the average facebook user is 38) and given the emphasis on entrepreneurship as an option for young people in light of the economic climate, the definition of credibility may be in flux. Defining your own professional brand online can be the first step in shifting the credibility bias away from age.